Terminator producer Gale Anne Hurd was recognized by the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland with an award for Best Producer for her contribution to film. As Terminator Fans, I’m sure that we are all very aware of just how much Gale’s involvement in the franchise helped to shape the mythos of the Terminator universe; fleshing out the story and its characters alongside James Cameron and William Wisher Jr.
Following the recent Variety interview about the future of the Terminator franchise, Gale also spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the first Terminator movie, and the fact that it was told through the female gaze, with the focus being on Sarah Connor’s story…
“Two of your best-known films as a producer are James Cameron’s The Terminator (1984) and Aliens (1986), movies considered transformational in terms of their portrayal of female characters in the sci-fi and action genres.”
THR
“Well, I have to say, it certainly wasn’t intentional. It’s not like Jim [James Cameron] and I sat down and said, “OK, we’re going to carve out this niche and we’re going to transform an industry.” It was literally about what is the best story to tell? Jim and I had conversations about this, about how we could get a unique way into these stories because there have been so many active male characters in these kinds of films but far fewer female characters. The interesting thing, a theme that tends to be pervasive throughout my career, regardless of whether it’s television or documentaries, is that of ordinary people thrust into extraordinary circumstances who often doubt their ability to rise to the challenge. In the case of The Terminator, to not only survive but save all of humanity.
Gale Anne Hurd
It was wonderful to be able to tell that story through the female gaze. The Terminator film was actually accepted even more so than Aliens, because Sarah Connor started out as an everyday young woman, working as a waitress at a coffee shop, never thinking that she had the skills to become this fighter. And it was told in the context of a love story. Yes, the movie is called The Terminator. And, yes, it was probably sold as the story of The Terminator and Arnold Schwarzenegger. But it is truly her story.
With Aliens, on the other hand, was we were attacked by a number of critics. I remember specifically an Austrian critic who basically said “this is preposterous. Women would never be able to rise to the challenge in warfare and they would be cowering in the corner while the big guy with the gun protected them.” I told him: “I have female relatives in Israel [who served in the military] and they could take you out, I’m sure, pretty easily.” But there was an interesting difference. Because we got to see Sarah Connor’s journey whereas Ridley Scott’s first film [Alien] set up her Sigourney Weaver’s character Ripley. In our film, she was the reluctant heroine, in the Joseph Campbell mode, but she wanted to go back and save other people from an experience that she knew was going to happen. If she didn’t come along, there was no way that mission was going to be successful.”
Gale’s input into the first movie is apparent in the way that Sarah Connor reacts and responds to what is happening around her, the character is soft and naïve without being disingenuous, and her interactions with Kyle Reese are delicate, emotional and feminine.
The Tech Noir scene in The Terminator is a great example of the movie taking on the perspective of Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) and her story. As Sarah is frozen in place by the horror which is unfolding, we (the audience) view the scene in slow motion. So as Sarah watches Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn) and the T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) launching into action, she is dealing with her own internal terror and confusion; she is immobilized and so are we, watching helplessly at a fraction of the real speed. Like a nightmare. Like Sarah’s nightmare.
THR also asked Gale about the misconception that genre movies are only for male audiences…
“Do you think when it comes to action, sci-fi, and horror films there is still the perception that the main audience for those movies is male?”
THR
“That’s 100 percent wrong. Just wrong. There is this feeling somehow, almost like little girls should prefer dolls and little boys should prefer trucks. But the truth is that we’re reinforcing these expectations, these perceptions. Back when I was growing up, if you were a little girl, if was very unlikely that your parents would buy you a toy truck to play with. You were exposed to particular things because there was an expectation that that was what you would like. And that that’s what you should be playing with.
Gale Anne Hurd
But even when The Terminator came out, so that’s 1984, 40 percent of the audience were women. The other thing that’s interesting is that in the movie-going choice between a couple, a male-female couple, is driven by the female in the relationship. So the fact that that movies like The Terminator and Aliens became date night movies reflects a woman’s choices as opposed to necessarily a man’s choice.
The other thing that’s even more fascinating is that the slasher genre is driven by young girls more than young boys. I think part of that is, you know, the adrenaline that you get going to see those movies. But traditionally there’s a final girl. There is the female character who somehow survives to the very end. I don’t think people have often taken that into account that it is actually an empowering story for women, that they are the ones who ultimately survive this traumatic experience.
As a woman who has been a Terminator fan since she was eight years old, and also happens to be the Editor of a Terminator fansite, I can say with one hundred percent certainty that genre movies aren’t just for men. The conditions are simple: if the story is good enough, the characters well developed enough, the writing cohesive and fluid, with conviction in directing – the audience is there; regardless of gender, affiliation or leaning.
Can you see the female gaze in The Terminator? Will you be watching the movie again with that in mind?
