I rate movies by Princess Power - an entirely subjective assessment of the female protagonists. Ratings range from 5 stars (strong, well-developed, Self-Rescuing Princesses) to 1 star (flimsy damsels in distress).

There is a separate measure for Overall Quality, because all the strong characters in the world can be wasted in a movie or show that sucks. And because it's not all about the women.

Lastly, the Bechdel Test is one way to measure the presence of female characters in media. It is not the be-all-end-all. A movie can fail the test and still present strong, well-rounded female characters, and vice-versa.

For this blog, the Bechdel Test criteria are:

1. The movie has to have at least two women protagonists (barely-there supporting roles don't count),
2. who talk to each other meaningfully (saying 'hi' doesn't count),
3. about something besides a man.

In newer reviews, I also include Family Content advisories about violence, language, and other mature content. These are neither quantified nor exhaustive; they're just my observations as a parent.