When Representation Fails: Latter-day Saints and the Cost of Invisibility
In the last three years, there have been 1676 scripted television series on network, cable, and streaming platforms.
Of those shows, two of them had a main cast character who was depicted as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or 0.1%. This is in contrast to the 1.7% of the US population that are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Latter-day Saints are underrepresented as main characters on US scripted TV shows by 1700%.
This lack of representation contributes to attitudes that Latter-day Saints are foreign, cloistered, and unusual.
One other effect of this lack of representation is that an undue burden is placed on the few Latter-day Saint characters in popular culture to represent the whole.
Latter-day Saints are far from the only religious minority in the United States to face frustrating depictions in popular media. Sikhs, Seventh-day Adventists, Mennonites, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Eastern Orthodox, and Unitarians, among others, are simply left out if not misrepresented.
To read more: Public Square Magazine
