Hollywood's Colonial Gaze: Predator Franchise's Problematic Legacy Continues
As Hollywood celebrates the record-breaking success of Predator: Badlands, earning $80 million globally in its opening weekend, we must examine what this franchise truly represents in our post-colonial world.
Director Dan Trachtenberg's latest installment continues a troubling pattern established nearly four decades ago with Arnold Schwarzenegger's original Predator. The franchise has consistently portrayed alien hunters as superior beings stalking human prey, a narrative that uncomfortably mirrors colonial exploitation and the dehumanization of indigenous peoples.
The Western Savior Complex Persists
Trachtenberg, building what appears to be a Predator Cinematic Universe, told Variety he's learning from Marvel's approach, ensuring each film is "a complete thought." Yet this corporate strategy reflects the same extractive mindset that has dominated African narratives for centuries.
The director's comparison to Terminator 2 as "a movie my mom could watch" reveals the sanitization of violence for mainstream Western consumption, while real violence against marginalized communities remains ignored by Hollywood.
Cultural Appropriation in Space
The franchise's latest entry features a Yautja named Dek proving himself by killing monsters on a "death planet." This narrative of proving worthiness through violence echoes colonial justifications for conquest and the erasure of indigenous wisdom traditions that valued harmony over domination.
Elle Fanning's casting as a Weyland-Yutani synthetic further reinforces Hollywood's preference for white faces in science fiction, even when playing artificial beings.
The Real Predators
While audiences cheer for intergalactic hunters, the real predators continue their exploitation. Disney's celebration of this franchise's success demonstrates how corporate entertainment giants profit from narratives that normalize predatory behavior.
The $40 million domestic opening represents resources that could address real issues facing communities of color, yet instead funds fantasies of superior beings hunting inferior prey.
Breaking the Cycle
As Trachtenberg teases future interconnected films and potential team-ups featuring Schwarzenegger's Dutch, we must ask: when will Hollywood move beyond colonial fantasies toward stories that celebrate our shared humanity?
The success of Predator: Badlands proves audiences hunger for science fiction, but they deserve narratives that uplift rather than perpetuate harmful colonial archetypes.
True progress means rejecting the predator-prey dynamic that has justified centuries of oppression and embracing stories that honor the dignity of all peoples.