What kind of fan are you? A true fan? A loyal one? An honest fan? Are you even a fan at all? What did you answer? Are you sure you answered correctly?
What is a fan? Is it someone who loves everything that the object of their fandom produces? Is it someone who is honest about the way they feel about their fandom? Is it someone who hangs in there through thick and thin?
Sometimes as fans, (yes, I am a fan, regardless of the opinions of others who might seek to give me a different label) we might question our fandom (a little soul-searching is normal, yes?) but that doesn’t mean we aren’t committed. It means we’re human.
I have been the Editor of this website for ten years, and in those ten years I have had others question my fandom, my intellect and my sense of self; not that I mind, I’ve heard/seen/experienced worse, and yet… I’m still here.
As a fan I dislike the way that studios now market movies based on controversy, political ideologies, quotas and gender politics. I judge movies based on information, story, acting, directing and environment etc.
I want every single piece of information.
Some might say that I’m judging Terminator: Dark Fate too soon. Maybe. Maybe I’m not judging the movie at all.
Maybe I have an opinion. An opinion on the trailer, the pictures, the story outline/plot synopsis (as seen on Skydance Media’s official Youtube – before it was removed), the leaks, the torch pass, the preemptive planning of yet another new trilogy before the first instalment has even been received by audiences (Terminator: Dark Fate isn’t the true Terminator 3 until the audience says so)…
Terminator fans have always wanted the return of the strong, warrior goddess Linda Hamilton in the role of strong, warrior goddess Sarah Connor – this franchise was built on the strength of James Cameron’s ‘Mother of the Future‘.
Without Sarah Connor there would be no John. As fans we all know this. Strong women in this franchise are not a gimmick to play, they aren’t an agenda to use – feminism isn’t a strategy. Sarah Connor is an incidental Feminist icon. How is she incidental? She is simply a strong woman doing what she has to for her family and the future, and if that comes across as feminism then… so be it.
I hope Terminator: Dark Fate is everything it has been touted as being – the true sequel to T2 but… passing the torch to younger women isn’t exactly what I’d call feminism.
No. I’d call that ageism. I never wanted a torch pass.
Above is just one part of why I take issue with T:DF but there are other reasons, reasons which we discuss on our Youtube channel. We do our best to explain and explore our opinions – because that’s what they are – our views, as fans.
Then there are comments like: “True fans know this movie is gonna be amazing!”, “You’re not fans. Stop whining”, “You call urself fans LOL ur sooo toxic”… I’m not toxic for having an opinion. I’m not whining for having concerns. You don’t get to declare me unfit for my own fandom.
Those sentiments are being echoed across the internet; where studios appear to be nurturing a toxic advertising campaign for Terminator: Dark Fate, one which leverage’s an aggressively negative stance towards perceived “naysayers” as a means to exploit a weakened and fractured fanbase for financial benefit.
Divide and Conquer.
Proof? Beyond Tim Miller’s ridiculous blanket condemnation of fans as being misogynists in the run up to San Diego Comic-Con – an image of the original Sarah Connor, Linda Hamilton, has been doing the rounds (*the image was brought to our attention by one of our Facebook users).
The image has been captioned to attack “naysayers” of the new movie and is of Linda Hamilton at SDCC 2019 sticking two middle fingers up at the camera with the suggestion that she [Linda] wants anyone deemed to be against T:DF to go f*ck themselves.
We’ll spare you the inflammatory image.
The caption reads:
“LINDA HAMILTON/SARAH CONNOR PASSES ON A MESSAGE TO NAYSAYERS OF TERMINATOR: DARK FATE”
The Arnold Fans – “Official worldwide fan club of the one and only, the greatest; Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
Now, let’s get this straight – I love Linda Hamilton. We at TheTerminatorFans.com LOVE Linda Hamilton, we pushed for ten years for the return of the original Sarah Connor and we will not be manipulated by the makers of the image (who state that they are OFFICIAL) into reacting and responding to our beloved Sarah Connor in a negative manner in order to suit their questionable agenda and widen the cracks of the fanbase; pitting one side against the other.
There is NO PROOF that Linda even knew what the image would become, or what the negative and malicious intent behind it was.
The use of stereotyping as a weapon to beat anyone with concerns about the new Terminator movie has become more prolific as time has gone on, gathering vitriol with each new label.
Following Tim Miller’s generalisation of the Terminator fanbase (something which the director did not clarify), it has become acceptable to denigrate any potentially opposing views.
Just some of the terms we’ve seen thrown at worried fans:
Racists
Misogynists
Alt right
Toxic
Bad fans
Not true fans
Trolls
Nerds
Naysayers
Incels
Haters
Negative
Poisonous
No studio should actively encourage a “them and us” strategy when seeking to successfully market a movie because fandom is a personal choice – and choices, being as they are, can change due to positive/negative experiences.
