Culture The Terminator Scene That Aged Poorly

Looper (Archive) - December 13, 2021
by, Carolyn Jenkins

"The Terminator" had a multitude of timelines, sequels, and reboots, proving that James Cameron's story of a robot war and a messiah meant to stop it continues to resonate for generations of fans. The original 1984 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger maintains a 100% critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes. And while "The Terminator" has many elements that have stood the test of time, not everything about it is perfect.

Most recently, the 2019 film "Terminator: Dark Fate" course-corrected many original elements that may not have aged well. Female representation is present even more than in the first film, as new Terminator Grace (Mackenzie Davis) defends her female counterpart Dani (Natalia Reyes) in the movie. "Terminator: Dark Fate" was also praised for calling out its sexism (via The Hollywood Reporter). Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) assumes that Dani is the mother of another messiah. Instead, it is revealed Dani herself is the messiah and is meant to lead the human race into salvation. This addition to the franchise has made some aspects of the original film more palatable. Even with this correction, one scene from "The Terminator" is more jarring the more times you watch it.

Sarah's personality changes in the last scene

In the span of a movie franchise that has spanned over three decades, Sarah Connor is considered a feminist icon by many. Director James Cameron has lauded his character for her contribution to feminism. "She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit," Cameron said in an interview with The Guardian. But as Patty Jenkins pointed out on Twitter, women can be more than one thing. This makes Sarah's sudden transformation in the final scene of "The Terminator" a poor representation of women.

After Sarah learns that her son John is meant to lead the human resistance in a fight against machines, she immediately sheds all femininity. In the movie's final scene, Sarah is suddenly hard and tough, with all previous traces of her personality erased. Many fans on Twitter agree that this has not aged well. "James Cameron subscribes to the problematic & entangled Ripley/Sarah Connor movie trope that strong women have to act/look a certain way," states @JBraverman1 on Twitter. Some fans on Reddit agree to this point. "Notice that the characters they cite as 'strong female characters' are basically characters who are strong in spite of being women than strong because they're women," says Redditor u/rattatatouille. This scene implies that in order to be significant, women have to act more like men and give up any traits that are coded as feminine.

 

[Zero Day Defense]

I like how they admit that their view of femininity is to be a useless sack of shit deadweight when SHTF. Learning skills that will be useful to accomplish goals and attacking the problem head-on is masculine, apparently.

They secretly worship masculinity while cursing femininity, despite them presenting as doing the opposite.

That idea was recently expressed to me, but you saying this put it in perspective.

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

They secretly worship masculinity while cursing femininity, despite them presenting as doing the opposite.

That idea was recently expressed to me, but you saying this put it in perspective.

No, no, you don't get it. She should be able to use compassion and empathy to talk to the Terminator and show it that it's racist and sexist ways are a detriment to humanity and robotkind.

Then do a spinning back kick and totally jump up, wrap her legs around its head, and drag it onto the ground, where it will have to run FEMINISM.EXE and then shut down.

 

[Coldgrip]

How do you show femininity in a fight?

Flying Peach.

 

[SITHRAK!]

How the fuck is she supposed to act when she’s seen a man die for her and she’s learned there’s an inevitable war on the way and that she could be attacked at any time by nigh-invulnerable time travelling robots? I’d be hardening up as well.

Fucking feminists are never happy.

 

[ColtWalker1847]

They secretly worship masculinity while cursing femininity, despite them presenting as doing the opposite.

That idea was recently expressed to me, but you saying this put it in perspective.

Their views on femininity is that it is some kind of gender-based suspended childhood where they get to be the pretty princess and doted on forever. That it inherently lacks agency as it's nature of being mild and passive and weak will always be trampled by "masculine" traits. Having a backbone is not feminine.

This is all bullshit, of course. It's just how they see themselves and project it onto all women so that they don't have to be accountable for their own failures.

 

[Snekposter]

This same arc is then repeated in the second movie with John's character.

I can understand why they cut out the scene where he talks his mom into sparing the Terminator for time, but god damn does it add to both of their arcs.

 

[JK Rowling]

I cannot fathom why anyone would think Sarah Connor was hard and unfeminine in the final scene. "In the few hours that we had together, we loved enough for a lifetime ", yeah that's real hard-nosed.

 

[JohnDoe]

I can understand why they cut out the scene where he talks his mom into sparing the Terminator for time, but god damn does it add to both of their arcs.

They also cut the dream sequence where she sees Kyle, which is a shame, it's super heartfelt and really shows the pain she's in while locked up.

