RoboCop: The Triumph of Conservatism and Fascism, or the Triumph of the Individual?

[elder999]

Here's a review of Robocop, from 1989, that discusses, in depth, the films themes vis a vis politics, economics, society, technology, and media, as well as religious themes related to Robocop himself, his resurrection and battle against evil.

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]ROBOCOP attacks the audience's complacent beliefs in capitalism, media, and technology, but it also simultaneously draws them into the powerful spectacle of its redemption/ revenge narrative and its unremitting graphic violence. It encourages both a critical reflection on its political themes and an uncritical consumption of its visual drama. The audience experiences both reflexive distantiation and affective participation in the spectacle. The dual objectives to satirize and entertain, critique and make money, provoke thought and contain it, make this film highly uneven and ambiguous.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]The film has, on the thematic level, conflicting strains of conservative and progressive ideology. On another level, all thematic encodings vie for attention with the film's excessive spectacle, both in ROBOCOP's narrative drama and in its visual intensity. While there can be no question that the visual and narrative spectacle of ROBOCOP might predominate over its critical encodings (and so decodings), it would be wrong to conclude (e.g., as do many postmodern critics) that all thematic content is occluded.[10] This presupposes too mechanical a view of how people view films, and it obscures the socializing aspects of mass media texts. Every viewer will no doubt decode ROBOCOP in a different way. Some will find support for their conservative belief in the need for order or hero redeemers. Others will be mesmerized by the sheer spectacle of the film and come away only with a remembrance of its surface pleasures. For still others, the film will sharpen — or awaken — their skepticism toward media, capitalism, and technology.[/FONT]

discuss

 

[Big Don]

I won't buy that for a dollar. Resurrection, please, was Frankenstein's monster resurrected?

 

[elder999]

I won't buy that for a dollar. Resurrection, please, was Frankenstein's monster resurrected?

Frankentein's creature had an altogether new personality and form from his constituents-he was something new.
In the film, the policeman Murphy's personality remains intact-since he was killed, this does constitute a form of resurrection.

More to the point:

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]In addition to mixing genres, ROBOCOP mixes high and low art. This Hollywood "trash" flick is the U.S. film debut of the distinguished Dutch director Paul Verhoeven, whose critically acclaimed work includes TURKISH DELIGHT (1973), SOLDIER OF ORANGE (1978), SPETTERS (1981), THE FOURTH MAN (1983), and FLESH AND BLOOD (1985). Verhoeven initially rejected ROBOCOP's script as "just an action script" (New York Times, 7/24/87). On subsequent reading, however, he saw in it philosophical themes — the Christian themes of death, resurrection, and redemption — and agreed to do the film. [/FONT]

 

[shesulsa]

Ha! I'm onto you, elder. =)~

Frankly, I like the balance of the two - as I always do, really (though not to certain opinion) the balance is the key. There's much to be said over such potential in an LEO capacity, but seriously doubt we'll get there within the next 15 years.

The death/resurrection/rebirth is a classic transformation process and a nice little commentary on living.

"To conquer death you only have to die; you only have to die." - Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Weber.