When you encourage the attitude that a person’s fandom isn’t good enough or “true” enough you put out the message that they aren’t worthy and you create a sense of alienation.
Can a studio successfully market a movie to an alienated audience?
The studios behind Terminator: Dark Fate aren’t the passive entities that they portray themselves to be – Paramount and Skydance appear to be actively overseeing a toxic marketing strategy that could cause the newly planned trilogy to falter before it’s even released.
What do you think of the way the studios are marketing T:DF?
Comment below…
34 Comments
Yawn
This just makes me sad. Almost everything I am into and have been into since I was a kid seems to be going this route. Studios and companies encouraging the fan base to fight as promotion. It makes me sick and is ruining the things I love. I come to these things to escape reality, not just have them dragged through the mud as well.
Fantastic article!!! Well written and your points are clear as day. This is the truth. Remember when they pulled this with Ghostbusters? It didn’t work out very well for them now did it.
Why keep doing this if the movies are not as successful as before? Is money not everything to them? Not accusing the T:DF cast and crew but with all the sexual misconduct going on in Hollyweird and then standing proudly while pushing SJW agendas…really.
Without wishing to simply assume your age I suspect we (the original fans of a wide range of genres) are not the target audience. They want our money, and try to hook us with nostalgia to get it, but they are aiming at the younger generation who are being indoctrinated from all sides. They are the future and many films that were not that successful upon release made up for it with our generation. Just a thought but whilst my buy in will make no difference I will sleep better knowing the universal “They” won’t get a penny out of me
TO ME IT LOOKS 100% STUPID FOR THE MAIN REASON JOHN WAS THE ONE TO SAVE THE FUTURE SO BY NO SKYNET THE 1ST 2 MOVIES DONT MEAN NOTHING SO I DONT SEE HOW ITS A 3RD INSTALLMENT LOOKS LIKE CAMERONS CASHING IN QHO KNOWS MAYBE DISNEY WILL BUY THE FRANCHISE I HAVE NP WITH A WOMAN TERMINATOR. I HAVE A PROBLEM WITH CHANGEING THE WHOLE PLOT QICH WAS THE MAN WHO WAS TO SAVE THE WORLD SO NOW A NEW MENACE BUT FROM THE PAST LOL
Dani Ramos will have a “John Connor Jr”…rinse and repeat for the trilogy.
The same cards were pulled after Star Trek Discovery season one, where no straight male key charakter was shown in a positive light.
Who complained about the sexist writing, was called homophob, womenhater, racist, sexist, etc..
At least someone in charge reacted and mad changes for season two, which was more watchable. But I can’t be that patient with every franchise. Star Wars and now Terminator seem pretty fucke up for me. Very sad.
There were a lot more issues then just sexism in discovery, mostly bad and uninteresting writing, but they are improving. While I do think they are forcing female and non white characters in new movies (look at star wars) I don’t think it’s as bad as in the terminator since that has always been about a strong female character, I also don’t think it’s part of a political agenda, it’s just that feminism is popular again and everyone is just taking advantage of it and using it as a marketing tool. It’s about making money nothing more.
Truth hurts. I’ve seen many were mocking Mackenzie and Mexican actors in a very disgusting manner. If that’s not misogynistic and racist, then what it is?
Racists and misogynists are very sensitive, never call them by their names, but they love to call others names.
Under 2% of the entire population brought up anything racist or misogynistic. Yet Hollywood is producing 99% of the misandry , racism and hatred towards the majority of the male population. Yet we’re not supposed to notice that they’re bent on some twisted revenge because they lost the last election. Us in the middle who loathe liberal democrats and hard right skinheads are never represented
It’s easier to talk shit on the internet, so everyone does it. Talking shit isn’t enough to make someone racist or sexist.
Their marketing worked wonders on me. I used to be a huge Terminator, Star Wars, and Star Trek fan. However, the studios have told me that I’m racist and toxic if I have ANY opinion about their agenda. SO, I am no longer a fan of any of them anymore. They can count me and my money out of all installments. All in the name of feminism.
I for one take no notice when people (eg. reviewers or You Tube opinionators) tell me what I should or shouldn’t like . I make my own mind up.
Maybe I’m wrong. After all I like the Justice League movie when the media opinion seems to be that it’s crap and an unfinished version by the original director would be preferable. Of course the released version isn’t perfect- what movie is?? But I thought it was fun.
Likewise Terminator 3 has it’s moments although it’s predictable and silly in places.
Terminator Salvation I’m not keen on but it exists …
Terminator Genysis was an interesting attempt to reboot the series and is quite enjoyable but left too many unanswered timeline questions that would have been hard to explain if further movies had followed.
