The 1987 movie Robocop, besides being one of my all - time favorite movies, is an excellent movie filled with satire and subliminal messages. The 2014 reboot, while lacking the messages made in the original, is a solid action movie. However, since the actual Robocop himself is a cyborg rather than a robot, I will be examining how both movies' characters would prefer a simple robot to a cybernetic man, and how these reflect the attitude of the period in which they were made.
The 1987 Robocop features Alex Murphy, a cop who is horrendously injured in the line of duty and is rebuilt as a cyborg. In the movie, the project for building Robocop is put forth by an up-and-coming executive, who pushes his project ahead of a more senior executive. The senior executive wishes only to have robotic officers, but his project is constantly delayed because the robots are inferior and malfunction, killing friendlies or simply fall apart. In 1987, robotics were still a new and exciting idea, but prone to accidents. While assembly lines were mostly automated, the need for skilled laborers and regular workers was still a large part of the workforce. The internet, while invented, was not available to the general population for another 3 years. People were living in a transitional period, where robotics were becoming more regular, but did not see widescale use outside of major corporations. This can be seen in the movie, as Murphy is a superior robot due to his humanity. He is able to outwit and destroy the fully automated machines as well as defeat human opponents. At the end, when the senior executive's attempt to shut down his mechanical body, his human side is able to overcome the machine and defeat them.
In the 2014 version of Robocop, the future is filled with machines. People regularly receive cybernetic limbs and robots are used by the United States in place of humans to fight its wars and subdue enemy populations. Once again, Alex Murphy is injured in the line of duty and is rebuilt as the Robocop. However this time there is massive backlash against this project, as the robotic soldiers are not only faster and stronger, but have quicker reaction times and are better at killing the enemy without risking human casualties. To ensure that Murphy is better than the robots, his human emotions are "turned down", more effectively turning him into a better machine. He is also tied into the internet and is able to call up any police case at will as well as able to use cameras and other surveillance devices across the city to enact justice. In this version, robotics have far surpassed the capabilities of regular humans. Murphy is not a better machine because of his humanity, but is in fact hindered by it. Although at the end he is able to overcome his machine side to defeat the bad guy, the tone is still set.
The 1987 movie shows what Americans thought of machines at the time: useful and amazing, but still inferior to good old human ingenuity. While Murphy was mostly machine, he was still a human being who could beat a robot. The general idea seems to be that while robots are useful, humans have been and will continue to be the superior being. In contrast, the 2014 version shows robots as the superior being. As mentioned above, not only are they faster and stronger, but they're also cheap and plentiful, and reduce the cost of human lives in conflict. Murphy has to be made less human in order to compete with them. This shows the drastic difference that 27 years has made in the eyes of regular people. People see robots as the future, but they're also more afraid of them. If a robot can access the internet and surveillance system to observe people, then even the most law-abiding citizen could be caught doing something illegal at some point. Invasion of privacy vs the need for security is a delicate balance, and is a hot topic in politics right now. People have always viewed humanity as the best organism on the planet, as we have fought our way to the top of the food chain. But with the production of a better and more efficient organism, our place in the world feels threatened. While Murphy was able to beat his machine programming in both movies, the fear is still there: will man always be better than the machines we create?
The 1987 Robocop features Alex Murphy, a cop who is horrendously injured in the line of duty and is rebuilt as a cyborg. In the movie, the project for building Robocop is put forth by an up-and-coming executive, who pushes his project ahead of a more senior executive. The senior executive wishes only to have robotic officers, but his project is constantly delayed because the robots are inferior and malfunction, killing friendlies or simply fall apart. In 1987, robotics were still a new and exciting idea, but prone to accidents. While assembly lines were mostly automated, the need for skilled laborers and regular workers was still a large part of the workforce. The internet, while invented, was not available to the general population for another 3 years. People were living in a transitional period, where robotics were becoming more regular, but did not see widescale use outside of major corporations. This can be seen in the movie, as Murphy is a superior robot due to his humanity. He is able to outwit and destroy the fully automated machines as well as defeat human opponents. At the end, when the senior executive's attempt to shut down his mechanical body, his human side is able to overcome the machine and defeat them.
In the 2014 version of Robocop, the future is filled with machines. People regularly receive cybernetic limbs and robots are used by the United States in place of humans to fight its wars and subdue enemy populations. Once again, Alex Murphy is injured in the line of duty and is rebuilt as the Robocop. However this time there is massive backlash against this project, as the robotic soldiers are not only faster and stronger, but have quicker reaction times and are better at killing the enemy without risking human casualties. To ensure that Murphy is better than the robots, his human emotions are "turned down", more effectively turning him into a better machine. He is also tied into the internet and is able to call up any police case at will as well as able to use cameras and other surveillance devices across the city to enact justice. In this version, robotics have far surpassed the capabilities of regular humans. Murphy is not a better machine because of his humanity, but is in fact hindered by it. Although at the end he is able to overcome his machine side to defeat the bad guy, the tone is still set.
The 1987 movie shows what Americans thought of machines at the time: useful and amazing, but still inferior to good old human ingenuity. While Murphy was mostly machine, he was still a human being who could beat a robot. The general idea seems to be that while robots are useful, humans have been and will continue to be the superior being. In contrast, the 2014 version shows robots as the superior being. As mentioned above, not only are they faster and stronger, but they're also cheap and plentiful, and reduce the cost of human lives in conflict. Murphy has to be made less human in order to compete with them. This shows the drastic difference that 27 years has made in the eyes of regular people. People see robots as the future, but they're also more afraid of them. If a robot can access the internet and surveillance system to observe people, then even the most law-abiding citizen could be caught doing something illegal at some point. Invasion of privacy vs the need for security is a delicate balance, and is a hot topic in politics right now. People have always viewed humanity as the best organism on the planet, as we have fought our way to the top of the food chain. But with the production of a better and more efficient organism, our place in the world feels threatened. While Murphy was able to beat his machine programming in both movies, the fear is still there: will man always be better than the machines we create?
I watched the 1987 Robocop Murphy who is half machine half human as hero, fight with the bad ans protect this city. however half of him is robot, which means he will be in the charged of human. The background of the movie is the city Detroit. In the 1980s, the violet crimes increased dramatically, also the economy was increasing. it has a huge crime rates and unemployment rate during the 80th. And also rich people get richer because of the the monopoly. and the police is run by a personal company. The company take advantage of it, and did a lot of bad things, there is no more fairness. Murphy as a hero, supporting the law and equality.
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