This Is Only A Test

I was listening to a movie podcast recently where the hosts were talking about a movie made in the early nineties. Instead of talking about the story, setting, acting, cinematography, or any other number of metrics that you could use to discuss a film, they instead opted to talk about how racist one of its characters was. Then they talked about how another character was homophobic. Then they talked about how the racist character was also a male chauvinist. They were genuinely upset that these fictional characters had flaws- and more specifically- politically incorrect views. They did not just bemoan the characters though, they actually went as far as to say that the creators of the movie must hold the same beliefs! This seems to be something that is taking over the culture at large, and it makes me worry a bit for the future of fiction.
In 2013 a Scandinavian cable company started to add the Bechdel test to its metrics for rating films and shows. For anyone who does not know what the bechdel test is, it is a test designed to find out whether a work of fiction is gender biased or not, and asks three questions:

1. Does the story have two named women?
2. Do they talk to each other?
3. About something other than a man?

If your work of fiction can answer yes to all three of those questions, then it is supposedly portraying women in a positive light. The test has its flaws, and a work of fiction can pass the test and yet still portray women in a bad way. But I'm less concerned about the specifics of the Bechdel test, and more concerned about the fact that such a test is taken seriously at all. There are websites and forums that rate movies based on their female friendliness by applying various versions of the test, but does not passing the test mean that your work of fiction is bad? No, all it means is that people who use this test to determine the worth of a fictional work will probably not like it.

The Bechdel test isn't alone either. In 2013, the Russo test was invented, and is gaining popularity. The Russo test determines whether a work is biased against LGBT groups by asking questions similar to those of the Bechdel test.

What is the next test? Will it be taken as seriously as the other two I have mentioned? Any number of tests could be created to represent a category of political correctness. There could be tests that point out racism, ageism, unequal portrayal of social classes, or people with disabilities. And if these tests were to all be valid for every work of fiction, then the stories that pass the tests would be nothing more than propaganda that accommodates the culture that conceived them!

And as a culture, we start judging works of fiction based on these tests- and then what? Do we decry works that do not pass, and shame the creators for daring to tell a story that is not politically correct? Like the example of the podcast I gave, some people are not above demonizing a work for its characters views or actions, and then attributing the same to the creator of that work. In this way, they are trying to pressure storytellers into telling a story that fits neatly into their own worldview, and does not offend in any way. Basically, censorship through peer pressure.

Obviously, I am not a fan of these tests, nor will I be of any future ones. Even if the test is for something that I think is good, I would never expect a work of fiction to pass such tests in order to be valid. Giving into these can only serve to make your story more accommodating to the culture at large, not a better story.

What do you think? Should a work of fiction be required to pass a test like the Bechdel and Russo tests?