This past July, I took my sisters to see “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” and I wanted to leave less than halfway through. My urge to evacuate was not because the movie was childish, as I had expected that going in. Rather, I was extremely annoyed by one of the main villains: “Nun-Chuck.” 

Say what you will about the low-bar pun that name is, this character is a mockery of what a real nun is and is not the first stereotype I have seen in modern media. I am Catholic, so it really hurts to see people who play a prominent role in my religion be smeared so frequently. It discredits the work real nuns do. 

Nuns dedicate their lives to giving back to their communities and serving others in the name of God. This includes charity work, like raising money and finding food for those in need, but also bigger projects. 

Historically, nuns have served as teachers and nurses when our communities needed them too. It would have been too much to ask parents who had to run farms and feed their families to teach,  so religious women did to make sure children were educated. The same idea works with nursing, but the most important thing to remember is that nuns are not paid. All of the work they do is for the betterment of our communities and our world. 

I get that every religion deals with stereotyping. However, I counter that religious women shown in the media only fall into two camps: satanic or strict. In the case of the second “Minions” movie, I argue “Nun-Chuck” is actually a combination of both. The reason this is so bad is because there is not enough mainstream media offering the other side. 

As a communication, journalism and media major, my classes have discussed in depth how, whether people recognize it or not, the media informs our beliefs. With only stereotypes of nuns being shown, it is impossible for people who have no experience with sisters to truly know the good they do. 

It makes it hard for young people in the faith to even consider going down the route of becoming a nun when all they see are bad things. This in turn shrinks the number of nuns there are, leading to even less people seeing them regularly, creating a terrible cycle. 

Mass media needs to rethink how they are showing nuns and do better. Stereotyping is hurtful and really annoying to see continued time and time again. As viewers, we need to be critical of what we are seeing. If I had known a nun stereotype was in “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” I would never have bought a ticket. We can force change by not buying into media that relies on stereotypes and in turn make our feed more well-rounded. 

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