Director Paul Verhoeven, known for his heavy use of Christian symbolism, states in the documentary "Flesh and Steel: The Making of RoboCop" (featured on the RoboCop DVD) that his intention was to portray RoboCop as a Christ figure. This is represented in Murphy's horrific death, his return as RoboCop, and the scene at the steel mill where RoboCop is seen walking ankle-deep in water, creating the illusion of him walking on water. On that note, Verhoeven was asked by a fan whether the showdown with Dick Jones was intended as a representation of Satan (Jones)'s rebelling against Jehovah (the OCP president), or the Devil's subsequent fall from grace (being fired on the spot, and then blown backwards through the window of the OCP tower to his death). Verhoeven's reply: "It's a sharp observation, but none of that was on my mind at the time."
“The point of Robocop is of course that it is a Christ story. It is about a guy that gets crucified after fifty minutes then is resurrected in the next fifty minutes and then is like the supercop of the world. But is also a Jesus figure as he walks over water at the end. he could walk over the water and say this wonderful line, which is basically, em, to Clarence Boddicker ‘I am not arresting you any more.’ Meaning I’m going to shoot you. And that is , of course, the American Jesus.”
Paul Verhoeven believes RoboCop was not simply a Jesus allegory but specifically the placing of the Passion of the Christ in a post-industrial America. And he's, of course, right.
Just a minute. Just a minute. Now, hold on. You're right when you say My Father was no businessman. I know that. Why he ever started this cheap, penny-ante planet, I'll never know. But neither you nor anyone else can say anything against his character, because his whole life was… why, in the 4500 years since he and his brother, Uncle Billy, started this thing, he never once thought of himself. Isn't that right, Uncle Billy?
I like how he bolsters his argument that there would be no America without Jesus by quoting Truman attributing America's legal system to two things that happened thousands of years before Christ was born.
"How dare these twats in marketing insist on a pagan happy holidays instead of a proper America-Boner Merry Christmas. Let's see a bunch of Jewish people come up with a fucking december Holiday of medium religious importance that gets blown up into a bunch of fucking gift-giving. I bet if you gave those un-american heathen Jesus-killing pricks 8 god-damn tries they still couldn't engage in a day of symbolic well-lit household decorations and gift-giving."
@armagnacforbreakfast I don't want to think about what would have failed to happen had not Dionysus been born.(1)(2)
(1)From Zeus' leg, no less.
(2)Did you know that Euripides' Bacchae was adapted in Byzantine times into a play about the Passion of Christ? Which means that all this speculation is less crazy than it seems. Or maybe more crazy.
@propertius "Leg" is one way that gets translated. "Thigh" is probably more common. And, knowing what we know about Zeus and Dionysus, I think that we can all guess what "thigh" is a euphamism for.
Director Paul Verhoeven, known for his heavy use of Christian symbolism, states in the documentary "Flesh and Steel: The Making of RoboCop" (featured on the RoboCop DVD) that his intention was to portray RoboCop as a Christ figure. This is represented in Murphy's horrific death, his return as RoboCop, and the scene at the steel mill where RoboCop is seen walking ankle-deep in water, creating the illusion of him walking on water. On that note, Verhoeven was asked by a fan whether the showdown with Dick Jones was intended as a representation of Satan (Jones)'s rebelling against Jehovah (the OCP president), or the Devil's subsequent fall from grace (being fired on the spot, and then blown backwards through the window of the OCP tower to his death). Verhoeven's reply: "It's a sharp observation, but none of that was on my mind at the time."
“The point of Robocop is of course that it is a Christ story. It is about a guy that gets crucified after fifty minutes then is resurrected in the next fifty minutes and then is like the supercop of the world. But is also a Jesus figure as he walks over water at the end. he could walk over the water and say this wonderful line, which is basically, em, to Clarence Boddicker ‘I am not arresting you any more.’ Meaning I’m going to shoot you. And that is , of course, the American Jesus.”
@Matt CAN YOU FLY BOBBY
@Matt That's RoboCop.
I'll give that dude credit for one thing: managing to write an entire article without a sentence using more than seven words.
Given the contingency and path-dependency of history, I can actually believe that statement. The Robocop discussion, though, is over my head.
Paul Verhoeven believes RoboCop was not simply a Jesus allegory but specifically the placing of the Passion of the Christ in a post-industrial America. And he's, of course, right.
@Matt That's intense. Thank you.
If Jesus had never been born, USA would be home to sleazy nightclubs and pawn shops.
Just a minute. Just a minute. Now, hold on. You're right when you say My Father was no businessman. I know that. Why he ever started this cheap, penny-ante planet, I'll never know. But neither you nor anyone else can say anything against his character, because his whole life was… why, in the 4500 years since he and his brother, Uncle Billy, started this thing, he never once thought of himself. Isn't that right, Uncle Billy?
I like how he bolsters his argument that there would be no America without Jesus by quoting Truman attributing America's legal system to two things that happened thousands of years before Christ was born.
"How dare these twats in marketing insist on a pagan happy holidays instead of a proper America-Boner Merry Christmas. Let's see a bunch of Jewish people come up with a fucking december Holiday of medium religious importance that gets blown up into a bunch of fucking gift-giving. I bet if you gave those un-american heathen Jesus-killing pricks 8 god-damn tries they still couldn't engage in a day of symbolic well-lit household decorations and gift-giving."
"If Poseidon had never been born, there would be no Euro crisis today."
@armagnacforbreakfast I don't want to think about what would have failed to happen had not Dionysus been born.(1)(2)
(1)From Zeus' leg, no less.
(2)Did you know that Euripides' Bacchae was adapted in Byzantine times into a play about the Passion of Christ? Which means that all this speculation is less crazy than it seems. Or maybe more crazy.
@propertius This seems like an apt time for:
@propertius "Leg" is one way that gets translated. "Thigh" is probably more common. And, knowing what we know about Zeus and Dionysus, I think that we can all guess what "thigh" is a euphamism for.