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The depth and symbolism of "RoboCop"
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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 8:13 am Reply with quote

Lets try to list them all. Ill start

-In short, its a cyber Frankenstein story (and Im talking about the book version or Kenneth Branagh's adaptation) - hes an outsider to the world, not remembering who he is, trying to remember his identity, find out who was he made from, then banished by society (SWAT shootout is like people going with torches after the monster, or as in the book, attacking him with stones because hes different)

- part of the gun made to look like a sarcophagus, symbolizing death

- the motif of crucifixion and resurrection

- walk on water

- Kinney's corpse landing and bleeding on "the dream", which is Delta City model

- The eyeless ED 209 represents a blind side of law




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Posted: Thu Jan 06, 2011 4:44 pm Reply with quote

Well, also Robocop itself is a metaphor of the common man, who is "programmed" and exploited by corporate establishment. Smile



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Comment: RoboCop: The Future's Silver Lining

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Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 2:17 am Reply with quote

Can't forget "Paradise Lost"... with Verhoeven so fixated upon the concept of RoboCop as an "American Jesus" and allegorical retelling of Christian mythology, Murphy's scattered memories of his life and family represent the fall of man, aka, the expulsion from Eden. His resurrection (three months instead of three days) and liberation of Detroit's citizens help to complete the cyberpunk retelling of Jesus Christ. Sure, he was blowing away the primary source of Detroit's scourge (Boddicker and Jones) instead of the curse of original sin, but it still works.

And, of course, while being kicked out of Eden is Old Testament mythology, it is the source of the "original sin" Jesus was sacrificed to absolve. It is a bit backward, though.

And as Jon Davison says, RoboCop is "fascism for liberals"! In its less-than-subtle social satire, they present a world dominated by Reagan's economic policies; trickle-down economics gone overboard. The ultraviolence in the film is used as a vehicle to carry blatantly anti-conservative views on business, government, and social policies, resulting in a bizarre presentation of "leftwing morality" ultimately reigning through "rightwing tactics".

I think the film is a masterful balancing act, one which Verhoeven came close to matching in Starship Troopers (itself a satire of propagandist war films) but unfortunately fell short, I think because the very nature of Starship Troopers meant the removal of a protagonist that actually invoked any sense of endearment. To do so would have violated the core of the film, and, I think would have knocked it off balance.

Anyway... that's my take.
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Posted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 3:04 am Reply with quote

Good addition as well. I got the idea to gather all this stuff around after surfing online (looking for lists of favorite scenes) and seeing opinion on Robocop from people who arent really fans and seen it centuries ago. While everyone likes it, some people tend to think its a cheesy simple action flick, no different than R3

As for Starship Troopers, I cant say it was realy bad but I didnt enjoy it because I didnt like the teen drama in it




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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2011 10:36 pm Reply with quote

Well said about this "liberal fascism", but hey, this is 1980's action movie what else would you expected...?



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Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:46 pm Reply with quote

I'm not sure if this is common knowledge but it came as a surprise to me when i read about it a few days ago.

As we all know Murphy lived at 548 Primrose lane and later returned to it as RoboCop. Back in the 1400s, "primrose" was used metaphorically to refer to the first or best of something. Taking a "primrose path" can be seen as a description of the ultimate and best route to something.

Later on in the 1600s the use of this "primrose path," comes from Shakespeare who first used it in "Hamlet" as a term to refer to a pleasant path to self-destruction. Basically a person can choose to take two paths, one is a attractive "easy path" of sin to hell, and a uninviting and arduous path of righteousness to heaven.




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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 1:21 am Reply with quote

Hmm, thats interesting. I wonder if its intentional or just an amazing coincidence, but knowing how Verhoeven refers to that scene as Paradise Lost it might have been intentional. pretty cool to say the least



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Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 11:10 am Reply with quote

I think one of the most powerful things for me is also one of the most straight forward and obvious, and that's Murphy being murdered, only to be brought back and discover that his wife and son have moved on without him and there's nothing he can do about it. It's almost as if he's a ghost. Where he is dead and no longer the physical and fully emotional being he once was, but he still has traces of his old self, life, and personality embedded in him. Only now he has to move forward with things knowing that nothing can be really done about what happened. It is irreversible. He will have to live knowing that he could actually still see and even potentially speak to his former wife and son, but it isn't the same, and the consequences for doing that could be really disastrous.



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Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2011 10:12 pm Reply with quote

Looks like we also missed to add the babyfood scene - symbolizing no future/babies for RoboCop.

Dick Jones has a big earth globe on his desk which is intended as "Dick Jones on the top of the world"

And of course the Shell/hell scene where Robo walks out of the gates of hell.
(which was almost entirely cut out of the movie for some reason)




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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:33 am Reply with quote

This came to me while I was reading some of the great posts,
Isn't it ironic that even though Murphy's upper body was shot to hell, they managed to save his left arm during production? The long arm of the law is a metaphor meaning that you can't run away from a just legal system. As a model police officer, it's interesting that Murphy's arm was still salvageable after all that. No big surprise, OCP wasn't interested in it (just as they didn't care about eliminating crime, so long as it increased their profits).




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Posted: Thu Aug 20, 2015 10:21 am Reply with quote

Something that Peter Weller tells in many interviews, is how Verhoeven changed the story so Robo would have the dream before Lewis asked for his name, and not after. That little detail was very important to him, so it was not the typical rational story when an event in the material world sparks the memory and soul of Murphy, but just the opposite, the soul comes alive first on its own.

Also, I feel a striking parallelism when Robo is being shot by all the cops, at the OCP parking, with Jesus' passion carrying the cross. Even Robo's body language is so reminiscent of it. You can say he is turned over to the authority and lynched by his own people, as Jesus was.




Other little thing I have also recently commented in other threads, maybe not metaphorical or deep, but I realized how Clarence is so physical and invasive in his performance, he pulled out with his tongue the ring of the grenade in Bob Morton's house, in the drug factory he puts his fingers inside Sal's glass of wine, and then he smells it. Then he spits into Robo's face, he spits (blood) again in St. Reed's desk. He also sticked his gum in the little plate of Dick Jones' secretary (and we know he is a rapist from the police database). Last but not least, when dying he just covers Murphy entirely in blood. I don't think it is a coincidence that being Robo a mechanical golem with a soul inside, his counterpart Clarence embodies flesh, blood, body fluids, and everything earthly.







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Posted: Mon Aug 24, 2015 7:20 pm Reply with quote

You make a great point, artu!
I never put together all those little gestures that Clarence makes, but it is very clear when you bring it up. I wonder if that was to make him look more vile or disgusting to the audience (solidifying him as a bad guy who deserved to be killed later). There doesn't seem to be anything good about him, no redeeming qualities, no loyalty or even compassion towards the loss of the members of his gang as they are killed. He's just bad to the core. This definitely makes him a great villain. I also think that selecting an actor (Kurtwood Smith) that can look and sound so evil was the icing on the cake.




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Posted: Tue Aug 25, 2015 4:40 am Reply with quote

artuditu :
I don't think it is a coincidence that being Robo a mechanical golem with a soul inside, his counterpart Clarence embodies flesh, blood, body fluids, and everything earthly.


YES! Robo is all soul no flesh. Clarence is all flesh no soul.




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Posted: Wed Aug 26, 2015 3:10 am Reply with quote

Woah, they are like polar opposites! No wonder they don't get along! (Cops don't like me. And I don't like cops.)



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