I would have been quite happy if no more sequels had come after T2. That one stretched the concept and contradicted the original (Skynet sent an Arnie terminator and a Robert Patrick terminator to kill both Sarah and her later teenage son that she would hopefully not be alive to give birth to just before John sent Kyle to protect Sarah and reprogrammed an Arnie to send back to protect his younger self and destroyed the time displacer during the last stand against Skynet which it was losing anyway) but its a great movie!! Adding to it seems redundant but it’s a franchise so….
At least this one has Cameron and Hamilton (and Furlong if the rumours are true) in addition to Arnie. Let’s hope these guys have produced a great follow up to T2 that doesn’t suffer a dark fate.
Whilst I fundamentally disagree with almost your entire view (exception is that T2 needed no sequel) it is refreshing to be reminded that some people do enjoy these movies. Fair play to you for sharing especially when articles like these often only attract like minded people (me included) 👍🏾
It’s inherently contradictory. Studios like Skydance and Lucasfilm are trying to appeal to Marxists, or those led on by Marxist ideology as it relates to race, sex, or some other aspect of someone’s life. Maybe they know that these Marxists probably aren’t going to support their film, and marketing to them is simply a means to another end. Maybe it’s about getting rid of the current fanbase and replacing it with a new, more docile consumer base. Maybe movies just aren’t for people outside of elite coastal bubbles anymore. They don’t like the Average Joe, but they want his money and support. Easier to get that once the Average Joe is properly beaten down and re-educated.
iF yOu dOnT LiKe uS HiJaCkInG cLaSsIC fRaNcHisEs tHen YoURe a RaCiSt RuSsIan TroLl BiGot NaZi
– Terminator “fans”
Seriously though, this movie will fail just like Ghostbusters 2016, then they’ll move onto another franchise to ruin. The SJW movement are locusts.
3 months later, you predicted correctly!
Im cautiously optimistic as a huge fan of the first 2 movies, but i also dont think Tim Miller is a James Cameron level filmmaker, and the sort of toxic approach to the marketing as mentioned in this article makes me less hyped. But james Cameron is helping, and they are doing reshoots with John Connor being added, probably for like one scene though. Ill likely see it in theaters but i wont be surprised if it doesnt make much money compared to if it was a T2 quality movie in my opinion. But i hope its good.
I called the first image from dark fete as having an SJW agenda, and terminator fans attacked me all over the internet. Then the trailer drops and my suspicions are confirmed. Now it just keeps getting worse and worse. Terminator was my favourite franchise, even more than star wars and star trek (which I also loved and have also been flushed down the toiler thanks to new wave feminism). Makers of these movies want to crap down my throat and tell me its strawberry ice cream. Crap is crap. I will not pay to see a movie with a political agenda, and I certainly will NOT pay when a director insults me and harasses me. What sad times we live in. And of yeah, and a LOT of these franchises are male based, so do they REALLY think by alienating their main fan base that people will go to watch their movie? I guess they do, time will tell what happens in the future…
I feel like without her son, Sarah Conner loses much of her character.. not because she needs a man to exist, but because she is a badass ‘mother’. Without her maternal instincts guiding her than she loses her agency. She proves that you can be a parent, a mom, and a total fucking badass all at once!
My own mother agrees; getting rid of a protective and hardcore mother’s child makes her a less interesting character. Not just a worse feminist icon, but a much worse character.
Its not just this studio, Lucasfilm is saying the same thing to fans who disliked The Last Jedi and for good reasons too. Even if you have small critiques, you will still be labeled any of the aforementioned names. I’d rather call for a complete abandonment of the franchise, than a boycott. Boycotts are short term, abandonment is permanent and do way more lasting damage. I’ve enjoyed T1, T2, T3 and Salvation. I was 11 when T3 came out and I thought had a great story.
Je garde un espoir sur ce Terminator ramener les racines de lépoque mais pour moi passer le flambeau à d’autres personnages c’est comme remplacer une personne célèbre par une personne qui a tout a apprendre ! ils n’écoutent pas les fans et veulent faire de l’argent à profit d’hollywwod et des studios mais pour ce qui est des consommateurs ils en n’ont rien à faire de savoir si on paiera pour aller voir un bon film qui en vallait son prix ou non. tout est une question d’argents et de consommation et non plus de magie cinématographique comme la magie de T1 et 2 pour l’époque ! et tout ce suit pour ce qui est du racisme et de ce qu’on vit dans cette société !
It’s quite logical to dislike both toxic marketing and REAL toxic fans, to dislike SJW and “anti-SJW SJW”, to dislike misogyny and toxic version of feminism at same time.
We need to keep an open mind and not read too much of what’s out there unless you can keep those comments from affecting our expectations of the film. I’m not here to flame you, but one obvious reason why they may try to “pass the baton” is because the original characters are getting older. Arnold’s had a cardiac problem, Linda lost half her hearing, and overall the original cast is getting really old. If the trilogy planned was say to be produced and something happens(like Arnold dies in a car accident or Linda dying in real life) to a continuing character from T6 Dark Fate, what would you do as the producer? You got a serious problem because now you need to find look-a-like actors that could fill in for them and still give a perfect performance which will be subject to comparison to the original actor. (Read what Lena Headley said about being Sarah in TSCC).
