Analysis Of The Movie 'The Terminator'

The 1980’s brought about a change to movies after Americas’ loss in the Vietnam War. In the light of this, America felt that their masculinity was in question. In result, Hollywood responded to these feelings by making movies that had strong male characters, known as “hard bodies” (Sklar 346). Furthermore, according to Movie Made America, the characteristics of a hard body are “heroic, aggressive, and determined” (Sklar 346). One such movie that exhibits this is the Terminator, directed by James Cameron and released in 1984. The movie is about Sarah Conner, a teenager, who is being hunted by the Terminator, a robot sent from the future to kill her. In the first and the last scene featuring the Terminator, two hard body characteristics, aggression

and determination, can be seen.
In the first scene the first hard body characteristic⎯ aggression⎯ can be seen. The scene opens with the Terminator in an alley naked and knelling. The Terminator can be seen exploring his surroundings when happens to finds a gang of three men, who start to ridicule him for his nakedness. The Terminator demands their cloths and the men respond by drawing knives on him. The aggressive response of the Terminator is seen when he immediately responds with extreme violence by ripping out the heart of one of the men. This portrayal of aggression fits with one of the characteristics of a hard body character.
Whereas aggression was observed in the first scene, determination can be seen in the second scene. Opening with the Terminator chasing Sarah down with a semi-truck, which busts into flames, we see the determination of the Terminator Even when his flesh began melt, he continued walking toward Sarah. The scene switches between the Terminator and Sarah several times to build the tension, and to show the determination of the Terminator. This is the second characteristic that makes a hard body character.
The masculinity of males in America may have been questioned, but Hollywood projected to the world that males were strong, aggressive, and determined even in light of their defeat in Vietnam.