That's never been the point of the Bechdel test though. It was a comic strip about a lesbian who said that SHE wouldn't go see movies that didn't include two women talking about something other than a man.
This is not supposed to be the be-all and end-all of feminist critique of media. It's a good shorthand for "JESUS CHRIST WOULD IT BE HARD TO HAVE MULTIPLE FEMALE CHARACTERS IN YOUR STUPID SHOW" because the fact that so MUCH of media fails the test says something very serious about the way media is written-- there's no rule that says that if you have two extras discussing something plot related they have to be two men or a man and a woman, unless they're talking about some dude, but that's the way it is. The test is a quick and dirty yardstick, and many of the people who talk about it use it as a jumping off point, a way to go "this starts of a generically problematic level." Because the real point of of the Test for a lot of people is that most things don't pass it.
Passing the Bechdel Test does not make something good, redeeming or particularly feminist (SatC passes it). Not passing it does not make something bad or unfeminist. It just makes it lacking in female characters.
(Also, much as I love Sherlock Holmes, the fact is that it's a cockfest. And while it was originally a cockfest, it was also originalyl write in the 1890s. I have no problem holding a remake from the 2000s to different standards.)
no subject
This is not supposed to be the be-all and end-all of feminist critique of media. It's a good shorthand for "JESUS CHRIST WOULD IT BE HARD TO HAVE MULTIPLE FEMALE CHARACTERS IN YOUR STUPID SHOW" because the fact that so MUCH of media fails the test says something very serious about the way media is written-- there's no rule that says that if you have two extras discussing something plot related they have to be two men or a man and a woman, unless they're talking about some dude, but that's the way it is. The test is a quick and dirty yardstick, and many of the people who talk about it use it as a jumping off point, a way to go "this starts of a generically problematic level." Because the real point of of the Test for a lot of people is that most things don't pass it.
Passing the Bechdel Test does not make something good, redeeming or particularly feminist (SatC passes it). Not passing it does not make something bad or unfeminist. It just makes it lacking in female characters.
(Also, much as I love Sherlock Holmes, the fact is that it's a cockfest. And while it was originally a cockfest, it was also originalyl write in the 1890s. I have no problem holding a remake from the 2000s to different standards.)