Is The World Moving Towards Robocop’s?
Robocop was a highly
successful movie of the late 1980s. It told the story of a dystopic and
crime-ridden future Detroit, where the government has been replaced by a huge
company known as OCP (OmniConsumer Products). After privatising the Detroit
police force, OCP plans to rid the city of crime and rebuild it as ‘Delta City’.
After an initial plan to create a crime-fighting robot failed, OCP decided to
‘resurrect’ a police officer killed in action, and enhanced his body with
robotic parts, thus creating Robocop. The film delves into and discusses
several issues, of which many are prevalent today. Issues the film raised
included the privatisation of the police force and other public services; the
existence of personal identity in a cyborg; the rampant spread of capitalism;
and whether humans will be able to control the advances in technology, or just
succumb to it. This essay will compare
the economic and social world of today with that of futuristic Detroit. To an
extent the world of Robocop is quite similar to the world of today, especially
in the Western world, because of most of the reasons above. It will be highly
likely that as the years pass, some if not all parts of the world will move
towards the one conjured in Robocop.
One key issue raised
in the film Robocop is the privatisation of the police force and other public
services, and the implications of that. In the movie the entire Detroit police
force is contracted out to OCP, in order to protect the workers who will build
Delta City. OCP is given management of the police force, and the city pays it a
fee in order for it to organise police activities. Police privatization was prevalent in the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where clients hired out police officers
for personal protection. It became prevalent again in the late twentieth
century, with governments contracting out the police service in order to save
money. This year Detroit’s government had its power taken away from it and a
state-appointed ‘emergency manager’ was instilled into power in order to
stimulate its tanking economy (Moritz, 2013: p. 22 http://global.factiva.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/aa/?ref=ARK0000020130815e97t00014&pp=1&fcpil=en&napc=S&sa_from=
). Although this example is not specifically of a company taking over the role of government it is still a body taking over a government in the pursuit of money. Several issues arrive from police privatization and Robertson’s article outlines some of these. A company’s main goal is to make a profit, so if they buy out the police service they may reduce costs in order to make as much money as possible. This may be done by replacing people with technology, as in Robocop, or by reducing training (Robertson, 2008: p.223 http://search.proquest.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/209809976/fulltextPDF?accountid=14543). Police privatization is happening in the world of today, and is has been hit with significant criticism. In 2012 almost twenty thousand police officers marched through the streets of London, protesting against the privatization of their service, worried about the possible job cuts (Laville 2012 http://www.theguardian.com/uk/crime-and-justice-blog/2012/may/09/police-to-march-on-london). This is related to the issue of replacing or discarding staff. In order to gain the most profit, a company may just release a significant number of staff to lessen the payroll. The issue of police privatization is also related to the pursuit of capitalism, another issue explored in the film.
). Although this example is not specifically of a company taking over the role of government it is still a body taking over a government in the pursuit of money. Several issues arrive from police privatization and Robertson’s article outlines some of these. A company’s main goal is to make a profit, so if they buy out the police service they may reduce costs in order to make as much money as possible. This may be done by replacing people with technology, as in Robocop, or by reducing training (Robertson, 2008: p.223 http://search.proquest.com.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/docview/209809976/fulltextPDF?accountid=14543). Police privatization is happening in the world of today, and is has been hit with significant criticism. In 2012 almost twenty thousand police officers marched through the streets of London, protesting against the privatization of their service, worried about the possible job cuts (Laville 2012 http://www.theguardian.com/uk/crime-and-justice-blog/2012/may/09/police-to-march-on-london). This is related to the issue of replacing or discarding staff. In order to gain the most profit, a company may just release a significant number of staff to lessen the payroll. The issue of police privatization is also related to the pursuit of capitalism, another issue explored in the film.
Another key issue raised by the
film Robocop is the system of capitalism, and the implications of endlessly
pursuing a profit. According to Best, “it is fore grounded as the prime
player on the scene, the determining force behind labor conflicts, crime and
corruption, social distress, cutthroat individualism, and the impoverishment of
subjective life” (http://www.uta.edu/huma/illuminations/best1.htm). In the movie OCP almost
entirely runs Detroit, and after privatizing state services, they employ
rampant cost-cutting measures in order to keep turning in profits. The key
reason for privatizing the police service was to make millions of workers safe
who would construct the new Delta City. However OCP planned to make money of
the workers as well, through drugs, gambling, and prostitution (Robertson,
2008: p.220 http://journals.cambridge.org.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/action/displayFulltext?type=1&fid=3643100&jid=IJC&volumeId=4&issueId=03&aid=3643092&bodyId=&membershipNumber=&societyETOCSession=). Large casino companies gain almost all
their revenue from gambling, so in this aspect the world of today is similar to
the one of Robocop. In its quest for the highest profit, OCP eventually became
a complete monopoly, and profited from crime, under the corrupt control of Vice-President
Jones (Best, 1989: p.20 http://www.ejumpcut.org/archive/onlinessays/JC34folder/RobocopBest.html). Police officers are disposable for money,
as was the case with Murphy, who was sent to a dangerous part of Detroit in the
hope he would be killed as used for the Robocop project (which eventually
happened). Capitalism is the driving force behind almost the entire world of
today, with many nations, especially the United States, almost encouraging
citizens to earn as much money as possible, with almost no checks on wealth.
