Terminator 2: Judgment Day’s Secret Message About Cops You Never Noticed

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Terminator 2: Judgment Day, produced by filmmaker James Cameron in 1991 as a sequel to his 1984 hit The Terminator, continues to be celebrated as a standout in both the science fiction and action genres. Many critics and fans believe it surpasses its predecessor, with its groundbreaking special effects, thrilling action scenes, and enduring themes about the potential perils of our growing dependence on artificial intelligence contributing to its lasting appeal, even after more than three decades since its release.

However, it’s worth noting that “Terminator 2” didn’t just caution us about AI, but also subtly addressed broader social issues. In numerous interviews, director James Cameron has emphasized that the menacing villain, the T-1000 (played by Robert Patrick), donning an LAPD uniform wasn’t coincidental. This costume choice was intended to be a subtle critique of how police officers are sometimes trained to become machines, focusing on violence and brutality. Regrettably, these themes resonated powerfully even before the film’s release, when footage emerged of several LAPD officers beating Rodney King, a Black man. The incident sparked nationwide protests and riots.

Cops and Robots

In “T2”, the focus shifts to Sarah Connor, the heroine from the first film, and her teenage son John (played by Edward Furlong). The unyielding Terminator, the T-1000, is dispatched to halt John’s growth into a leader of humanity in their future battle against Skynet, an advanced AI supercomputer, and its robot army of Terminators, including the T-1000 itself.

The T-1000, as its title implies, outshines the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who too was sent back in time to safeguard John. What sets it apart is its remarkable skill to flawlessly mimic any individual or surface it comes into contact with. Though it primarily assumes the shape of a male human wearing an LAPD officer’s uniform throughout the movie, it swiftly eliminates this officer upon arrival from the future.

As stated by Chris Klimek of The Dissolve, it was Stan Winston who determined that the T-1000 should have a standard form for ease of recognition among the audience. However, it was James Cameron who conceived the idea that this form would be disguised as a police officer. This disguise serves to heighten the T-1000’s menace, as it can infiltrate any location and question anyone without suspicion due to its authority and the assumption that a cop is simply doing their duty. The film’s narrative also suggests that John has a criminal background, making such police inquiries less conspicuous.

However, this choice of costume also carries some thought-provoking undertones regarding the cold, violent nature of American law enforcement institutions. As Cameron expressed to author Rebecca Keegan in his biography, “Police officers often view non-police as inferior, seeing them as stupid, weak, and evil. They dehumanize the people they are supposed to protect and harden themselves to do so.

T2’s Grim Timeliness

It didn’t take much time for Cameron’s assumptions about policing in America to prove true. During the final weeks of Terminator 2‘s production, a young African American man named Rodney King was stopped by L.A. police for suspected DUI. Despite being unarmed, the officers brutally attacked him with their batons numerous times. King survived but suffered severe injuries, including a fractured skull. A person named George Holliday filmed the beating from his apartment balcony on a video camera and sent it to a local news station, which later spread to national broadcasts. The assault, followed by the acquittal of the officers involved, ignited widespread protests and riots in L.A.

Interestingly enough, the very same tape that Holliday mailed to the station happened to include his personal recordings of the cast and crew from the set of T2, which was shooting a bar scene not far from where the Rodney King beating occurred. Intriguingly, Cameron himself addressed the Rodney King incident and its connection to the themes in T2 during an interview with the Los Angeles Times on the day of its premiere: “It’s almost poetic justice that in a film where the LAPD are portrayed as a dehumanized force, such an event like the Rodney King beating takes place.

The portrayal of the LAPD in the film is just as unsympathetic as that of the T-1000, a robot created solely for killing, which speaks volumes. It’s notable that in this movie, the LAPD shoots an unarmed Black man, portrayed by Joe Morton. Klimek argues that T2 was one of the early Hollywood films to present law enforcement in an unheroic manner. He points out that, except for those who were following N.W.A. or Public Enemy in the late 1980s, unfavorable police depictions in popular culture were not common.

Retaining Our Humanity

The well-known phrase connected to Rodney King’s beating was spoken by none other than King himself at a press conference during the riots: “Can we all get along?” Remarkably, Cameron aimed to convey the same message in Terminator 2. He expressed this intention in the film’s DVD commentary, stating that “The Terminator films are not primarily about the human race being destroyed by future machines. Instead, they explore the idea of us losing our humanity and transforming into machines, which leads to us hurting and brutalizing each other.

Klimek contends that the evolution of Sarah Connor and the T-800 in the films mirrors a theme where they both develop characteristics opposite to their initial personas. Sarah transforms from a civilian into a soldier/Terminator, culminating in an attempt to kill Skynet’s creator in front of his family to prevent war, despite her increasing desensitization to violence. Conversely, the T-800, initially perceived as emotionless and inhuman, develops a paternal bond with John and defies its programming to only kill, demonstrating a degree of humanity that transcends its exposure to violence. The question then becomes whether real-life individuals can also rise above their desensitization to violence and retain their humanity.

You can watch “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” for free by clicking on this link, as it is available on Pluto TV.

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2025-02-09 21:32