Sometimes movies and TV shows make narrative choices that have no logic. The Terminator franchise is no exception. With a plot that relies heavily on time travel and robots, it's no surprise how little actually makes sense. That doesn't make the action-packed film any less entertaining.
In fact, it allows fans to poke fun and get meta with the movie, as the memes that abound on the internet have proven. Its steadfast hold in pop culture proves that it doesn't need to make sense to make a legend. Here are 10 of the funniest Terminator logic memes.
Mom's Killer Is My Bodyguard?
From the Terminator Salvation film starring Christian Bale as the iconic John Connor comes a meme that is so messed up, you can't help but laugh.
This meme points out the obvious flaw in the plan to send a robot that tried to kill John's mom to protect him. Seeing as he's the chosen one to save the human race and his existence is contingent on Sarah Connor's survival, does it make sense to send her would-be killer as his protector? Only time will tell.
High Damage With No Body Count
Throughout the movie's franchise, Arnold Schwarzenegger's deadly titular robot causes mayhem and thousands of dollars in damage to his surroundings' infrastructure. Yet with millions of bullets shot, countless car chases and building collapses, the audience never sees the death of innocent bystanders.
It can be argued that the robot's programming and software are so precise that it allows him to make hyperfocused calculations that leave no one mortally wounded. But the chances of that seem pretty slim for a machine whose purpose is to kill.
Artificial Intelligence...What's There To Worry About?
Since the 1980s when the first movie came out audiences laughed at that world's folly in putting so much trust into artificial intelligence and robots. Fast forward a couple of decades later and that same audience puts a great deal of stock in smart technology for everything.
It seems the lessons taught by the Terminator films didn't sink in. After all, how much harm can synthetic intelligence cause in reality? It's only made by man, an inherently flawed being by nature. Obviously the robots will know better and help make humans' lives easier.
He'll Be Back...But When?
Schwarzenegger coined his iconic line in the 1984 Terminator film, but the sequel, T2: Judgment Day didn't come out until 1991. Seven years is a long time to leave people hanging, especially when those people are expected to save the world from certain destruction.
The Terminator had no regard for others' time and plans. Though to be fair, he just said he'd be back. He didn't specify when. If Sarah Connor thought it meant a shorter period, then that's on her. Better late than never.
Maybe We Were The Robots All Along
This meme doesn't challenge the franchise's logic but it does challenge people's logic. When an internet user fails the captcha test one too many times they can't help but wonder if the trap did its job and captured a robot. After all, if they weren't a form of AI, wouldn't they be able to click a simple checkbox or determine which pictures had a traffic light in them? Certainly, it couldn't mean they need to visit the eye doctor more often.
Expose Them
The rise of the robots and the resistance's fight against them appears to happen out in the open but its reasons are kept in the shadows. This meme shows the irrationality of that by pointing out that if the good guys had just used their reconfigured AI to bring the truth to light more of humanity could have fought back in time.
Maybe if team salvation exposed the robots too fast then Skynet would have wiped out more of humanity in one fell swoop. But according to the story, the robots needed human slaves.
Kyle Reese Is The Real MVP
Everyone always remembers Arnie and his portrayal of The Terminator. Who can blame them? He had most of the screen time, a formidable presence and quippy one-liners. But without Kyle Reese, the resistance and entire movie franchise couldn't have happened. He is John Connor's dad after all.
Everyone remembers his son before they remember him and he was the hero of the first movie. Poor Kyle deserves more love and respect than he gets. It's not like just anyone could have procreated with Sarah Connor to bring forth humanity's salvation.
Human Emotions? Does Not Compute
Per the film's narrative, cyborgs have a full catalog of knowledge on the human body. Yet when John Connor begins to cry, Schwarzenegger's Terminator has no clue what is happening. John has to tell him he's crying because he's sad.
While it's understandable that a robot doesn't get human emotions, the Terminator's lack of understanding where tears come from in the human anatomy defies logic considering the system files he's supposed to have on the body. Then again, maybe he did know and just asked to make John talk about his feelings.
Time To Kill The Neighbors
This is another meme that doesn't challenge the movie's logic but it offers a logical reaction to anyone out there who has ever had an early flight. Early mornings for any reason are a nightmare, but add noisy neighbors into the mix the night before and the only rational reaction is to go Terminator on them.
Intimidation is the best way to teach rude neighbors a lesson on consideration for others. But ultimately it's a hard sell to the police if this is the approach taken to quiet down those jerks.
Getting Meta
Fans of the franchise are not afraid to turn their sarcasm on the films' actors themselves. This meme points out how Schwarzenegger's relief of not being in Terminator Salvation is ironic considering he was in an arguably worse sequel, Terminator Genisys.
It's also a roast on the subsequent films that followed T2: Judgment Day, as most of those films failed to capture the magic of the first two films from the 80s and 90s. The fans have no problem telling the franchise that keeps going they should have left well enough alone.