Yesterday it was reported that Detroit’s Mayor Steve Bing took to Twitter to deny any plans for the city to erect a statue of Robocop as part of their revitalization plans. The Mayor’s office has been soliciting for suggestions online.
I’m sure the suggestion was tongue-in-cheek and the mini-firestorm it set off yesterday was probably equally playful. But as sympathetic as I am to Mayor Bing’s decision to reject the proposal, I’m personally disappointed it’s not happening.
Realistically, you don’t want to erect a statue of a character from a movie that was a pretty savage satire of commercialization in the United States (the police being owned by a large corporation) while using Detroit’s reputation for urban blight as a backdrop. I get that. Truthfully, you could argue that Robocop did more to harm Detroit’s reputation than help it. So why celebrate it.
But on the other hand, Robocop is awesome. There’s no two ways about it. If someone wanted to present me a statue of Robocop, I’d put it up in my front yard.
What’s your reaction to this disappointing news? What other cities might benefit from having statues of movie characters erected in their cities? Sound off below!
Quote form http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mostar_Bruce_Lee_statue
“On Saturday, November 26, 2005, the city of Mostar in Bosnia and Herzegovina unveiled a bronze statue of Bruce Lee by Croatian sculptor Ivan Fijolić. “
I believe Philly has a statue of Rocky. But yeah, as you said, RoboCop does not cast Detroit in a good light. Even though it would be awesome to have him as a statue.
Is there anyone left in downtown Detroit to see it? It would probably go to waste.
I think the real issue there isn’t an iconic place to put it like the Rocky statue by the stairs in Philly because none of it wasn’t even filmed in Detroit. It was filmed in Dallas, my hometown. Every time I see Dallas city hall it makes me think about Robocop. Now I for one would be okay with them putting it in Dallas.