Robocop & Violence

While it is easy to see that there are multiple examples of violence in “Robocop”, both the gritty realistic violence, and the “fun” violence, in its entirety, “Robocop” lends itself more to the “fun” violence school of thought. While I would not say that there is absolutely no part of this movie grounded in realism, the film does extend more to an “artistic” style of incredibly over the top, “fun” violence. On the other hand, the cartoonish style violence does not lend itself to fun, and can create rather disquieting responses to certain violent scenes, opposed to what the normal reaction to cartoonish violence is. While in the beginning of the film there were several examples of rather gory violence, it could be seen as merely a way to help the audience understand the amount of pain that certain characters were suffering. For instance, the scene in which Murphy is being held at gunpoint and then shot at uses its violent levels of gore rather well, first when the criminals blow off his hand and arm, and then riddle his entire body with bullets. The progression of gory violence serves to show in just how much trouble Murphy is, and serves as a set-up to his need for a robotic body. However, later into the movie we witness other scenes, each containing as much, if not more, gore, which conversely does nothing to further the plot and instead serves as merely a filler in the movie. While some may find that this childish portrayal of violence is entertaining the rest of us can be merely shocked at it, trying to understand its purpose. Even when it is Murphy himself that is using this violence on others, the shock is only lessened, because it is being acted out by a character who we see as not only the protagonist, but a good man, both because of his roots as a police officer, and as the Robocop. Needless to say, I do not believe that it is possible to classify “Robocop” as a unique or “artsy” film based solely on its portrayal of violence, but that it is more apt as a “popcorn” film, meant to be entertaining to everyone, but without any true deep meaning.