Terminator Salvation

I’m a little heartbroken at the discovery that Earl Boen is not coming back for Terminator Salvation.

Boen, for those of you not familiar with the names of obscure background character actors, plays the thoroughly unlikeable Dr. Silberman in Terminator 1, 2, and 3. This guy has become somewhat of a running joke for fans of the franchise. In each movie the cranky shrink pops up and causes problems for our heroes, and then within twenty minutes gets beaten around by robots for highly comedic effect as the heroes escape his grasp. It’s a simple joke, and a small role, but I’m a sucker for it every time.

By any logical account, it would make no sense whatsoever for Silberman to make an appearance in Salvation. The movie opens years after a nuclear apocalypse, and I guess the chances of one very specific guy managing to survive and meet up with the resistance would be pretty slim (kind of like in high school TV shows where all the characters manage to end up at the same university). Furthermore, Boen’s shtick doesn’t really seem in keeping with the dark vibe they’re going for this time around. In fact, had Boen been cast in Salvation, I’m sure the title of today’s post would have been “What’s Earl Boen Doing Here?”

Now that I think about it, Boen’s disappearance is an interesting development. Most popular film franchises get sillier and sillier as they progress (ewoks in Star Wars, Shia LaBoeuf and those stupid monkeys in Indiana Jones, cowboy antics in Back to the Future, emo dancing in Spider-Man), but Terminator, on the other hand, seems to be growing up, maturing. Is this a good thing? Probably…

But does this mean the end of super-macho bodybuilders spouting comedic, effeminate pop culture sayings? Does this mean the end of shock-value swearing? And what about robot anatomy gags?

Some deep thoughts to consider over the weekend.

Check back tomorrow for the first entry in an ongoing Terminator dictionary. And come back Sunday for your weekly links to Terminator-related goodness.

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