People of color may not be the only people the Academy Awards overlooked this year.

In honor of the Oscars, “Voice of SouthCoast Women” took a look at women in entertainment roles and the lack of diversity and depth to the characters available to them. They graded all the films nominated for “Best Picture” on how well they were able to pass the Bechdel Test.

The Bechdel Test, named after creator Alison Bechdel, is a three-pronged test that marks the lowest criteria for properly representing women. In order to pass the Bechdel Test, a work must have at least two women in it who are named, who talk to each other at some point, about something other than a man.

Hollywood has come under fire in recent years for not creating opportunities for people of color, as well as women. The Bechdel test has risen in popularity because it has become a useful tool in denoting whether females characters are not just present and speaking but explored in depth.

“When you’re talking about teenage girls or preteen girls, if they don’t see people like them represented doing normal human stuff, they don’t see a future for themselves,” said Dr. Juli Parker, UMass Dartmouth’s Center for Women, Gender, & Sexuality director.

“Having good role models, especially for young women, is very important,” Bristol County Commissioner on the Status of Women Eunice Yang added.

A runaway success at the Academy Awards was the film “Mad Max: Fury Road,” a post-apocalyptic film which follows not the title character of Max Rockatansky but Imperator Furiosa, played by Charlize Theron, as she frees five young brides from the tyrannical Immortan Joe. The film “steals the Bechdel test” and was even hailed the “feminist film of 2015,” according to Parker.

Most notable was the fact that no romantic relationship emerges between Furiosa and Max, Parker said. “It was a great representation of women taking charge.”

Though “Brooklyn”did not take home any awards, this story following a young immigrant from Ireland at the turn of the century “does pass the Bechdel test with flying colors,” said YWCA Board Member Jane Gonsalves.

A number of the nominated films barely passed the test due to a lack of female characters, as is the case in “The Martian” and “Spotlight.” Though they both feature some strong female characters, their discussions with other women are minimal enough that it’s difficult to qualify them as “passing.”

Films like “The Revenant” and “The Big Short” failed to pass even one criterion of the Bechdel test. “The Revenant,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, shows only one female, who is kidnapped and raped on-screen, and had only one line of dialogue.

“You couldn’t drag me to see a movie like that,” Parker said.

“The Big Short” is a film that follows several Wall Street gurus as they profiteer off of the impending economic collapse in 2007. According to Yang, this film “failed miserably.” Women are used literally as props. In one scene, she describes a scene where Ryan Gosling’s character informs the audience that since the financial systems involved in the film are boring in their complexity, they're going to be explained by actress Margot Robbie as she soaks in a bubble bath.

Though there is a main female character who is not only named and high-ranking but boasts degrees from Harvard, her conversations with Steve Carell’s character usually revolve around her children or her family, downplaying her accomplishments, Yang said.

According to bechdeltest.com, an April 2015 poll of its database of 4,500 movies showed that 55 percent of 58% of the films as passing all three of the test's requirements, 10% as failing one, 22% as failing two, and 10% as failing all three. It is not unusual for films to pass the Bechdel test only by having women talk about marriage or babies.

The issue of representation was not just with films that can’t pass the Bechdel test but with the lack of opportunity for women in the industry. There have been only four female nominees for Best Director, and only Kathryn Bigelow has won the award for her film “The Hurt Locker.” Additionally the panel discussed the issue of scripts created by women or stories centering on women, such as the film “Carol,” being adapted by male directors.

“The flag of female leadership affects how industries will operate,” Gonzales said.

“If you’re going to represent humankind we have to show both stories,” Parker said at the close of the segment. “ I think the problem with Hollywood in general is we’re only seeing half of the story.”

“Voices of South Coast Women” airs on channels 9, 18 and 95 on Tuesdays at 10 a.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays at 4 p.m.