The Judgment on Violence and ‘Terminator 2’
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Jack Mathews praises James Cameron’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” as “one of the greatest action movies of all time” (Film Comment, July 14).
Mathews then ridicules the writer-director for his metaphorical analysis of the picture, dismissing Cameron’s stated subtexts regarding dehumanization, sanctity of the individual and nonviolence as so much pretentious folly.
I don’t suppose it ever occurred to Mathews that what sets Cameron’s pictures apart from the standard brainless Hollywood blow-’em-ups might just be some sense of thought and intent lurking behind the action.
If more filmmakers had any kind of vision--”pretentious” or otherwise--informing their work, perhaps we would see movies done this well more often, and the idea of an action picture being something more than a cinematic lobotomy might not come as such a shock.
MICHAEL MALLORY
Los Angeles
Only good movies
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