# Black females playing God in films **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 13, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493 "2011-10-13T02:55:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andyplotkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@andyplotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andyplotkin)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/1 "2011-10-13T02:55:53Z")
I’m wondering if someone might be able to tell me the names of black female actors who have played the role of God in a film. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/2 "2011-10-13T03:16:49Z")
Here’s a list. You merely need to weed out the non-black, non-female actors. [http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0026790/](http://www.imdb.com/character/ch0026790/) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/3 "2011-10-13T03:22:13Z")
Moving to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/4 "2011-10-13T04:12:12Z")
A TV series not a film, but _Joan of Arcadia_ had God being played by different actors from episode to episode. Sonya Eddy and Lyne Odums are black actresses who played God on the series and there were probably others. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/5 "2011-10-13T04:19:26Z")
Others I found from Santos L Halper’s link: Reggi Danielle Sweat in Judgement (2004) Panchetta S. Barnett in Another Planet (1999) Whoopi Goldberg in an episode of “Tracey Takes On…” (1997) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/6 "2011-10-13T13:07:25Z")
She isn’t called “God”, but her paret has been called that by critics – Ruby Dee as Mother Abigail Freemantle in the TV movie of Stephen King’s _the Stand_. i thought of Linda Gary as one half the Voice of God in _Switch_, but that’s already in \*\*Santos’ \*\* list. And I suspect she’s not black (although most of her work is voice work – who can tell?) ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/7 "2011-10-13T13:49:47Z")
I don’t think Mother Abigail can be considered God or even a God-character. She talks to God and is a prophet/messenger of God - clearly a holy person - but I think she’d slap and rebuke you if you called her God. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/8 "2011-10-13T13:55:17Z")
I can’t find any evidence in the IMDB credits, and I haven’t seen the movie in decades, so my memory may be faulty, but… Wasn’t there one part in the movie “Oh God” in which John Denver tries to get someone to see God (played by George Burns), and in that brief moment, Burns had been replaced by a black woman (that allows Burns to explain to Denver that He can look like anything or anyone he chooses).? I don’t think that black actress had any lines, so she may not be in the credits at all… for but a few moments, she was God on film. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/9 "2011-10-13T14:35:38Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > She talks to God and is a prophet/messenger of God - clearly a holy person - but I think she’d slap and rebuke you if you called her God. I think you’d only get off that light if she was dying, frankly. Mother Abigail was one tough old lady and she did. not. tolerate. back-sass. ---
**Author:** ![OtisCampbellWasRight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d78d45/32.png) [@OtisCampbellWasRight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtisCampbellWasRight)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/10 "2011-10-13T15:46:11Z")
Not a movie role, but in his book “The Shack”, author William Peterson portrays God as a black woman. Much the same rationale as George Burns replacement: God can appear as anything he/she wants. Excellent book by the way. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/11 "2011-10-13T16:02:15Z")
Not quite God, but Aisha Tyler played “Mother Nature” in Tim Allen’s movies, “The Santa Clause 2” and “The Santa Clause 3.” ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/12 "2011-10-13T20:46:04Z")
Within the construct ( heh heh ) of **The Matrix** , it seems that [Gloria Foster as The Oracle](http://www.fanpop.com/spots/the-matrix/images/6856144/title/oracle-photo) was the god/ God they sought for sage advice. I suspect someone’s done a doctoral dissertation on the iconography and meaning and history of black females as deity figures. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/13 "2011-10-14T05:45:11Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > Within the construct ( heh heh ) of **The Matrix** , it seems that [Gloria Foster as The Oracle](http://www.fanpop.com/spots/the-matrix/images/6856144/title/oracle-photo) was the god/ God they sought for sage advice. I figured that the Architect (played by white actor Helmut Bakaitis) was the God figure in the Matrix series. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/14 "2011-10-14T16:21:54Z")
–Sniff-- Those other two abominations are not Matrix. They’re the cinematic evidence of addiction run amuck with The Wachowski Brothers. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/15 "2011-10-14T16:51:07Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > –Sniff-- Those other two abominations are not Matrix. > > They’re the cinematic evidence of addiction run amuck with The Wachowski Brothers. I’ve never like the “I don’t like that movie so it doesn’t exist” meme. But on this specific issue, even if you just limit the discussion to the first movie, the Oracle was not portrayed as God. It was clearly shown her powers had limits and were not Godlike. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/16 "2011-10-14T17:08:03Z")
The theology of the Matrix, such as it is, seems to have some basis in Gnosticism. The Oracle would represent Sophia (the divine mother). The Architect (cf. “archon”) is more like the Demiurge, who is in most versions the Creator of the material world, but also is considered somewhat evil as he blocks the path to the spiritual divine. Which is to say that both are gods, but not necessarily in correspondence with any monotheistic ‘God’. Though I think that the portrayal of the Oracle/Sophia is pretty close to an example of what the OP is talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/17 "2011-10-14T18:17:49Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’ve never like the “I don’t like that movie so it doesn’t exist” meme. > > But on this specific issue, even if you just limit the discussion to the first movie, the Oracle was not portrayed as God. It was clearly shown her powers had limits and were not Godlike. My apologies, I didn’t mean to offend there. I don’t adhere to that meme either. But articles- many many ones- abounded at the time of the 2nd and 3rd films. Addiction, lawsuits, forcing bad script revisions, etc. It isn’t as though I have a small shrine in my apartment to all things Neo. It’s just that the first was startlingly fresh and clever and the second and third were a train leaving the hard steel tracks and a high rate of speed. Yes, those films exist. Yes, there is a God-like character. To me, that’s the Oracle. The debate over “god” v.s. “god” v.s. “God” belongs over in G.D. !! ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/black-females-playing-god-in-films/599493/18 "2011-10-14T19:08:03Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Whoopi Goldberg in an episode of “Tracey Takes On…” (1997) and again in “It’s a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie” (she’s never directly called God, but she’s the “boss” of the angels.)