Queering The Terminator: Sexuality and Cyborg Cinema

by David Greven

The  Terminator  film series is an unlikely site of queer affiliation. The entire premise revolves around both heterosexual intercourse and the woman's pregnancy and giving birth. It is precisely the Terminator's indifference to both that signifies it as an unimaginably inhuman monstrosity. Indeed, the films' overarching contention that humanity must be saved, rooted as it is in a particular story about pregnancy and birth that exclusively focuses on the heterosexual couple and the family, would appear to put it at odds with the political stances of contemporary queer theory. Yet, as this book argues, there is considerable queer interest in the Terminator mythos.

The films provide a framework for interpreting shifting gender codes and the emergence of queer sexuality over the period of three decades. Significantly, the series emerges in the Reagan 80s, which marked a decisive break with the sexual fluidity of the 70s. As a franchise and on the individual basis of each film, The Terminator series combines both radical and reactionary elements. Each film reflects the struggles over gender and sexuality specific to its release. At the same time, the series foregrounds the intersection of technology and gender that has become a definitive aspect of contemporary experience. A narrative organized around a conservative view of female sexuality and the family, the Terminator myth is nevertheless a richly suggestive narrative for queer theory and gender studies. 

212 pages, Hardcover

Published June 15, 2017

Reviews

[Errrrrrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't have a background in Queer Studies, Film Studies, or the other theoretical frameworks Greven uses, but they're explained clearly enough for a layperson to get the idea. And it's fun to read the connections Greven makes between the theories and the various Terminator films and television series and revisit those stories. I enjoyed this book, and if you liked the movies or just enjoy hearing people talk about pop culture and media through a queer lens I'd say it's worth asking your library to get a copy or inter-library loan one for you. There's also a gender and sexuality in Star Trek by the same author I'll probably look into and read at some point.