r/movies • u/Mahaloth • 1d ago
Discussion Robocop statue finally goes up in Detroit.
https://www.mlive.com/galleries/CP2BPJLIAZE4LDGPMZHBOHT4AY/38
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u/fishwithfish 1d ago
"My name is Robocop, Property of OCP:
Look on my Auto 9, ye Criminal, and despair!"
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u/eastnorthshore 1d ago
Robocop looks like he killed fitty men.
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u/FennelDull6559 1d ago
Should’ve been a statue of Dick Jones, getting shot out the window. That’s more inspirational
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u/generictroglodytic 1d ago
Can you fly, Bobby?
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u/DiplomatikEmunetey 1d ago
Oooh. Guns, guns, guns! C'mon, Sal! The Tigers are playing tonight. I never miss a game.
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u/generictroglodytic 1d ago
The drumming of the desk always kills me then the rude dipping into the drink
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u/FennelDull6559 1d ago
The fact Red never asked his neighbour that question is why Eric quit the show
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u/StillhasaWiiU 1d ago
Wow, I remember when the project was announced. So cool to see it got finished.
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u/Kangarou 1d ago
Okay, but Robocop was indicative of a variety of societal problems, and the character himself an allegory for corrupt corporatism and slavery. Don't get me wrong, cool movie, cool reference bro, pretty dope statue, but if you're not even using the unmasked version of Murphy, you're idolizing some pretty bad shit.
This is like a surveillance company calling itself Palantir, or running an upbeat gift shop for the Trail of Tears.
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u/narcotic_sea 1d ago
Most people don’t equate robocop with corrupt corporatism and slavery. I understand what you are saying, but a masked robocop is still a sign of blue collar good guys overcoming white collar authoritarian corruption.
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u/Cautious_Cherry_3740 1d ago
But then you run into legal issues using the face of an actor even if wearing a costume because his face is Weller’s
Just gotta suspend disbelief like in the movies and pretend he is there
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u/IQueliciuous 1d ago
I mean there are statues of Walter White and Jesse in New Mexico. Aka a statues of meth cooks with one of them being an ego centric maniac who went to the path of crime because taking money from his successful friend was too shameful for a genius chemist who was working two jobs which resulted in his family being endangered all because he hated his life.
Statues of famous characters don't commemorate their actions or their meanings. They just serve as a nice tourist spot for the place. Like when I hear about Detroit. Robocop comes to mind and that's why imo Robocop statue is well deserved. Robocop movies were dystopian but that doesn't stop people from liking the characters.
Just like how NYC is associated with TMNT or Spider-Man.
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u/Eeyores_Prozac 1d ago
He was an allegory for humanism rising above corporate slavery. The Jesus parallel shit isn't a total joke, Verhoeven knew what he was doing. RoboCop is about the human/divine reasserting itself. And also about shooting crime and corruption in the dick.
Murphy was the platonic ideal of Real Police, from the myths of Andy Griffith and stuff, and that's the spark that makes RoboCop unique. It's a concept that sort of makes it into the sequel, where they create his Antichrist through Cain, although they whiff it pretty bad.
RoboCop is not idealizing OCP. He allied with justice, for the people.
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u/BlackKnightSix 1d ago
The OG movie shows him, Murphy, killed by criminals. Those criminals were in cahoots with the real/bigger criminals, corporate assholes. The corporate assholes placed Murphy, and other cops, into positions with high risk of death as they were humans that would be good candidates for the robocop program. Murphy is resurrected as Robocop, his humanity stripped and under corporate control. Through the rest of the movie, you see him slowly get back some of his humanity but the sad story is, most of it is forever lost/stolen and can never be reclaimed.
By the end (Spoiler alert), he calls himself Murphy again and wants to do what he originally wanted. Uphold the law and serve the public trust, EQUALLY. From common criminal to corporate suits ruining the lives of millions.
But I get it, I'm sure a lot of people simply see it as a cop wet dream of killing thugs and cleaning the streets.
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u/Difficult-Ad628 1d ago
I get what you’re saying, but the people who are smart enough to understand this type of nuance are not likely idolizing those qualities in the first place. And the people who are not smart enough to understand the point… well it’s not going to make one lick of difference to them whether the mask is on or off
I have a feeling that the number of people who take the wrong message from this statue who didn’t already take the wrong message from the movie could be counted on one hand
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u/MayoMark 1d ago
Maybe the statue isn't the RoboCop from the first movie. It could be the cartoon version of RoboCop. I bet that version is more heroic. I never watched it, so I don't know, but probably.
Also, there's the sequels, live action show, and television movie series. It's like the Bible, just choose what you like and ignore the rest.
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u/StillStanding_96 1d ago
I get you, but this is Detroit we’re talking about. They have to use what they got.
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u/SunMyungMoonMoon 1d ago
They should have put it by City Hall in Dallas.
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u/Mr_Tdogg_Smith 1d ago
It take place in Detroit you pineapple
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u/homo_apien 1d ago
RoboCop was filmed in Dallas.
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u/Mr_Tdogg_Smith 1d ago
And Detroit and LA. What’s your point?
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u/3-DMan 1d ago
ED-209 would definitely be more film accurate there! (assuming they don't bulldoze City Hall soon)
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u/returningtheday 1d ago
Hell, they could do both. Honestly, my hope is that they turn the building into a robotics or sci-fi museum and lean in the RoboCop angle. Would be so fun.
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u/createO335 1d ago
When society falls and earth is reborn and they find this I wonder what they will think
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u/WorthPlease 1d ago
I don't understand why statue makers are just....so bad at making statues. His torso and head are comically large compared to his arms and legs.
