Terminator Quibbling

WARNING! QUASI-OBSESSIVE PEDANTRY AHEAD!

In the midst of this copyright-infringement lawsuit story, I came across the following:

In T2, Schwarzenegger played a kinder, gentler Terminator sent back in time to protect a teenage John Connor (Edward Furlong) from the newer, deadlier robot killer.

This is simply not accurate.

In The Terminator, Schwarzenegger played a cyborg programmed to relentlessly chase and kill his assigned prey. He was also programmed to damage or destroy anyone and anything that gets in his way, if necessary. He was programmed by Cyberdyne with an explicitly anti-human tilt.

In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Schwarzenegger played a cyborg captured and subsequently reprogrammed by rebel forces to protect young Conner from the T1000. He retained his battle skills and the trademark Terminator ruthlessness, but the rebels added a higher directive than human slaughter: follow Conner's orders. As Schwarzenegger says, it is "one of my mission parameters."

Neither iteration of Schwarzeneggerian Terminator has lost it's basic code. Neither of them go out of their way to kill and hurt humans because their primary mission is more important. Tangential rampages aren't in their programming. The second Schwarzenegger isn't any less a killer, a fighter, or a brute and this is demonstrated in several places.

The opening bar/diner fight where he fights three men. One guys gets a crushed hand and a stay on a hot grill. A second is thrown bodily through a large window. A third is stabbed with his own knife.

The scene where Schwarzenegger explains what's going on to Conner.

TERMINATOR: You are targeted for termination. The T-1000
will not stop until it complete its mission. Ever.

JOHN: Where we going?

TERMINATOR: We have to leave the city, immediately. And avoid the authorities.

JOHN: Can I stop by my house?

TERMINATOR: Negative. The T-1000 will definitely try to reacquire you there.

JOHN: You sure?

TERMINATOR: I would.

The scene with the jocks in the alley. Schwarzenegger tosses one dude over a car hood and comes this close to blasting one guy with his .45 handgun.

JOHN: Jesus... you were gonna kill that guy!

TERMINATOR: Of course. I'm a terminator.

JOHN: Listen to me, very carefully, okay? You're not a terminator any more. Alright? You got that? You can't just go around killing people!

TERMINATOR: Why?

JOHN: Whattaya mean, why? 'Cause you can't!

TERMINATOR: Why?

JOHN: You just can't, okay? Trust me on this.

This demonstrates Conner's order for Schwarzenegger to override one of his internal routines. It is no longer OK to kill anyone without due cause, even if Conner's health or Schwarzenegger's operation are threatened by others. Later on, when they reach the psychiatric facility where his mother is, Conner stages a ceremony:

JOHN: Now remember, you're not gonna kill anyone, right?

TERMINATOR: Right.

JOHN: Swear.

TERMINATOR: What?

JOHN: Just say "I swear I won't kill anyone."

TERMINATOR: I swear I will not kill anyone.

Of course, Schwarzenegger then proceeds to blast a guard in the leg with the .45 in order to enter the facility.

Sarah Conner's first contact with Schwarzenegger. The facility orderlies get the raw end of the deal with they attempt to stop Schwarzenegger from grabbing Sarah. They don't get stomped, but he isn't nice with'em.

Escaping the facility. Schwarzenegger flings the driver of a security vehicle quite hard into a concrete support column in the parking garage.

Recuperating at the closed gas station.

TERMINATOR: I have detailed files on human anatomy.

SARAH: I'll bet. Makes you a more efficient killer, right?

TERMINATOR: Correct.

After this point, Sarah and her son reprogram Schwarzenegger to accept learning instructions into his CPU and retain them in memory. He becomes even more conscious of his actions upon human life, probably leading to Josh Grossberg's assertion quoted above. The Terminator does make deliberate efforts to be nicer to the folks in his path.

This new attention to humanity, however, doesn't stop him from plugging a number of SWAT guys in the leg with the .45 and from pulling off their gas masks, exposing them to thick CS gas during the escape from the Cyberdyne building. Certainly better than impaling them to death with a mimetic polyalloy spike that extends from your finger; certainly better than dying violently from a blizzard of automatic weapons fire; but still not very kind or gentle.

QUASI-OBSESSIVE PEDANTRY OVER!

Posted by Drizzten at August 18, 2005 01:51 PM