The Terminator 2: Judgment Day

One of the first things I notice about the movie Terminator 2: Judgment Day, is the dark and rugged setting of the majority of places in which the movie takes place. It seems to set the stage for that apocalyptic nuclear explosion in which machines destroy mankind in that it seems that humans have differentiated themselves with each other and their surroundings. A world where emotionless creations become creators seems to eliminate or in this case “terminate” the need for creators bound by the restrictions and limitations of emotions. A world without emotions is a world without aesthetics, ergo this dark and rugged setting seems to be quite appropriate for the movie.

There is a lot of similarities between the character of the Terminator and the deterioration of human as a means of exploitation and capital that many of the authors that we have studied have described. The first time we see the Terminator, is when he appears fully naked in the current time period after traveling from the future.  This suggests that society in the future is devoid of humility and perhaps other emotional or human qualities. The Terminator represents everything that an employer would want in an employee, in that he is completely indifferent to his orders and he does as he is told. This only suggests that the world in the future is one where skill and work are no longer related when it comes to human jobs. The society must be completely dependent on a specific purpose – work.

In fact, the futuristic society described in the movie is controlled by machines, meaning the bosses are machines that are also indifferent to their roles. A world where every object or person is indifferent to its role is a world without purpose at all. An apocalypse or nuclear explosion really makes no difference in a world without emotion or meaning, which is why Sarah and John Conner need to make sure it doesn’t reach that point.