Large multinational companies have almost complete control over the sectors
they are in, and form either monopolies or oligarchies. Whilst the world of
today is not necessarily the same as futuristic Detroit, there are obvious
foundations for change, and with the need for money and profit increasing,
companies may eventually do anything, even if it is not legal, in order to be
successful. Another reason why OCP was so successful was because of its
investment in technology, and the question of whether Robocop can actually
control his robotic side comes into question.
The third issue raised by Robocop is whether
humanity will be able to control the rapid increase and advancement of
technology, or just succumb to it. Robocop himself is built to be more machine
than man, and was given a limited ‘human’ memory. He also had programmed into
his brain three Prime Directives that guided his crime-fighting and another that
prevented him from arresting anyone from OCP, stopping Robocop from rebelling
against his creators (Telotte, 1995: p.93). However Robocop’s human morality
eventually takes over, and once he realizes who he was before his transformation,
he rebels and hunts the OCP employees responsible for his planned murder.
Robocop belies his purpose as an effective killing machine and eventually acts
more man than machine. Although Robocop was able to control the technology
imposed on him, the question is raised whether the rest of humanity will be
able to although their lives are almost saturated with technology. Today’s
world has an almost unhealthy obsession with technology, to the point where
modern humanity would probably not survive without all the latest gadgets. The
result is, as Lupton argues, is that “technology becomes the master rather than
the servant, taking control over the everyday lives and futures of humans”
(1994: p.564 http://vxheaven.org/lib/pdf/Panic%20computing%3A%20The%20viral%20metaphor%20and%20computer%20technology.pdf). Computers and mobile phones especially
could almost be classed as technology ‘masters’ because modern humans cannot
seem to function without them, and heavily rely on them in order to live their
daily lives. Also some people are fitted with pacemakers in order to keep their
hearts going, and effectively the technology is the master of them, because
without it they literally would not survive. Some companies today gain almost
their entire profit from technology sales, such as Apple and Microsoft. In the
movie OCP gains some of its profits from the Robocop project, and also arms
dealing. Weapons are a huge commodity in the world today, with many companies generating
huge profits from the manufacturing and sale of weapons. However some weapons
manufactures don’t necessarily make weapons for good people. Technology is also
increasing taking on human roles, such as in the car making industry. In some
cases industries almost solely rely on technology. This is the area that the
modern world is closest to the one of Robocop, because humankind will increasingly
rely on technology to the point that there is no alternative. It will be highly
unlikely that humans will be able to control technology in the future.
The world of today is similar and
increasingly moving towards the one of the movie Robocop. Public services such
as the police force are increasingly being privatized by companies, and
governments are having power taken away from them by money-hungry companies. Capitalism
will continue to grow rapidly to the point that people will do almost anything
to gain the highest profit. Also humankind will not be able to control the
rapid spread of technology, because in some cases it has already taken over
their lives.
Reference List:
- Best, S., W n.d., “Robocop: The Crisis of Subjectivity”, Retrieved from: http://www.uta.edu/huma/illuminations/best1.htm, Viewed 15 September, 2013.
- Best, S., 1989, “Robocop in the ditritus of hi-technology”, in Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, Volume 34, p. 19-26.
- IMDb.com, Inc., 2013, “Robocop (1987)”, Retrieved from: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093870/, Viewed 15 September, 2013.
- Laville, S., 2012, “Police officers to march on London”, weblog, 10 May, Viewed 18 September 2013, Retrieved from: http://www.theguardian.com/uk/crime-and-justice-blog/2012/may/09/police-to-march-on-london.
- Lupton, D., 1994, “Panic computing: The viral metaphor and computer technology”, in Cultural Studies,
- Moritz, G., 2013, “Robocop is coming true”, in Arkansas Business, Volume 30, p. 22.
- Pursel, C., W n.d., “Robocop (1987)”, Retrieved from: http://www.umich.edu/~engb415/credits.html, Viewed 15 September, 2013.
- Robertson, M., 2008, “Property and privatisation in Robocop”, in International Journal of Law in Context, Volume 4, p. 217-235.
- Telotte, J.P., 1995, “Replications: A Robot History of the Science Fiction Film”, Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Chicago.
