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Kids and RoboCop (Should they watch it?)
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 8:09 am Reply with quote

So this isn't really something I need help with but I thought it made for good discussion. My wife and I just had our second child, this one a boy (I have a 13 year old girl already). I was talking with her the other day about when and how to introduce him to my favorite movies (RoboCop included). She is not keen on me showing him RoboCop until he is much, much older than when I first saw it because of the violence. I myself saw it when I was 4 and grew up just fine. If anything I have a greater appreciation for the violence and satire. I feel her worries are reasonable but not necessary. I know I can introduce him to the animated series and the TV series without a problem since they are watered down but she wants me to wait on the movies. I'm curious to know what you all think.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 9:31 am Reply with quote

Well... what can I say... I watched the first two films when I was 3 years old. I don't remember being scared or something (now, seeing "Aliens" as a kid, that's a different story). If anything, I'm sure I was more bothered by "RoboCop 2" - the Duffy torture scene, for example. But it didn't scar my psyche. Boys will be boys - if we don't see blood and guts on the screen, we imagine them anyway. I'm fairly certain a larger portion of young boys enjoy monsters, icky stuff, brains in jars, etc...

Now, there's nothing bad in seeing RoboCop later on, in his early teens, for example, as you can easily introduce him to the character through the cartoons.

I don't know if it's the best decision to let a child see it at such a young age, but I doubt it will have any severe consequences if they do.

There's also the possibility that you could edit your own version that cuts out some of the more gruesome parts.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 10:22 am Reply with quote

That is a very good question. Probably most of us watched it being extremely young, and we are all fine. To be honest I didn't realize that Robo was an ultraviolent film until very late, when I started to read reviews about it. Films like Predator 1 & 2 were more shocking and disturbing actually, but maybe because of the terror element. Robo 2 felt also more graphic, but it could be because of the darker tone (I think the tone is very important for the kid to feel scared or amused). Still you could get some gory violence in many films, like A Nightmare in Elm Street, The Lost Boys, etc. It was more mainstream than today, so the context helped to not make a big deal of it, a context that's different today.

I knew some friends which had parents more sensitive about violent movies, while I personally enjoyed much freedom in that sense, yet having a 2 year old niece now I can start thinking it may actually make sense to control and dose the violence a child is exposed to, especially if they haven't been exposed to it before, and I'm not sure if it is good a kid gets introduced to violent movies by his own parents, as if they were giving their blessing. Anyway, I think every kid is different, some are more sensitive than others and you cannot expect all to react in the same way or make the same impression on them.

Murphy's death is what would worry me the most, it's a very dark and brutal moment, you're not used to see a hero die like that in any movie, but it is very necessary to root for Robo the rest of the movie and feel the emotions of his odyssey to regain humanity and get revenge.

Anyway, to answer the question, I would be careful, definitely wait until the child is at least 5 (and probably more), see if he has developed already a like for heavy action genre, and if possible I would start with an edited/cut version, kind of PG-13 (which we know there are some American TV edits, but I may even edit it myself). As much fascinating or funny I found the violence in Robo, I don't think it was at the core of why I loved the movie, I would have probably liked it the same without its most graphic shots, and when growing older would have found it very interesting to access to higher rated cuts (as we did in fact with the unrated DVD cut).




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Comment: Murphy had a wife and son....what happend to them?

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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 2:10 pm Reply with quote

I was a little older when I first watched RoboCop, 8 years old. I remember movies like Friday the 13th, Chainsaw Massacre and Nightmare on elm st straight up giving me nightmares...but like Artuditu said, they have more of a terror element to those movies, they are meant to scare you where as RoboCop is meant to shock you.

I have two boys now, both have watched it...of course they were 6 months old hahahaha...the wife is really against me showing them anything with violence, I imagine they will watch it around the same age I did.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 2:44 pm Reply with quote

I first time saw Robocop when I was 5 or 6 years old. My father would put the VHS on and let me watch it, and latter on he would make me a robo style armour from a cartoon box. Fun times, and good memories.

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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 8:38 pm Reply with quote

Fan and artu pretty much said it as well as I ever could (and then some in artu's case). Aside from the overt gore I think the violence isn't that much an issue, or at least shouldn't be - The generation before us grew up as kids with westerns on films and TV that were quite violent as well, no major problems there. Granted there were tonal slants and context to the violence in them and as artu said that's important, fortunately much of that also applies to RoboCop. I do agree that general view and context is not quite the same now as it was then, but that's sort of another thing.

