'The Terminator': Obligatory Scene, Labyrinth and Cosmic Connections

OBLIGATORY SCENE

The viewer suspects the obligatory scene in James Cameron’s 1984 science-fiction thriller The Terminator to deal with a final showdown between the seemingly unstoppable, malevolent cyborg and the compassionate human freedom fighter. The freedom fighter Kyle Reese states that he is on a mission to deter the killer cyborg from killing the mother of an important future insurgency leader. The viewer expects a scene to occur in which the success of his mission is determined. This final showdown is also expected, in part, because of the clear moral polarity between these two characters.

LABYRINTH

The labyrinth, or maze structure, of The Terminator is determined primarily by the indestructable nature of the futuristic cyborg. He is scarcely presented with a challenge by the legal authorities or general members of the society as presented by the film. Therefore, his character is given near-absolute freedom to pursue his fleeing protagonist prey, unhindered due to his extraordinary strength, superior technological armaments and moral indifference. Moreover, the spatial dimension of the labyrinthine structure of the film is shown when the practically unstoppable cyborg manages to pursue his protagonists into an increasingly confining manufacturing plant and ultimately through a mechanical compressing apparatus.

COSMIC CONNECTIONS

The cosmic connections between the externally presented attributes of characters/environments and their inner state/meaning are plentiful in The Terminator. The following are some examples:

• In the first scene, when the cyborg first arrives in the present day (1984), we experience the event alongside the bewildered reaction of an old Black garbage truck driver. This suggests a number of characteristics about the society: first, the human representative of this society is easily frightened by the unusual; works a menial, sedentary job; and most importantly, has their origin in their present country of residence through a history of slavery and dehumanization.

• Throughout the film, the viewer is given glimpses of the metallic, mechanical interior of the cyborg. The organless, bloodless quality of his interiors suggest a total lack of human qualities, such as compassion and fraternity, typically associated with the blood and warmth of a human being’s inner fluids and parts.

• In the final scene of the film, the surviving protagonist Sarah O’Connor is warned of an approaching metereological storm. With the viewer now having an understanding of the inevitable war between man and machine, the encroaching storm represents and foreshadows the very deep plight between mankind and their technology.