Why Kids Love The Terminator

At the promotional screening for Terminator 3, the studio representative ushered me to my seat in the packed theater. In the chair next to mine was a boy not more than 10 years old along with his teenaged sister and an older woman whom I assume was their mother.

While Arnold was blasting away at the police and the “bad” terminator (a shapely young woman with robotic innards), I would glance at my seat companion. His eyes were glued to the screen and without a flinch he rode this roller coaster of murder, mayhem, and world annihilation.

In a society where young people dismiss any fad more than a few months old, the longevity of the Terminator franchise is a testimony to its compelling nature. Some of the little fans anxious to see the third installment weren’t even born when the second Terminator released in 1991, and it's more likely their parents were the ones who saw the original in the early 1980’s.

Yet, the simple reciting of the three words “I’ll be bach!” in Schwarzenegger’s unique accent will bring instant recognition from the elementary school crowd, many of which have cut their teeth on this series (even though it is rated R by the MPAA), thanks to readily available videotape copies.

When newcomer director James Cameron created the first Terminator in 1984, he worked with a budget of less than $7 million. The surprisingly good profit return put Cameron into the Hollywood driver’s seat and he was given reign over $100 million to create the sequel in 1991. This second movie grossed over a half-billion dollars and cemented the Terminator brand.

But what was even more set in concrete was the unbreakable bond many children felt for the robotic protagonist and John Conner, the underdog character destined to save the world.

This is due in part to the script's clever use of age-old sympathies and vulnerabilities. For instance in Terminator 2, John Connor is a rebellious teen -- an attitude most people his age can empathize with.

His single mother has been sent to a psychiatric institution because she keeps insisting the world will soon be taken over by robots -- thus setting up the typical "orphan" scenario, that plays on the fear of abandonment. (This commonly used ploy can be seen in movies ranging from The Lion King to Cinderella.)

The young boy is desperate. His foster parents are of no use. So when the Terminator (a futuristic robot who has been sent to protect him) comes into his life, Connor sees the multiple machine gun toting tough guy as a father figure. And so does the rest of the young audience.

In Terminator 3, Connor is depicted as 22 years old. Living on the streets in an attempt to hide any identity trail, he suffers from drug dependencies. Yet despite his poor choices, he’s still the man fate says will ultimately save humanity. And when the Terminator walks back into his life, he suddenly has all the power anyone could ask for.

Meanwhile, the Terminator presents a profile that pushes every button a typical young male movie-goer has. This unstoppable buff male android answers to no one. And his wanton destruction of property is justified because he is fighting to save the world. At times he can be quite witty as he contrasts his mechanical logic against human emotions. Finally, he speaks in short sentences with a grade school vocabulary any kid can relate to (“terminate” is one of his most complex words).

Mario F. Kassar, the producer of Terminator 3, captures this allure in a quote from the film’s press package: “The Terminator is not bound by any moral inhibitions… If he needs a car, he gets in the car, he rips out the cables and he takes it. The freedom of that is exhilarating, and people can live vicariously through the Terminator, fantasizing about what it would be like if they didn’t have to live by the laws and moral codes that restrict our behavior.”

Obviously his comments were never intended as criticism toward his movie or to suggest that it encourages irresponsible conduct. But from the perspective of a child not always mature enough to understand or appreciate the necessity of social regulations, who wouldn’t want this kind of power?

Psychologists have long acknowledged children are not born with the ability to detect the differences between fantasy and reality. To them, a monster is really a monster which is why parents often have to reassure their little ones that there is only dust under the bed.

At what age a child is able to make a clear distinction between the world in which he lives and what he sees in movies and television is still a point of debate. But there is much research showing a strong relationship between a hero who is rewarded for his efforts and the likelihood of modeled behavior.

In a March 2003 study published in Developmental Psychology, researcher L. Rowell Huesmann of the University of Michigan observed that all children regardless of money, education, or other influences are affected by the violence they view, especially violence that purports to be real and portrays characters children can identify with.

Even though an accompanying parent or adult guardian will allow anyone under 17 years old admittance into a restricted movie, parents should be careful. If we don't want those Terminator daydreams becoming reality nightmares, we should not assume our children can sort out all the intricacies between fact and fiction, or that they will somehow be immune to the effects of internalizing such violence.

Rod Gustafson