Do Queer Films Like Fire Island Need to Pass the Bechdel Test?
Fire Island. The film, which is inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, follows a group of gay Asian friends who gather for what could be their last annual week of love and laughter together on the titular isle.
It features the likes of Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang, and Margaret Cho, and is being hailed for centering queer Asian individuals — but, as it turns out, not by everyone.A surprising criticism was leveled at the groundbreaking film by New York Magazine's Hanna Rosin. “So @hulu #FireIslandMovie gets an F- on the Bechdel test in a whole new way.
Do we just ignore the drab lesbian stereotypes bc cute gay Asian boys? Is this revenge for all those years of the gay boy best friend?” she recently tweeted.
For those unfamiliar with the Bechdel-Wallace test (the author’s preferred name), it began as a joke in Alison Bechdel’s comic Dykes to Watch Out For as criticism for male-dominated films and the lack of female representation in mainstream cinema.