I too as a young child (4/5-ish) saw Robo, as well as Term1 and 2, Predator and the like. Am I fine? Well if I'm not I don't believe that has much to do with it. Bah. tongue Anyway, for me then it was simple - I more just enjoyed the action scenes, guns and related badass cool shit - The more graphic parts didn't register much then for me. Robo had things that I thought were neat as fuck - the cars and look of the cops, basically much of the whole style of the film, not to mention Robo himself of course. All of which made me love the film as a favorite even then. And most if not all of which downgraded the more violent aspect of it for me I think. Some of it might have been mental blocking but I think mostly it was just the rest of the movie made up for it. I certainly never felt scared with Robo. Shocked a time or two maybe, but not scared. I remember having some scary-feeling in T1 and Pred but that was more the horror/suspense element than the overt violence. Same with the very few horror/terror flicks I saw round that time. Otherwise, no biggie mainly. (Though T2 I'll admit did make me shit-scared of cops for a minute, thank you Mr. Robert Patrick. Laughing ) In Robo's case there's not much of that per-say - RoboCop, for all it's violence and touching on dark aspects, is actually not much a 'dark' film to me, it has elements of good and hope to it that again helps negate some of the violence and shock-factor. It did for me, anyway.

However, not everyone is me of course. Much of that stuff might not be too apparent to everyone, especially at that age. Also in my case I was a sharp kid and even if I didn't get the finer points within the film, I still knew generally early on in it was all fake, it's a movie and and that. Again, may not apply to others - Indeed every kid is different. That said R1 is still a violent film, with quite graphic shots that absent of context would be a bit much, and even with it can still be quite gruesome. Murphy's death would be top for sure. I'd add Kinney though that always had something a comedic feel to it, almost cartoony. Even then, though, the film is gnarly, or at least it can be to some, I believe. R2 I'd say is a bit more straight-up gruesome, with less to work that down, but I agree that's a tonal difference more than anything.

All-told, tough to say - I have a 5-year old niece who still watches plenty of cartoon stuff but also loves zombie stuff, she seems fine. Her older sister doesn't care for it so much. Anyway as early as me and most of us I might not recommend, but I personally don't think it's good to hide things 'til very much later either. Not a bad idea to start with the series and cartoons and stuff perhaps, I agree it gives a bit of 'safe' exposure. As for the film itself, late singles might not be a bad target (about 8-ish or so, maybe a tad older), and might not be such a bad idea to at least skip the Full Verhoeven Experience to start. Wink

That said, I think many of us discussed this before elsewhere but if so where exactly eludes me right now. It's probably been a while in any case.
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Posted: Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:05 am Reply with quote

Short answer: No.

Long answer: This is an interesting and complex issue, which I also think they are gonna be touching upon in the upcoming Robo documentary. My experience has both good and bad. I saw it around 3-4 years old. Unlike Robofan and Stan, it definitely had a very clear and negative affect on me. The thing is, the blood was not an issue at all. What horrified me was the scene of melting Emil, which was burned into my brain for years. I had a lot of really bad nightmares growing up which I attribute to seeing Robocop, as well as Aliens and Hellraiser III around the age. I can vividly remember one recurring dream I had where I was playing at the playground and Clarence's gang would hang around terrorizing me. There were several other dreams involving them but the positive spin is that Robocop would often appear to save me. But sometimes he wouldn't show up, and in a couple particularly terrifying nightmares, he was the villain.

The thing is, this didn't stop my love of Robo. I would still watch Robocop 2 and 3. I always made my parents let me know when the Cain's brain came up because that scared the shit out of me, and for a while I would make my parents fast forward past the scene in 3 where Otomo's face gets messed up. I definitely became a scaredy-cat for years and avoided horror movies and anything I thought would be too violent or scary until i was a teenager. Then I rediscovered Robocop which lead to me overcoming my fears, eventually watching the whole Hellraiser series. Now I don't suffer from that fear, though I still don't enjoy horror movies after going through that period of facing the fears. But I never stopped liking Robocop.

As a kid my favorite action figures were from Robocop: The Series. I have mentioned this before, but one of my earliest memories is looking at all my action figures (about 5 at the time) and realizing how cool helmets were. I still buy action figures to this day and am still swooned by a cool helmet. Anyway, the big step to becoming a lifelong Robocop fan for me was when my dad got me the whole Marvel comic series. He was the one who first showed me the movie as a kid but of course this was a much more appropriate thing for a kid. I really loved those comics, reading them dozens of times and I still have them. So even thought I went years without seeing the movies, there was a never a point I didn't have Robocop stuff and a passion for the character.

