Nickelodeon has announced the cancellation of its hit show Sam & Cat after just one season. The reason wasn’t given, but everyone knew the show had some issues.
Earlier this year, star Jennette McCurdy—who played the tough-talking semi-bad girl Sam—posted some revealing selfies to the Internet. Shortly thereafter, she skipped Nick’s Kids’ Choice Awards (even though she was nominated for favorite TV actress), blaming Nick’s treatment of her. There were rumors, too, that she and co-star Ariana Grande, who played the naive, sometimes ditzy Cat, weren’t getting along.
All of that’s typical tawdry showbiz stuff, and while regrettable, it’s not unique. And while all that stuff is important for parents to note, it’s not really my point here.
After the program was cancelled, it was co-star Ariana who offered some pretty remarkable thoughts on her character, Cat—and how that fictional character impacted her, the real-life actress. Here’s some of what she wrote on her Facebook page:
When I was younger, people loved Cat so much I used to pretend to be more like her. It took me a long time to be brave enough to separate myself and show people how different we actually are. I think that’s honestly because I admire her so much. Her appreciation for life and everybody she encounters. Her passion and genuine excitement for the little things that most people dread like school projects and work. She always saw negative obstacles as opportunities to make things good.
I will always hold Cat near and dear to my heart and appreciate her help in my personal growth from teenager to adult. I know she seems like a simple, daft character (and she is) but she played such a huge part in my life. I think a lot of people could take a page out of her book. … She never held back her enthusiasm or joy for fear of appearing some sort of way or for fear of jinxing the good that is real.
One of my favorite things about Cat was that she never lost her sense of wonder. As we grow up we become more and more jaded and fearful of how we come across. We hold back a little more, protect ourselves a little more and although Cat goes through the same ridicule as anybody else does growing up, she never changed or lost her childlike wonder. … To me she is actually a lot smarter, stronger and braver than all the rest of us.
It’s fascinating to me that Grande learned something from a character that she brought to life. That somehow this fictional being … just words on a page and an image in an actress’s mind … became real enough to teach her a lesson or two. It reminds me that telling stories is a remarkable, mysterious act—and one that we must remember impacts us in strange, almost unfathomable ways.
But it also strikes me that Cat exemplified some aspects of what we should strive to be as Christians: honest, appreciative, fearless and full of wonder.
It’s more than a little ironic that secular culture as a whole sometimes sees Christians as I saw Cat: as naive, clueless, out of touch. We’re so aware of those cultural perceptions that some of us do whatever we can to dispel them. We can become a little like Sam, Cat’s foil on Sam & Cat: Our humor can be cynical and cutting. We can try to exude a too-cool-for-school vibe.
Maybe being a little world-wise isn’t a bad thing. Matthew 10:16 tells us that we need to be “as shrewd as serpents,” after all. But it also tells us to be as “innocent as doves.” And to me, that means never losing that sense of wonder for God’s creation. To be open and loving. To be honest even with ourselves—to be willing to throw your arms out wide and tell the world, “Here I am.”
And the more I write, the more I wonder if maybe Ariana is onto something here. That Cat had a lesson to teach us all.
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