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NY magazine podcaster faces backlash for giving ‘Fire Island’ film ‘F- on the Bechdel test’

FIRE ISLAND CRITIC BACKLASH
  • New York magazine podcaster Hanna Rosin has apologized after landing in hot water for giving the new Hulu film “Fire Island” “an F- on the Bechdel test.”

  • Starring Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang and Margaret Cho, the Andrew Ahn-directed film follows a group of gay men spending a week on Fire Island, the queer hotspot off the coast of Long Island, New York.

  • The Bechdel test measures “how well women are represented in cinema — it requires that at least two named female characters have conversations with one another about something besides men,” as explained by Filmmaking Lifestyle.

  • Twitter users, including Cho, called Rosin out on her criticism. Meanwhile, cartoonist Alison Bechdel, the creator of the test, approved of the structure of “Fire Island” in a tweet on Tuesday.

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A New York magazine podcaster has apologized after landing in hot water for giving the new Hulu film “Fire Island” “an F- on the Bechdel test.”

Starring Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang and Margaret Cho, the Andrew Ahn-directed film puts a different spin on Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice.” The film follows a group of gay men spending a week on Fire Island, the queer hotspot off the coast of Long Island, New York.

But Hanna Rosin pointed out what she says “Fire Island” gets wrong. In a now-deleted tweet, the podcaster wrote: “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?”

Created by and named after the cartoonist Alison Bechdel, the test measures “how well women are represented in cinema – it requires that at least two named female characters have conversations with one another about something besides men,” as explained by Filmmaking Lifestyle.

Twitter users, including Cho, called Rosin out on her criticism:

Meanwhile, the creator of the Bechdel test herself approved of the structure of “Fire Island” in a tweet on Tuesday:

Rosin has since deleted and apologized for the tweet:

“Fire Island” is now streaming on Hulu.

 

Featured Image via Hulu

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