So I think my point is: no, you shouldn't show Robocop, the 1987 film, to kids. There is absolutely no need to. I have said this time and time again, but the movies are only a small part of the Robocop franchise to me. If you have a kid there are plenty of ways to get them interested in Robocop. Start with the comics or cartoons. Move up to the Series, which is probably the most sanitized version of Robo there is. Robocop 3 is a fine movie for kids too. But I really would suggest waiting until the kid is a but older for the first two movies. Of course, I am the only one who had a really bad experience with it, but it just seems unnecessary. Of course, in the long run I have no regrets about seeing it because it made me the lifelong Robo fan I am today, but it could have been a lot more painless.




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Posted: Fri Sep 30, 2016 6:51 pm Reply with quote

It's always been a kind of mystery to me why at a very young age this movie could make such an impression on me. The easy answer is the Robosuit just looked too cool, and the action was amazing, with a mix of fun and wow-factor.

But I also always felt there was something deeper going on inside my mind. First, I think the idea of a father dying, losing his wife and son, was appalling, and extremely resounding for a child whose life is so family-centered.

But there is more, after starting his Robo journey as an invincible hero, the cool shining armor, the powerful auto-9 (as I said, the wow-factor for a kid) there is a powerful connection for a child when Robo starts becoming self-conscious, because in some way, he is like a baby or a child, he is trying to make sense of reality around him, to understand what is going on, who is he, where does he come from, progressively accessing to higher levels of consciousness, and that is what happens to us as kids, I think we are relating to him, identifying even if we don't know.

Then of course he becomes the fallen hero, he gets abused, and to me that is just the moment when he finally becomes Murphy again, after that traumatic second death, he is not invincible, the real world is harsh and he was too naive to think he could go straight and arrest Dick Jones, his innocence died in the cruelest way, manipulated by directive 4, attacked by a bigger and stronger robot, and betrayed by other cops (who as we know, are kind of jealous of him, is not easy for a kid to feel what is discovering fear, envy and jealousy, that you are not the center of the world nor invulnerable?).

After, at the factory, it is obvious he has grown as a character after the experience, he is at his highest layer of consciousness, he is Muprhy again, he takes off the helmet, the way he talks to Lewis, it is very obvious he is finally human again, or just passed from childhood to adulthood.

It's just a thought, maybe I overexplain too much this movie, but I think there must be a reason why many of us were so fascinated by this film being kids, when as we know, the violence, the political and social commentary, should actually have drawn us away from it.




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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 1:25 pm Reply with quote

Yes they would, I did.
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Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2016 5:27 pm Reply with quote

Back in 1988 when we saw an advert for RoboCop, my sister asked me if I wanted to watch it but changed her mind when she saw it was rated 18. I was only 9 then and at least 3 or 4 lads in my class had seen it plus the sons of a family friend of ours who were able to watch it abroad. One of the lads in my class saw it on Sky and told me what happened in the movie from Murphy getting killed to his famous gun twirl and the bit where he removes his helmet. Another lad told me about how he stabs the main bad guy with a needle. A few years later when I did watch RoboCop with my cousins, my sister complained about how brutal it was when Murphy finally avenged his death and when he killed Jones. She seemed disgusted *lol*.



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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2016 4:32 pm Reply with quote

RoboPimp :
As a kid my favorite action figures were from Robocop: The Series. I have mentioned this before, but one of my earliest memories is looking at all my action figures (about 5 at the time) and realizing how cool helmets were. I still buy action figures to this day and am still swooned by a cool helmet.


Me too!! I loved how some of the last wave or two of the original Kenner Star Wars figures came with removable helmets, and them around the same time they came out with M.A.S.K. toys, in which cool helmets were a central feature, so of course I loved those as well...

And artu, your post was spot-on my friend...one of the best I've read on the subject. That was always part of the appeal of RoboCop as a film for me...I was always fascinated by the whole process of Murphy rediscovering his humanity.

Awesome topic guys...some of the best reading I've done on here in a long time.




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Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 2:19 am Reply with quote

my parents gave me an early grounding about what was real and fake. i watched robocop with no problem the year it came out at age 5



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Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 12:53 am Reply with quote

It is a crime for anyone to not watch Robocop.
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2016 4:41 am Reply with quote

Well, Robocop is all about the dirty side of life. Greed, cruelty, drugs, murders, complete lack of empathy. Its definitely not a movie a kid should watch, but we must admit, most of us if not all saw it as youngsters, but it depends on a kid. I was nearly traumatized after seeing it, and I mustve bitten all of my fingers. My friends couldnt even finish it, it was worse than seeing a horror movie for them

R2 is the same. And even R3, so much toned down to the point it doesnt feel like the same series, has a lot of bleak imagery. Lost homes, separation from parents, dead parents, dying friends (bertha)

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