Why Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Davito Starring ‘Junior’ Was Ahead of Its Time?

Recently, the Arnold Sports Festival’s account took to X to reveal that, “On this day in 1994, the comedy flick Junior starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, was released in cinemas!” With this movie, Ivan Reitman and Arnold Schwarzenegger paired up for a third time to narrate a unique story, Junior. Featured Arnie’s Twins co-star Danny Davito in a crucial role, Junior released a day ahead of Thanksgiving in 1994. The film failed to impress critics and was a disaster at the box office. However, one can see that Junior is one of Schwarzenegger’s films that resonates the most with recent times. 

While the 76-year-old’s blockbuster franchise Terminator undoubtedly predicted the future technological advancement, Junior was no less of a gem in foreseeing the cultural sphere. In the film, Arnie plays an Austrian scientist, Dr. Alex Hesse, who reluctantly agrees to volunteer to test Expectane, a fertility drug invented by him and his colleague Dr. Larry Arbogast (Danny Davito.) But the way Reitman came up with a rather peculiar plot in the early 1990s makes one think that the director envisaged the future spot on. 

The Period talk 

In the 1990s, American women were still evasive from talking about their periods, and hush-hush conversations about the menstrual cycle between mother and daughters were a household phenomenon. It was the same case globally during those times. However, Schwarzenegger’s Junior begged to defer.

The scene that resonated the most with women would be when Dr. Diana Reddin, portrayed by Emma Thompson, breathlessly laments about period pain to her colleague Dr. Hesse. Calling men “pathetic” when it comes to bearing “pain,” Dr. Reddin says, “You should try being a woman sometimes. It’s a nightmare. Your body gets peculiar with your first period, and it doesn’t stop until menopause. It’s a lifetime.” However, she doesn’t limit herself to complaining, and the next few words Dr. Reddin utters in the scene became trailblazers for 21st-century period talk. 

“Leaking, swelling and spotting, smears and crippling crimps, raging hormones and yeasts. And acts as if everything is normal,” Thompson delivers her dialogue with such intensity that it will forever resonate with every woman. The cherry on the cake for was watching Schwarzenegger’s Dr. Hesse being an empathetic listener throughout the candid talk before stating, “I never wanted to be a woman.” American women have come a long way since then, bringing their inner Dr. Reddin to freely participate in menstrual campaigns and demand for Menstrual equity. Their efforts resulted in the passage of 62 menstrual equity laws in the United States since 2014, as reported by Women’s Voices for the Earth organization in 2022. In the 21st century, periods aren’t a silent affair anymore. 

Junior – Arnold Schwarzenegger’s IVF baby

If you time travel and watch Junior in theatres in 1994, you would be surprised and disillusioned to witness Schwarzenegger’s character conceiving a baby in the laboratory just with a needle and syringe. But now that we are in 2023, we know this is possible through In vitro fertilization (IVF). 

Before the Kardashian sisters, Michelle Obama, and Junior’s female lead, Emma Thompson, could have babies through IVF, Arnie took it upon himself to test the fertility technique in Junior and even gave birth to a baby girl at the end. Thanks to Schwarzenegger for becoming a beacon of hope in Junior for couples trying to be parents. Now, every year, four million babies are born to parents through IVF, as per Business Insider. However, the process is not as simple as portrayed in the film. 

The real-life Pregnant dad

If nature allowed women to share the physical load of carrying a baby for nine months with their partners, most of us would have seized the opportunity at least once. However, when Reitman’s Junior presented a prototype of such a setup in his 1994 film, with Schwarzenegger checking his pregnant belly in the mirror, many believed it would be the last thing to happen on earth. 

But Junior’s plot became a reality in 2008, when the story of Thomas Beatie became viral. Dubbed The Pregnant Man, Beatie spoke about how it was challenging for him to be a pregnant trans man after conceiving through Artificial insemination in 2007. But in 2023, it wouldn’t be surprising for the world to witness trans males conceiving and building a family. Isn’t Junior way ahead of its time in this case? 

Junior also talked of reproductive rights 

Another crucial case presented by Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1994 film was of reproductive rights. The courtrooms in the majority of states in America still hear cases for abortion access. Last year, the constitutional right to an abortion was retrieved by the Supreme Court. Schwarzenegger’s Dr. Alex Hesse’s dialogue, “My Body My Choice,” from the movie, may resonate more with American women now. 

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When Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Terminator is hailed as the ultimate futuristic movie, Junior also deserves equal applause for predicting the culture and scientific revolution of the 21st Century. Also, if you have watched the film and couldn’t decipher Dr. Larry Arbogast’s “guest hosting thing,” phrase to convince Arnie to get pregnant, he meant surrogacy. Do you agree that Arnie’s Junior was pathbreaking? Let us know in the comments below.

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