Summary:

A man has a dream that he is being executed for a crime that he didn’t commit over and over again, and he spends his time trying to convince the people in his dream to spare him.

 

Bechdel Test:

  • Only two women (wife and jury member)
  • Hank’s wife is the only one to have a line
    • Minimal

 

Gender Roles of Important Characters:

  • Adam
    • Masculine (7)
      • Self-reliant, defends own beliefs, assertive, forceful, analytical, willing to take a stand, aggressive
    • Feminine (0)
      • NA
  • Paul
    • Masculine (7)
      • Defends of beliefs, assertive, strong personality, forceful, analytical, willing to take risks, willing to take a stand
    • Feminine (4)
      • Sympathetic, sensitive to others’ needs, compassionate, childlike
  • Hank
    • Masculine (8)
      • Self-reliant, defends own beliefs, assertive, forceful, analytical, willing to take risks, dominant, willing to take a stand
    • Feminine (2)
      • Sympathetic, sensitive to others’ needs
  • Jiggs
    • Masculine (6)
      • Defends own beliefs, independent, assertive, strong personality, makes decisions easily, acts as a leader
    • Feminine (2)
      • Sympathetic, compassionate

 

Analysis:

This episode moves backwards again, as far as gender equality goes. First of all, it fails the Bechdel horribly. Only one woman in the episode gets any lines, and she is shown as a simple house wife who is too fragile for the topic of death and only lives to serve her husband. It is gross. More subtly, the episode also comments on males having any feminine traits (even if they still have some masculine traits). In the episode, Adam is the only prominent male who shows only masculine traits. He is also the only male character who actually succeeds in his goal (of convincing the people in his dream that it is a dream). The other male characters have some feminine traits, but they all fail in their goals (Jiggs tries to get Adam committed, failing completely, and Hank and Paul try to stop the execution, but fail by less than five seconds). Thus, overall, this episode paints femininity as weak and masculinity as strong (and the only way to accomplish important things in the world).

Shared by: Grace White
Image Credit: The Twilight Zone, CBS via Netflix