‘RoboCop’ (1987) is considered one of the best films in the extensive filmography of Paul Verhoeven, also responsible for other films such as ‘Desafío Total’ (1990) or ‘Starship Troopers’ (1997). In this film, the European filmmaker decided to establish Deliberate parallels between Alex Murphy’s death (Peter Weller) and the passion of Christ through intelligent use of religious symbolism. Or what is the same: RoboCop intentionally “was” the American Jesus Christ.
RoboCop was basically the American Jesus Christ in the first movie
The first ‘RoboCop’ movie told us how a policeman named Alex Murphy (Peter Weller) was brutally murdered by criminals to later be resurrected as the cyborg RoboCop by a megacorporation called Omni Consumer Products. Below we leave you a video with the scene in question; Please note that viewing is not suitable for the most sensitive viewers:
Starting from this premise, Verhoeven deliberately added Christian symbology to ‘RoboCop’. Broadly speaking, the plot of the film could be summarized as “Jesus of Nazareth in a futuristic Detroit with many weapons.” For the director, while a European version of the character would have been focused on the psychological and spiritual aspects of him, An American woman must have been focused on revenge.
The long sequence of Murphy’s terrible execution was intended to make the audience empathize with the character due to his suffering.becoming an effective way to arouse affection towards the character among the spectators.
As part of the film’s religious symbolism, Murphy’s brutal death at the hands of Clarence Boddicker and his thugs was a clear parallel to the violent death of Jesus Christ, tortured and murdered by the Romans. There were many allusions to this in the film:
- Boddicker mentions that Murphy is the 33rd police officer he has killed, which is a reference to the age and year of Jesus’ death.
- Their deaths begin with limb damage (shotgun blast in Murphy’s case, nails in Jesus’ case) and end with a punchline (Murphy’s headshot, Jesus’ side pierced with a spear). All this while there are women immediately mourning the death (in Murphy’s case it is her partner Lewis, and in the case of Jesus, her mother Mary of Nazareth and Mary Magdalene).
- Later in the film, Boddicker stabs Murphy in the side with a spear, now converted into RoboCop, being another reference to the death of Jesus Christ.
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During the feature film there is several more instances where parallels are drawn between RoboCop and Jesus Christ:
- The resurrection itself is the most obvious of all. Alex Murphy is revived by the OCP and turned into RoboCop, and Jesus is resurrected in three days after his ordeal and death.
- Near the end of the film, RoboCop walks on a very shallow body of water, giving the impression that he is walking on water like Jesus Christ in one of the New Testament miracles.
This religious symbolism and these references to Christianity They did not have the mere intention of provoking or offending the Churchbut It was about the film’s peculiar way of exploring themes such as humanity and death.given that One of the issues primarily addressed by the plot was whether Murphy could still be considered “human.” after his resurrection as a cyborg.
What was ‘RoboCop’ about? Was it a good movie?
‘RoboCop’ was a action and science fiction film released in 1987 and directed by Paul Verhoeven. It starred Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith and Miguel Ferrer. This feature film told us how Alex Murphy (Weller) is a police officer in a dystopian and futuristic Detroit that He is brutally murdered by criminalsbut He is later resurrected as a cyborg called RoboCop by the megacorporation Omni Consumer Products.
This tape It was a box office success.well managed to raise about 53 million dollars starting from a budget of 13 and a half million. It was liked by critics and audiences alike. and It is considered one of the best science fiction films of all timewith ratings of 92% from critics and 84% from the public on Rotten Tomatoes and a score of 7.6 on IMDb. It was praised mainly for its satirical content and brilliant social criticism., all hidden behind extreme violence. He went on to win an Oscar and several Saturn Awards.
This success led to the creation of a franchise around the figure of ‘RoboCop’with two sequels most released in 1990 and 1993, a remake released in 2014, video games like RoboCop: Rogue City (2023), comics, toys, figures and even crossovers with other science fiction sagas like ‘Terminator’.