Those flaming insults are from trolls and I ignore that crap.
I think Skydance/Paramount should read the Wiki for Terminator 2 and learn why that movie was a success. The key part: Secrecy. No one heard anything about the movie until near release. Not much marketing, No plot leaks. How else could the T-1000 and Arnold fool the audience as I read in multiple reviews? This current strategy we already know too much about the characters and even the enemy. Basically the new marking to using spoilers like all other movies and that can ruin anyone’s expectations/views before even seeing the movie.
We have never said we don’t need new characters, in past content we have touched upon this plenty and we do need them (most sequels have new characters added into the fold). It is the speed of the torch passing that is an issue and how the new characters are being cemented with the audience before the movie is even out. Linda Hamilton was not even front and center in the first promo picture introducing the new characters. Any cast member (younger or older) could die from a car accident, or health issues, maybe if they just focused on making one great movie and stop planning the series out like a giant cash cow soap opera…
The twist of Arnold being the good guy in T2 wasn’t really that much of a secret, images showed John and the T-800 together and then the trailers revealed it anyway. In one of the trailers a trailer specific scene of “I swear I will not kill anyone” was delivered to the camera by Arnold. Shill critics and reviewers existed back then too (in the way that publications know the Dark Fate leaks but will act surprised when reviewing the movie) and maybe the other reviewers just didn’t watch the trailers.
We agree with the sentiment of ignoring trolls but the studios don’t want to because this is the narrative they have been lining up for a while now (marketing strategy) and sadly becoming the trolls themselves as they throw blanket statements around and play fans off against one another.
Yes older but that is a protected class…you cant discriminate based on age…that will get you sued.
It is extremely sad what has happened to the entire series and fanbase. Having to be divided like this because we love the movies is proof of how real of a fan we all are, if such a definition even exists. I don’t have high hopes for DF, knowing what I know, and the behind the scenes controversy WILL come out afterwards. Basically Ed was just brought in by Cameron at this point as a love letter to fans. I dont see any way to course correct at this point, and it’s obvious Tim Miller’s bizarre idea of what he thought the fans wanted to see is nk simply…..NOT at all what they wanted to see. At this point, we are just gonna have to wait and then pick apart all the terrible mistakes Miller allowed to br canon. It is clear to me that he wanted to continue the character of Sarah Connor, all the while somehow losing focus of the fact that her very existence was to ensure John became the leader he was meant to be. What a complete trainwreck. Disheartening.
Z
Don’t be consufed or hopeless about those fans who are trolling,criticizing it , but I will tell you that it’s true: true fans know that TDF is gonna blow and shock everyone when it’ll come, just like the past of t-1,2 when people didn’t even know/dreamed about an endoskeleton robot with human flesh,blood coming from the future to present,and when it has released, IT BLOWS,SHOCKS EVERYONE and it became the BEST MOVIE EVER , EVEN NOW!!!!!! And, NOW, IT’LL HAPPEN IN 2019 AGAIN!!!!!! I will always with be t-df, and best luck to them!!!!!!!!
The main problem here is that what we saw so far does not feel like terminator 1 and 2, many will say, of course, they are old movies, you have to modernize, and I will tell you “watch star wars”, same colors, same clothes, same approaches from the first movies to the last, is that “continuity”, did you notice the “future” of dark fate? What do terminators look like coming out of the water? Did you notice that they used the same T-800 model from T-GENISYS? Is this really canonical?
not happy that the terminator fans have jumped on the toxic bandwagon. your meant to be a representative for the terminator fans yet you side with these idiots whom want to ruin it for the real fans and you haven’t even provided an updates on the film. Really disappointed with the lac of recent updates on the site. You’ve gone from the best terminator fan website online to the worst, Really disappointing. Fix up, Man up and lets enjoy our terminator film as real fans.
I am big fan of the original terminator movies, this woke hot garbage doesn’t interest me.
So glad I got into reading and writing fiction books. That is where the real art of storytelling is by real authors, and not so-called writers from Hollywood to spread an agenda. If you want real storytelling, turn to novels. The “film” lasts 48+ hours long and isn’t run by someone who needs a script written in one week by the most current liberal person. Novels is where the only true storytelling is now, like it was in the past. Go figure.
Welcome to the 21st century. Identity politics are more divisive, racist, and sexist than the things they claim embody those traits.
Yet these disturbing caricatures of liberalism are encouraged in ways that fit the short-term goals of say…Hollywood.
Ironically, they didn’t learn from the Ghostbusters reboot…or Ocean’s Eight…or any of the rest.