Representation matters

In 1992 when I was a pre-teen, I was exposed to a wave of cinema and television that is bland by today’s comparison but was racially progressive. Sister Act featuring Whoopi Goldberg was released that year. The film told the story of a black woman who witnesses a murder and seeks protection in a convent. Dolores Van Cartier is not  your stereotypical victim, she is sassy, bold, opinionated and black. Trapped in a convent till her case comes to trial, she decides to put her showbiz skills to good use. Teaching the all white convent how to sing in tune and joyfully, her unconventional efforts are resisted at first but are slowly accepted by the nuns and the community.

Dolores as Sister Mary Clarence makes the Church come alive with her talent to entertain people. She is a lapsed Catholic and an entertainer who uses her knowledge of the church and the world to bring the Gospel to an inner city community.

The popularity of the first film led to the development of a sequel with Lauryn Hill and several teenage singers. Set in a high school, the plot is similar only this time Sister Mary Clarence is brought in especially by the convent to teach the students how to sing.

This was the first time I had seen a black nun on screen, and her character was treated with dignity. Nuns in films are usually portrayed as mean spirited women who delight in punishing themselves and others. Sister Act changed the way nuns were shown, they were hesitant to try something new but not wholly antagonistic. It was Sister Mary Clarence who made an impression on me. Black Christian women are usually represented as hysterical, fanatics with little touch with reality. Sister Mary is clever and practical about her faith. This image had a deep impact on me and the way I saw my place in the world as a black Christian woman.

That was in1992. Twenty five years later, images of black Christian women haven’t had an edifying role to match Sister Act. During this time I have taught at a Catholic University with several nuns as colleagues and students. Some of them were accomplished linguists, scholars, physicists, mathematicians, psychologists and social workers. None of them fitted the stereotype of the nasty mean spirited woman I have seen on screen. Most of them were from the global south and had worked in remote parts of the world, as teachers, nurses, social workers. Some worked at stopping human trafficking, a profession  fraught with hazards. I am proud to say I know these women who have given their lives to Christ. I learnt a lot about selfless dedication from them.

Yet it is a shame not to see these women on screen. It always amazes me that celibate women should be treated with scorn or as pitiable subjects. Sure there are problems in the church, but that doesn’t condemn an entire religion. The erasure of Christian women and especially women of colour on screen does a great disservice to the achievements of one group of women.

Representation matters, because it has the power to shape opinion. For most people the only access to the world is their television. We often learn about minorities from what we see of them on screen, much before we meet them. When our only exposure to a minority community is through derogatory stereotypes, how can we let go of our biases. Feminist author and activist Finn McKay in a talk once pointed out that young women are not going to understand feminism of the past when all they have been exposed to is post feminism sexism. Similarly in a world that sees Christians and people of colour being murdered for their faith, ironic racism and Christianity do little to help the cause.