Detroit — The city finally has its own statue of the 1987 action movie protagonist, who upholds the law in a not-too-distant dystopian Detroit where the police are bought and paid for by a corrupt corporation.
It took almost 15 years and over $67,000 in donations, but a towering RoboCop now stands guard over Eastern Market. Instead of hiding in the shadows of the market sheds, he should replace the so-called “creepy-ass Mickey Mouse” near Campus Martius that likely cost over $1 million.
No one likes the freaky cartoon characters with “X”s for eyes that tower over downtown, except Dan Gilbert, who paid for it. RoboCop was crowdfunded, born out of popular demand.
In the film, Detroit is about to be rebuilt by Omni Consumer Products, which controls the police department. When a new line of robot peacekeepers terrifyingly fails, a cyborg project takes its place, requiring an unwitting donor.
Enter Alex Murphy, an honest-dealing cop who is suddenly killed chasing a notorious criminal. He becomes the cyborg’s human component. He’s given four directives: Serve the public trust, protect the innocent, and uphold the law. The fourth one is classified.
The action is set in a Detroit beleaguered by corporate greed where the new plans don’t have anything to do with social revitalization, just nicer buildings for the wealthy corporate executives.
Sounds like today, where corporations get massive tax breaks to set up shop in the city in the name of jobs as the social order and the fabric of the city away from downtown rots away. There’s always talk of some new project in the works, but who ultimately benefits?
Not the little guy.
The movie shows how those same winners get to pull the strings of justice. They can evade the force of the law by manipulating its enforcers.
It also anticipated the blending of humans and machines in policing. The Detroit Police have already mistakenly arrested individuals using facial recognition software. With AI and Flock cameras all over the place, we’re just beginning a new era of technological policing.
That’s why RoboCop should get a place closer to downtown. He stands against the evil forces of the future age, representing the indomitable spirit of good people doing the right thing when it counts.
Not to mention the movie delivers all of the crazy hairdos and over-the-top action you’d ever want from a late-’80s dystopian flick. The one liners are fantastic:
“Dead or Alive, you’re coming with me.”
“Come quietly or there will be trouble.”
The violence is shocking even in our age of rampant violence. But the point of the film is that it’s not acceptable. It admits that we need people, not policies, to stop it.
RoboCop is the one who is able to stand in the way, to stop the senseless killing and bring quiet to the streets. He’s able to do it because he’s half-good guy and half-machine. That’s the definition of a superhero: Someone you look up to because they do the right thing in an impossible way.
RoboCop doesn’t get credit for his good deeds. He’s a beacon of good in a violent, greed-obsessed dystopia because of his character. So it’s fitting that the city he saved won’t honor him.
He’s still here nonetheless: half man, half robot, 100% RoboCop.
Brendan Clarey is deputy editor of Michigan Enjoyer.
