Does Father Really Know Best?

The thing that the two articles and Dyer chapter seem to be picking up about Schwarzenegger's masculinity is the same thing that I did in seeing Terminator 2: contradiction.

The first article -- the Jeffords one -- discusses masculinity at the end of twentieth century, as it is influenced by Reaganism. It then goes on to discuss Kindergarten Cop, and ends with Terminator 2 -- with some analysis of other films of the era in between, particularly Beauty and the Beast and the other action blockbusters of the '90s (Die Hard etc.). In the article, Jeffords argues for seeing Kindergarten Cop and Terminator 2 as an encouragement of the Reaganist family values, specifically fatherood. Admittely, this interpretation includes complex nuances that don't mesh seamlessly -- the violence in the films, and unrealistically extreme machosim, for instance. The contradiction Jeffords sees is summed up with this line: "But whereas Reagan was able to balance the disparate and potentially contradictory interests of a hard-bodied militarism and a warm-hearted familialism, largely through the force of his personal image, George Bush could not manage the same feat."

Indeed, the second article sees a less direct but still present contradiction: "The first Terminator cast Arnold as a transtemporal assassin created by yet another computer out to destroy all human life, while in the second he becomes humanity's cyborg protector." Clearly, Hollywood wants to utilize Schwarzenegger's body, but it does not know how do to that. It is, at the same time, scary, and yet a salvation: a source of both fear and protection, it is represented as both in the same series. Indeed, Dyer points out this same disconnect: "Indeed, audiences do appear to adopt contrasting respones to the heroic body, for where some moviegoers seriously admire the hero's strength, for others the incredibility of his power becomes a source of disdain or laughter."

This contradiction between seriousness and satire can be seen in the casting of Arnold. Usually he is seen as an action hero -- and he is that. But he also starred in films such as Twins and Jingle All The Way that rely utterly on his masculine reputation as a point of humor (the same goes for Kindegarten Cop, the film Jeffords is so interested in).

The other contradiction Dyer sees is between the Terminator masculinity asserting itself as sincere, or as a critique of the falsity and superficiliality of such maschoism.

In seeing Terminator 2, the most striking disparity was between his actual actions, and people's perceptions of him as a father.

Sarah Conner keeps making reference to his role as such -- in one scene in particular, she compares him to alcoholics and absentee fathers, and says how he would never do any of those things. So he is held up as a father figure: both Sarah and John Connor's reluctance to let him self-sacrifice at the end -- for their (aka his proto family's) survival, no less -- indicates this.

And yet the Terminator does nothing to be considered a father figure aside from exist. He saves and protects them, yes, but out of duty not desire (perhaps a critique on fatherhood: it is engaged in not out of desire but feelings of duty? it is the "correct" way to behave?). He does not connect emotionally with them at all -- he cannot. Whenever John opens up to him, detailing his troubled childhood (aka his mom's many men), or his fear, the Terminator responds with apathy: "Aren't you afraid?" "No."

Clearly the Terminator is supposed to be a father figure, but he is so utterly unconnected to everyone else around him that either this is a terrible characterization or the most devastating commentary on the state and role of fatherhood I've ever seen.