Dear Spectrum:

What do the films Sister Act and Babette’s Feast have in common, and what can we learn from them as Seventh-day Adventist Christians?

Yours truly,

Stewart L. Pigeon

Dear Stew,

What an unusual (but interesting) question. Glad you asked, and I’ll take a shot at it. As a good Adventist, I like to lurk about ten years behind the cutting edge of culture (that’s a joke, Stew), so I recently watched Sister Act (1992) for the first time. On the other hand, I’ve seen Babette’s Feast (1987) so many times I know the names of the quail, so let’s get down to business.

Somebody once said there are only two plots: "a stranger comes to town" and "somebody goes on a trip." Of course for a stranger to come to town, he or she must go on a trip first, so sometimes the two plots are combined!

In Sister Act, Deloris (Whoopi Goldberg) is a lounge singer who witnesses a mob-related murder and must get out of Reno and hide to avoid being permanently silenced. A police detective arranges for her to hide in a San Francisco convent, where her worldly wise cynicism comes into contact with the nuns’ secluded innocence. From the nuns’ perspective a stranger comes to town; from Deloris’s, someone goes on a trip.

In Babette’s Feast, two elderly sisters watch over a small flock of "brothers and sisters" in an ascetic religious community on the coast of Jutland, Denmark. Their pure but mundane lives take a turn when they accept a refugee Frenchwoman, Babette, as a cook. A stranger comes to town.

Both films have a special interest to Adventists, I think, because they present the encounter between a person from "the world," with special artistic talents, and a conservative religious community. The interaction of the "worldly" artist and the religious community forms the central interest of both films.

Are you still with me Stew? If so, let’s glance at the religious and spiritual implications of each, starting with Sister Act (whipped cream) and finishing with Babette’s Feast (cheesecake).

Deloris has a tough time dealing with plain food, silence, and a Spartan room at the convent. But her experience is turned around when she is given charge of the choir. Here is something she knows how to do: teach singing and choreography. In a ridiculously short time, she brings a powerful talent out of the nuns, and their Motown/Gospel hybrid ("My God/My Guy," "I Will Follow Him") becomes the talk of the town, putting a lot of "butts in the pews," as Deloris phrases it.

In a classic Adventist angle, there is high tension between conservative "purity" and using worldly techniques to appeal to a secular target audience. In the end, there is an ideal combination of music and spirit of worship (according to the logic of the movie), where worldlings are drawn in and the Pope, a special guest at the climactic performance, gives his full blessing.

What can be learned from all this? Deloris helps reestablish the street creed of the church, and gets the church and community re-integrated. Good. Deloris gets the nuns excited about performing their best for God’s glory. Good. Deloris learns about unselfishness and service from the nuns. Good. In the final danger scenes, where the mob is chasing Deloris through a casino, Deloris puts herself in harm’s way in order to protect her "sister" nuns, showing a selflessness that demonstrates notable growth from the beginning of the movie. Good.

Some viewers may be uncomfortable with how Deloris uses a prayer for the opportunity to give two gunmen a double punch in the groin, whereas others may object to the use of Motown style as an aid to the gospel. Nevertheless, I think the film is done with a spirit respectful of religion and religious persons, and is worth watching once or twice.

Babette’s Feast is a more serious film, without (at least for me) being any less engaging. It does an excellent job of raising questions about the connections and tensions between bodily and spiritual appetites. I remember back to my undergraduate days at Pacific Union College, some twenty years ago, when there was considerable debate on campus about whether the large amount of money that had been raised to buy a Tracker Organ should rather be spent in building mission churches. Was the organ merely a wasteful pleasure of the senses, or was it the highest way of making a tribute to God?

It wasn’t an easy question to answer well back then, and I don’t think it’s easy when Babette spends 10,000 Francs on one big blowout dinner. But, if we take seriously Jesus’ approval of Mary’s extravagant gift of perfume and foot washing, we have to consider seriously supreme and costly artistry as a worthy value, given the right conditions. In the case of Babette’s Feast, the value does not disappear with the food on the plate. Rather, the dinner serves as a healing balm for the community, and raises the sisters’ ideas of spiritual development to a whole different level.

So Stew, I encourage you to take another look at these films, and let me know what you think. By the way, the story of salvation has the same two plots: a stranger comes to town, and somebody goes on a trip. Think about it.

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