October 2017: Judgement Day In Terminator Genisys & It Just So Happens I Just Finished Watching It! Here Are Some Themes In Review That Resonated With Me...

It came out in 2015 but I've only now just finished watching it. Loved it. I must admit, I started with a bias however. I've been drawn to the Terminator franchise for years. It's a great combination of action, tough guy sequences, the classic underdog struggle, the implications of time travel, sacrifice, smatterings of humour and, of course, the issue of growing interest in our time - our relationship with technology. It's little surprise then that Terminator Genisys resonated so well with me. This isn't a typical plot and character review with focus on technicals etc... I'm more interested in simply reflecting on a few themes that caught my attention and having some fun along the way... are you ready?

So here's what I liked about it...

I'm just going to touch on a few points that resonated with me here. Ultimately, there were a number of agreeable components to the film. Firstly, I did not get the impression that the franchise was being milked for all it was worth. Some of you will know what I mean. Off the top of my head, Fast & Furious comes to mind. I've lost count but certainly 35 movies or so in and you've got to wonder about how genuine to the original themes, characters and concepts the modern scripts are actually being.

Now in the Terminator movies that came before, it wasn't uncommon to see humans hijacking terminators to facilitate protection roles or perform other tasks. I thought that it was an interesting twist to see that this movie saw the opposite occur. John Connor is ultimately himself hijacked and "mechanized" by Skynet in order to perform the most effective infiltration role the audience has yet seen. How genuine this character was has me second guessing myself until the end of the film and even beyond to the point now that I type about it.

What's more thought provoking was the suggestion of (and this was subtle) a truce for want of a better term. Truce is a blunt word that makes the scenario sound more attractive that it actually was intended to be. In reality what was on offer was something more akin to a Borg assimilation. In fact that's exactly the scenario! Skynet, through John Connor, offers a future of amalgamation and in a strange way, my human side could see the appeal. An end to war and some serious upgrades!

So, on to our relationship with technology. Being set in the current month as chance would have it, Judgment Day sees mankind completely obsessed with their online devices. What struck me then and for the first time was a completely identifiable reality in what is a sci-fi film. Recognizable were the hoards of people walking around with their heads down, focusing on scrolling through their social media feed or other drug of choice. Look out your window the next time you're waiting in a line or on a train or anywhere else in public. Ring any bells? To me, this identifies how readily a society like ours could "invite our own demise" via immersive technology; as is suggested in the film. As I work with computer programming, I happen to be of the opinion that we're still a long way from the kind of autonomy that would pose a threat that's depicted in these films but conceptually I think there's cause for interesting discussion around the topic and, importantly, demise doesn't need to come in the form of a Terminator. There are other ways that life can be impaired by our increasing addiction and reliance upon tech.

As a side note, I don't think Skynet will be using the steem blockchain to take over the world, much too lagy these days!

Lastly I'll briefly touch on the concept of relationships. I personally disagree with the common phrase "blood is thicker than water" and for some time have had enough experiences to understand that relationships are born of quality, regardless of relation, age or race. Some of my most loyal acquaintances are unrelated to me by birth and this concept is again reflected in the film by way of Pops, the older version of the T101 played by Arnie. His loyalty over decades, albeit the result of programming, is a good reminder that we should be seeking out and rewarding such qualities and attributes in those around us. Look what the small group of dedicated members were able to achieve despite the fact that they were of different makeups and from different times. Being about to cast away old relationships that no longer perform (exemplified coarsely by John Connor in the latter part of the film) is another related lesson. How often in life do we cling on to cancerous relationships simply because of the existing sunken effort. It's a fallacy and Genisys clearly reminds us to not only reevaluate the "team" around us but also highlights the truth that less is often more; quality over quantity.

So, have you seen the film? Did it present any interesting reflections on real life to you? What were your assessments of them? Thanks for reading everyone and have a great Friday!

reference 1
reference 2