I'll grant that it's a very arresting and iconic image and it communicates succinctly the idea that the show is about human-looking robots. And that Summer Glau is hot. I think it's very effective as an advertising tool.

But it's also hellishly misogynistic, which is particularly unforgiveable since the show is primarily about strong, intelligent, capable and empowered female characters.

The image is titillating (oooh! sexy nekkid girl! maybe a good breeze will move her hair out of place and show us her tits!) and it juxtaposes her unwelcoming expression and evident physical strength (robot! look!) with the total fucking vulnerability of her position. She has been literally disarmed and bereft of agency or defence. (Hey guys, if you want to go up and grab hold of those pneumatic tits, you can! How's she gonna stop you?)

The design itself echoes a lot of similar brutally-dismembered-hot-woman imagery out there in the world of tattoos. (Unpleasant but not atypical example here.)

It's one of the most thorough objectifications of a woman I think I've seen - hey, it's okay to have a brutally dismembered woman on a poster, because she's really NOT a person. She's a thing! She's a robot! No harm, no foul!

...and I'm not buying that. It's still an image that uses the tension between desire and misogyny to make an impact, regardless of whether the female figure that's been torn up has intestines or wires dangling from her torso.

What Fay Said.

goddamn Fay. Word.

Oh, Fay, I am fond of you.

::nods like a rear window full of bobble head dolls::

Precisely what Fay said. In that picture she is woman as chattel, not as equal. And in the end, for all her power, she has an off switch, so she's no threat to even the nerdiest of lounge lizards. And with no nudity taboo!

But it's also hellishly misogynistic, which is particularly unforgiveable since the show is primarily about strong, intelligent, capable and empowered female characters.

Except the show hasn't even managed to show any strong, intelligent characters, male or female. IMO, Lena Headey's Sarah Connor would fit right in at Torchwood. She and John have been incompetent morons the entire season, and they've miraculously survived only because the show's about them.

I agree with Fay and disagree with Invisible Green.

I totally get where you are coming from, Fay. The image just doesn't make me go there nor do I think that was the intention. Of course, I may be a bit thick.

Tamara, I definitely don't think you're at all thick, and I'm sure that a lot of people don't consciously go there when they look at the image. That's pretty much why I wanted to unpack my visceral response to the poster a little.

But as to whether it was the intention - yeah, I kind of think it was. I don't think they will have parsed it the way I did, but I do think that this image is consciously pitched at that 18-30 male demographic, making sure that they aren't put off watching a Terminator vehicle just because the titular protagonist is a woman.

They've intentionally turned the ass-kicking super robot into a vulnerable sexbot for that advert, to make sure that the boys associate T:TSCC with fuckable babes rather than scary ballbreakers, and are thus more inclined to tune in.

Except the show hasn't even managed to show any strong, intelligent characters, male or female. IMO, Lena Headey's Sarah Connor would fit right in at Torchwood. She and John have been incompetent morons the entire season, and they've miraculously survived only because the show's about them.

Well, you have the advantage of me in having watched the entire season - my last DVD was scratched, so I've not seen all of it yet. Clearly we have very different takes on Lena Headey's performance and/or Sarah's character, however. Or possibly on the quality of Torchwood.