 

[Snekposter]

They also cut the dream sequence where she sees Kyle, which is a shame, it's super heartfelt and really shows the pain she's in while locked up.

Oh yeah. Great stuff in those cut scenes. I understand why they cut them, but daaaamn.

 

[Dom Cruise]

This is such a great example of how ironically sexist Woke morons are.

Also, when is Ripley ever not feminine? At the end of the first movie she's in tiny little panties and a flimsy tank top, at the end of the second movie she's pure mama bear energy with "get away from her, you bitch!"

 

[DoomsdayElite]

If Sarah was transformed into such a hard-bitten individual, why did she stop herself from killing Dyson in T2? She backed away, horrified at herself. This is such an astoundingly idiotic take. And who gives a shit what some emotionally stunted, mentally fucking retarded mouthbreathers from Twitter and Reddit have to say? Their opinions are worth less than dogshit.

 

[Grand Wizard Wakka]

When shit hits the fan, makeup, dresses, long fingernails and friendly, compassionate attitudes are the first shit to go unless you want to die.

"But those are what DEFINE a female. Genitals are irrelevant though." - modern feminism

 

[Duke Nukem]

The franchise met a Dark Fate and is never coming back.

It is a shame because the original 1984 release and its 1990 sequel were some of my favorite movies growing up.

There was an alternate ending scene, I think for Terminator 2, showing Arnold on the Harley Davidson with John Connor going to the future to infiltrate the Skynet system core. I can't find it, but to me...

That is the true ending.

 

[Damocles_Sword]

Of course feminists would hate a woman having agency. Sarah should never have had to grow up, have a baby and stop clubbing.

 

[make_it_so]

The franchise met a Dark Fate and is never coming back.

It is a shame because the original 1984 release and its 1990 sequel were some of my favorite movies growing up.

There was an alternate ending scene, I think for Terminator 2, showing Arnold on the Harley Davidson with John Connor going to the future to infiltrate the Skynet system core. I can't find it, but to me...

That is the true ending.

Nah, you're thinking of the Terminator 3D experience at Universal Studios.

 

[Duke Nukem]

Nah, you're thinking of the Terminator 3D experience at Universal Studios.

Well in any case, it's the true ending.

And you'll never convince me otherwise.

 

[Standardized Profile]

How the fuck is she supposed to act when she’s seen a man die for her and she’s learned there’s an inevitable war on the way and that she could be attacked at any time by nigh-invulnerable time travelling robots?

Obviously by being a better ally for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ persons. That's always how one is supposed to act. This toughen up, take responsibility for yourself and the future bullshit is pure white feminism, and that's just another name for white supremacy.

 

[Troutsmacked]

Terminator 1 and 2 are classics. Everything afterward is shit with each new entry being worse than the last. After the one where young Sarah Connor was actually raised by the Terminator like her father in some alternate reality or some shit I refused to sit through anything else with "Terminator" printed on the poster. Never saw the last one and have no plans to because holy shit the ads for it looked like a woke stronk womyn pile of garbage.

 

[TowinKarz]

So, not being prepared the first time you're thrown "in the shit" but ready the next time is "problematic"?

Look, what she does? It's not a feminist reaction, it's a HUMAN reaction...

Everyone who isn't a sociopath can relate to hiding under a desk because an unstoppable murder-machine from the future is after you and only yards away, having slaughtered EVERYONE who said they'd protect you from it......

It's what made the gritty original so great, no quips, no one-liners, no pop culture references, just cowering in pure, mortal panic that you are about to die and nothing can stop it..... and only your animal flight instinct is still working, if that. You could really feel that thing bearing down on the back of your neck.

But, like any menace, once you've survived it and gotten a chance to observe it, you aren't going to be scared next time, in fact, you'll probably be damn ANGRY the next time. Come after me? Kill everyone I know and love? Including my own child? I'll SHOW YOU.

Her reaction is completely understandable, logical and realistic for the given circumstance. That's what makes it a great film, she doesn't act like a hand-wringing academic's wet dream of a "proper" woman, she acts like a REAL PERSON would.

The woke fundamentally don't understand people.... or humanity.... what great tragedy seems to have broken them all?

 

[Ita Mori]

Not surprising Soys and wokescolds don't like T1.
Sarah Connor here is a feminine woman who is unprepared for the horrors that await and thus entrusts herself to a masculine man who swears to protect her, eventually submitting herself to him, and from that love finds the strength to become the badass she is destined to be.

It basically goes against their entire socio-political views, lol.