Belle Weathers The Storm

How can a young, biracial woman become fully valued in a prejudiced society? 'Belle', based on a true-life story and released at cinemas yesterday (Friday 13 June), places this question in the unlikely setting of 18th-century high society.

The heroine, Dido Elizabeth Belle, is the illegitimate daughter of Captain John Lindsay and a slave woman transported aboard his ship. Lindsay adores his daughter and has brought her safely to England to be raised by his uncle, William Murray, Lord Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice - ‘the most powerful man next to the King’. Belle is brought up alongside her white cousin, Lady Elizabeth, in the sumptuous Georgian surroundings of Kenwood House, Hampstead. They grow up together as sisters, privileged by their family connections, under the loving direction of Lord and Lady Mansfield.

But things are not as black and white as they appear. Inequalities and prejudices soon emerge. Belle is caught between two worlds - too high to be with the servants and too low to dine with the family. Within the Mansfield social circles and polite society, Belle’s race and illegitimate origins also cause unease and embarrassment.

And as she emerges into adulthood, Belle is faced with more inequality and prejudice. This becomes obvious when people wish to find her a potential husband. Not only is Belle’s bloodline to be considered, but wealth, income, property, family name and social connections also dominate the matchmakers’ thinking. Belle wants a man she can love and who loves her and respects her as a true equal. But where will she find him?

All of which raises the question: How do we judge a person’s worth?

Matters come to a head when Lord Mansfield hears a case that involves slaves on a ship being thrown overboard to their deaths. What value would be given to their lives? All eyes are on him, awaiting his verdict.

As 'Belle' is set in the 1700s, it is easy to judge the characters and their motives from a 21st-century perspective. But could our modern attitudes towards a person be affected not only by their ethnicity, but also by their age, job, car, clothes or house? We might argue that such things help us to know who someone is, but they can become false measures by which we judge a person’s value - or lack of it.

When people judge us falsely, it hurts. When we are misunderstood, disrespected or misrepresented, become the object of prejudice or are made to feel worthless, it hurts. But there is good news. The Bible tells us that we matter to God. He values us so much that he wants to connect with us. In fact, we are so precious to God that he sent his Son, Jesus, to show us what God is like and how we can be united with him. One Bible writer says: ‘God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16 New Living Translation). The key word is ‘everyone’.

Jesus, Son of God, suffered and died for us all, irrespective of our age, sex, ethnicity, status or circumstances. Why would he, if we did not mean the world to him? Does he matter to us - enough to believe in him?

UK & Ireland War Cry 14 June 2014