Elisabeth Sladen - 1948-2011
You know what I loved about Sarah Jane?
She was vulnerable -- in a more genuine way than most “vulnerable” literary or media characters -- but she didn’t let that stop her. When she went exploring in dangerous areas, or made jokes in life-threatening situations, or refused to turn back or hide, she wasn’t doing those things because she wasn’t actually afraid, or because she had some special confidence in her own ability to win. She was doing it because she wasn’t going to let her fear or confusion control her actions.
And her fear was eminently reasonable. When I take a couple steps back and imagine what it would actually be like to be a regular person riding around in the TARDIS, I think I’d usually be some combination of terrified and confused, while still recognizing it all as an exhilarating opportunity not to be missed. I can only hope I’d be as determined as she was to get as much out of it as possible, no matter how worried I might be.
Sarah wasn’t Tegan, who rarely seemed to enjoy where she was or what she was doing, and who should have been dropped back home as soon as possible. She wasn’t Nyssa, whose preferred means of dealing with stress seemed to be to become even more determinedly rational, and whose advanced knowledge and personal processing power made her situation different, I think, from your average person’s. She definitely wasn’t Ace. :) But we can’t all be Ace, nor should most of us be, I think.
Too often, I think people hear “don’t be afraid” or “conquer your fear” and somehow expect that acting on those words will turn them into the hero of the story. No, not always. Not usually, I suspect. Probably not often. But whether you fail or not, if you actually do what you know you should, even when it’s hard, at least you can be the kind of person you want to be. And that alone can lead to some pretty cool stuff happening.
I never met Elisabeth Sladen, but I did love her work. I hope she was happy with her life.
She was vulnerable -- in a more genuine way than most “vulnerable” literary or media characters -- but she didn’t let that stop her. When she went exploring in dangerous areas, or made jokes in life-threatening situations, or refused to turn back or hide, she wasn’t doing those things because she wasn’t actually afraid, or because she had some special confidence in her own ability to win. She was doing it because she wasn’t going to let her fear or confusion control her actions.
And her fear was eminently reasonable. When I take a couple steps back and imagine what it would actually be like to be a regular person riding around in the TARDIS, I think I’d usually be some combination of terrified and confused, while still recognizing it all as an exhilarating opportunity not to be missed. I can only hope I’d be as determined as she was to get as much out of it as possible, no matter how worried I might be.
Sarah wasn’t Tegan, who rarely seemed to enjoy where she was or what she was doing, and who should have been dropped back home as soon as possible. She wasn’t Nyssa, whose preferred means of dealing with stress seemed to be to become even more determinedly rational, and whose advanced knowledge and personal processing power made her situation different, I think, from your average person’s. She definitely wasn’t Ace. :) But we can’t all be Ace, nor should most of us be, I think.
Too often, I think people hear “don’t be afraid” or “conquer your fear” and somehow expect that acting on those words will turn them into the hero of the story. No, not always. Not usually, I suspect. Probably not often. But whether you fail or not, if you actually do what you know you should, even when it’s hard, at least you can be the kind of person you want to be. And that alone can lead to some pretty cool stuff happening.
I never met Elisabeth Sladen, but I did love her work. I hope she was happy with her life.