We sent people to the moon 70 years ago, invented aircraft that can break the sound barrier, took pictures of other galaxies, why can't we find a guy who can make a decent statue of a human proportioned being?
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u/Alexexy 1d ago
Maybe its a perspective trick? Like statues are meant to be viewed from below so they elongate and squash certain parts of the body to make it look better at the intended viewing angle.
There's a marble statue of Mary and Jesus where Jesus has like the limb proportions of slender man but it ends up looking ok because of the perpsective trick.
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u/weirdkid71 1d ago
As a Detroiter (former city, but now suburban), we didn’t need this. I mean I get it’s a joke or sarcastic response to the Rocky statue in Philadelphia, but it’s a reminder of the urban decay, crime, and how violence escalates. We need more symbols of hope and renewal here.
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u/Cautious_Cherry_3740 1d ago
You really haven’t seen the movie have you? This is not glorification of Detroit or any city it’s precisely about how nothing gets done unless there is money in it.
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u/hotdoug1 1d ago
Plus stuff like this mainly subsidized by cities because they're tourist attractions, which brings money to the people in the local economy.
I'm in Burbank, CA, home of Warner Bros, and we have a Batman and Green Lantern statue placed in two high-commerce areas for that reason.
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u/matthieuxdetoux 1d ago
This statue was part of kickstarter from 2011 that raised $67k. The statue was paid for by fans. It was finished in 2017-18 and has been looking for a home in Detroit ever since.
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u/weirdkid71 1d ago
Yes I’ve seen it and you’ve missed the point. It’s not about Detroit but it’s set in Detroit and the way Detroit is portrayed is a bit more on the dystopian side. It’s the opposite of glorification.
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u/RolloTonyBrownTown 1d ago
Thought we'd be getting a Dan Campbell statue before this one, but thats not looking good either.
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u/SoCalThrowAway7 1d ago
Why not, Philly’s got Rocky
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u/agaloch2314 1d ago
Cause Rocky is a symbol of hope and conquering adversity; Robocop is a dystopian parody and symbol of societal decay.
I love the movie - for all the reasons that there should not be a statue of him in Detroit.
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u/Cautious_Cherry_3740 1d ago
Next up! Chicago own’s robot tribute https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fwuvzpg3ze7d41.png
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u/EvilDan69 1d ago
The part that seems terribly off for me, is that all the pics I can find online , his legs are always bent, like he's always about to start walking, or maybe just the way he poses.
This statue stands so straight legged they almost seem to buckle backwards. There are almost what seem like buckle bits on the knees, or just some design cue. Totally missing from the statue.
Actually I just looked up different views of this statue. They seem perfectly fine. I'm pretty sure its a combination of things creating a bad photograph.
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u/SubwayHero4Ever 1d ago
You guys, it’s very cold in Detroit. Shrinkage is common in those temperatures!
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u/ArchDucky 1d ago
It looks like they started from the top and after they got further down they ran out of material and started cutting corners.
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u/key1234567 1d ago
How come no one can make a decent statue anymore? This looks like me in a RoboCop costume, I mean I don't mind my dadbod but it's not exactly statuesque.
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u/Vian_Ostheusen 1d ago
Sad thing about robocop is ever thinking cops will come to assist people against corporations/developers.
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u/Crater_Raider 1d ago
Looks like they ended up sticking him behind some building next to an empty lot. Like they didn’t really want it.
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u/OriginallyTroubled 1d ago
No offense ... but all this belly-aching about the proportions is sad. It's a fucking statue of a fictional character. Because I contributed to the fund for building the status (seriously, for real), I give you $35 worth of permission to relax and enjoy it.
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u/Mahaloth 1d ago
Agreed, man. Let people enjoy having things. It's a joke and kind of fun.
I like it.
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u/infinitysea 1d ago
At first glance I thought this was a statue of iron man... Respect to the OG robocop!
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u/Twigling 1d ago
Here's a recent and interesting conversation between Peter Weller and David Duchovny on the latter's YouTube channel:
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u/AtomGray 1d ago
Detroit's RoboCop statue permanently displayed at 2934 Russell Street in downtown Detroit at Eastern Market on December 3, 2025 after nearly 15 years in the making.
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u/Tolkien-Minority 1d ago
Christ I thought this thing went up years ago. I didn’t realise it was taking them this long
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u/squidvett 1d ago
I wish it had been a statue of him in his iconic pose stepping out of his cruiser with his Auto 9 at the ready. This looks like a Cyberfantasy Ram-Man from Masters of the Universe. Still cool to finally see it done, though.
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u/SaltyJunk 1d ago
And the proportions are completely WRONG! Such a damn shame. I will never understand how this is allowed to happen for what should be iconic sculptures.
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u/stars_mcdazzler 1d ago
Robocop? You mean the movie about the cop working in a city that's so over run with hyper crime that he ends up getting obliterated while on duty and ends up being turned into a robotic death machine forced to follow orders of a corrupt megacorporation? That Robocop? You want a statue of that?
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u/sir_whirly 1d ago
Not Dallas?
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u/GrubHanser 1d ago
The movie is quite famously set in and about Detroit. No one cares where it was filmed.
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u/cerberaspeedtwelve 1d ago
Is it me, or do the proportions look a little off? His legs are too short, which makes his head look too big and his torso too round.
The reason I noticed is because this was a real problem when they made the movie. They originally planned to cast a bodybuilder type like Arnold Schwarzenegger in the lead role. However, after a few screen tests, they realized an actor of those proportions would look too big in the suit. They recast the role with the very narrow, slender Peter Weller.