I saw Terminator Salvation for the second time yesterday and realized just how easy it is to implement a thematic discussion into your story. The central character in Terminator, Marcus, not only acts as the window into the story for the audience, but also leads the thematic discussion about “second chances” throughout the story.

I found that it could be broken into three parts for the sake of analysis:

1. Negative View of Theme

The first scene of the film introduces the audience to Marcus just an hour away from his death sentence, and it appears his point of view regarding second chances are pretty negative. As he puts it when presented with the opportunity to donate his body to science — as a way of redemption, —  ”My brother and two cops are dead because of me; I’m not looking for a second chance.”

This point of view establishes Marcus as a man who doesn’t believe he deserves a second chance.

2. Theme Discussion

As the story unfolds, the character discusses the theme with other characters of the story. In Terminator Salvation, Marcus tells Blair he’s not a good guy (revealing he’s still guilty about his crimes), but Blair informs him, “you are … you just don’t know it yet.” Immediately after, the screenwriters reveal a more direct approach to the thematic discussion: Marcus asks Blair is she believes people deserve a second chance. “Yeah,” she says.

3. Positive View of Theme

Obviously, this change in point of view isn’t necessary, but I thought it worked well in terminator. Without giving too much away, let’s just say that Marcus realizes that people do deserve second chances, and fortunately, he discovers what his second chance is. As he puts it to Blair, “This is my second chance.”

So you can pretty much break your discussion into three parts: Beginning, middle, and end. What’s the arc? Is there a chance in point of view regarding the theme? Is your discussion between two people or more?

The possibilities are endless, but finding the right one for your screenplay is key. I enjoyed the discussion of second chances with Terminator, however I didn’t feel it was quite as deep as the thematic disucssions found in Pirates of the Caribbean or Harry Potter; but then again, the Terminator series still has time to develop, thicken, and explore new ground. Go see this movie! It’s a great film full of homages to the first two … plus there’s a history-making CGI element never before scene on film, which is cool if you’re a film buff like me!