Sarah Connor

This is going to seem like an odd one. To take a challenge that asks you to think about women who have inspired you and choose a fictional character is perhaps unorthodox. It may not meet the criteria. But then often, neither do I.

I can remember the first time that I saw The Terminator. It terrified me. Imagine being faced with a foe who just will not stop. Who is intent on killing you and that that is the only reason that they exist. Who you think you have dealt with and yet, they still keep coming. Over and over and over again.

There are so many layers to an interpretation of this film:

1. On the surface, it is a futuristic sci-fi thriller which warns of the perils of Artificial Intelligence;

2. Metaphorically, it is about fighting something which doggedly pursues you, despite the fight that you put up - addiction, anxiety, depression to name a few;

3. It is about not giving in when faced with a challenge that seems insurmountable and facing it, even if it means that you may get hurt.

Sarah Connor in the first Terminator film is a mouse. She is thrown into this maelstrom of uncertainty and survival and has none of the skills to be able to combat her foes. She is an innocent, running scared, who is reliant on a man to save her. She shows spirit but I picture her wide-eyed, being dragged hither and thither by Kyle Reese as the determined destructive tread of the Terminator follows and pursues.

It is not for this reason that I write. Detailing the heroism of a woman who is essentially being rescued by a man, albeit a rather handsome brave one is not inspiring.

However, her transformation in Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the reason that I am writing.

I don't know how old I was when I saw this film for the first time. I didn't have kids; it came out in 1991 so I would have been in my late teens but I don't think I saw it until I was in my early twenties.

It created in me all of the gut-swirling tension that the first film did. It is unsettling me now as I write this, thinking about it. That enemy who will not leave you alone; who is determined to bring you down, snuff you out, no matter the cost. You cannot plead; you cannot reason. There is no rationale for mercy in them. You can only run or fight and either course may result in failure. Failure may further result in the death of those you love. It has more intensity for me now than ever.

I remember the scene where we first see Sarah Connor after she has been institutionalised. Her spoutings about killer robots from the future have landed her here. I described her as a mouse from her depiction in the first film but that person is no longer here.

In her place, is someone taut, determined and resolute. She is pulling herself up on a bar - I'm sure that there is a technical name for this - and she is muscular and fit. More than that, there is a stoicism to her that is palpable from the expression on her face and her bearing. This woman knows what she will have to confront and despite her fears, she is going to face that down. Not only is she going to face it, she is going to be ready. She is going to fight and she is making sure that she is going to be at her strongest in order to protect herself and, perhaps more importantly, her son.

When I saw this, I was uplifted beyond measure. Here was a woman who knew, knew, that she was in extreme danger, it dominating her every day. But she wasn't hiding. She was preparing. She was going to face it with everything that she had in her power and she was making sure that she was at her optimal so that when the challenge came, as it would inevitably, she'd be a wall and she'd make it as difficult as she could for her enemy to achieve their goal and harm her loved one.

So, how am I inspired? I often think about the way the world is going and I feel dread. I do. I try not to but I do. War, terrorism, economics over environment, racism, bigotry. I think about conscription as a mother of two boys. I think about apocalypses and whether I'll live to see one or live to come out of one. I fear. This is when I think of Sarah Connor.

Please never let it happen but give me the courage of Sarah if it does.