Hasta la vista, BJP. But is it a Freudian slip or just a kitschy own goal?
The BJP on Wednesday depicted Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the Terminator, without explaining whether he represents the cybernetic assassin pursuing an unborn child in the 1984 movie, Terminator, or whether he is mimicking the reprogrammed “T-800” Terminator in the 1991 sequel where the cyborg terminates itself to save the child.
Both baddie and do-gooder are played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, the former Mr Universe, ex-governor and actor. Arnold’s chest used to measure 57 inches, one inch more than the 56-inch threshold set by Modi for an ideal leader of the nation.
The BJP uploaded a poster on X (formerly Twitter) portraying Modi as the Terminator. The poster was intended to counter the Opposition INDIA’s Mumbai meeting scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
“The Opposition thinks PM Modi can be defeated. Dream on! The Terminator always wins,” the BJP post on X said.
In the poster, borrowed from the film, Schwarzenegger’s head appears to have been replaced by Modi’s. A lotus, the BJP’s election symbol, is planted on the image. “Narendra Modi: The Terminator,” the poster reads.
Below comes the punchline, a modified clone of Arnold’s catchphrase: “2024! I’ll be back.”
The phrase “I’ll be back” is from the first Terminator movie. The second, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, in which the Terminator saves the boy, had the popular line “Hasta la vista (See you later), baby,” which the BJP poster does not mention.
Which suggests that the BJP has the character in the first movie in mind when it equates Modi with the Terminator.
It was not lost on social media users. One user wondered: “Terminator of Constitution? Terminator of Parliament? Terminator of Minorities? Terminator of Unity? Terminator of the Social fabric of the Country? Is that what you mean @BJP4India?”
Footnote: True to style, “Terminator” Modi is yet to utter word on the Muslim child who was slapped by some of his classmates on the order of their teacher in a school in Uttar Pradesh.
