Detroit's Giant RoboCop Statue is Finished (And Homeless)
After nearly 10 long years, RoboCop is finally here -- no, not a movie, or TV show, or even another godforsaken KFC commercial. No, we're talking about the giant bronze sculpture of everyone's favorite cybernetic law enforcement officer. You probably remember how back in 2011, a joke Tweet prompted RoboCop fans to lobby the city of Detroit to erect a statue honoring their fictional dystopian guardian. This eventually led to a 2012 Kickstarter campaign which raised over $60,000 dollars to build a giant metal RoboCop -- clearly the best use of funds in one of America's most impoverished cities.
Following years of setbacks, including obtaining permission to use RoboCop's likeness and a serious health issue involving one of the statue's key contributors, this tribute to Paul Verhoeven's 1987 classic is complete. It stands eleven feet tall, and the base alone weighs half a ton. Judging from the photos, it is pretty magnificent.
Originally RoboCop was supposed to be "placed outside the Michigan Science Center," presumably to teach kids about the science of robotic necromancy and the perils of police militarization. But now the Science Center is claiming that it "no longer plans to be home" to the statue -- which is a real gunshot to the balls for everyone involved in this project. Why? According to the Science Center, because of the pandemic, "resources must now be entirely focused on our core mission of serving Michigan's students and families."
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So where to put RoboCop now? It's not like they can simply plop him in front of one of the movie's many iconic locations because RoboCop wasn't even filmed in Detroit; it was shot in Dallas, Texas. If other public spaces continue to reject the statue, maybe it's time to start up The Church of RoboCop.
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Top Image: Orion, Ramin Nasibov/Twitter
