Can't wait for the inevitable RoboCop vs. TERFS movie.

"What's your name, son?" "Murphy." "Murphy what?" "...Murphy Skywalker."

Lewis not being a cyborg in the sequel is the first time I was aware of Hollywood letting me down.

Robocop is one of those bits of culture which, like Rage Against The Machine, is liked by people it damns.

mind blown: I've seen RoboCop about 30 times and it NEVER occurred to me how Murphy and Lewis are "designed" to look alike. Wow.

I'd buy _that_ for a dollar!

Note too, that as Robocop, Murphy's face has literally been attached to the machine-cranium. His face is rather a mask.

I always thought that Murphy lost his family due to him “dying”. If he lost his family before dying then it changes everything. Thank you for such an insightful reading.

As a kid, Lewis was my favorite female character in anything. I thought she looked cool, was cool, and I honestly modeled a bunch of OCs after her when I was little lol.

About the similarity between Murphy and Lewis. The cherry on top is this: Nancy Allen and Peter Weller share the same birthday - and by strangest of strange coincidences, today, June 24, is their birthday.

I've always been very bothered by how long Dick Jones's arms are when he falls out the window, he could take his shoes off without bending over.

I'm a transwoman. Robocop was one of the three movies I had on VHS as a young trying-to-be-a-boy. I watched it so many times I can practically quote it from memory. I considered it a struggle about finding an identity apart from the ones that were forced upon you by family, society, and (literal) programming. I didn't catch the mirroring with Lewis or his wife. I saw it mostly in ED-209 which was incapable of questioning its role or making independent decisions. It was Murphy's humanity that made him able to change, to discover his true self and embrace it. And he was nearly destroyed for it. I never saw it as a "trans narrative", but definitely one about transformation, acceptance, and growth. I may need to go back and watch it again now that I've transitioned. Maybe I'll see something I never let myself see before.

The line "I really want to tell you something" and "I love you" are connected sentences that happen one after another, they're not separate scenes.

Murphy/RoboCop, by film's end, favored the human side, the Murphy side, more, hence the final line being "Murphy," one of the more uplifting concluding lines I have ever heard. He was essentially reclaiming himself with just a one-word sentence.

10:50 so we transitively have Martine Verhoeven to thank as well for this gem of cinema for seeing what her hubby didn't right away. THANKS, MRS. VERHOEVEN!

One comment about James Cameron's female heroes Ripley and Sarah - that clip of Sarah in T2 was intended to show her losing her humanity, trying to become a killing machine to protect her future, not being a hero. That said, I agree that Cameron does impose traditional male heroic qualities on female characters to make them heroes, but in both those movies, they were motivated by wanting to protect a child. So I think his version of a female hero is jamming together extreme versions of both traditional male (strong fighters) and traditional female (protective mothers) qualities.

Not trying to be a dick here, but it's wild to me that you can watch Aliens and come away with the idea that Cameron thinks that female strength comes from abandoning womanhood to act like a man. He's specifically saying the opposite - that's the whole purpose of the Vazquez character. They even have Hudson ask her if she's ever been mistaken for a man to really drive the point home. She's the most aggressive and violent member of the space marines. Meanwhile, Ripley's strength comes not from the masculine instinct to destroy, but in her embracing of her mothering instincts (you could certainly question the progressiveness of this message today in 2019, but for 1986, it's pretty good). She becomes strong to protect Newt. The film's iconic image is of Ripley holding Newt on her hip with one arm, and brandishing a flame thrower with the other. The climactic fight is between the two mothers (Ripley and the Alien Queen)! I thought the Robocop stuff was great, but I had to comment on this, as it's an issue I've considered extensively.

Interesting reading of the movie to be honest. I had never thought of the movie in this fashion, but that's the beauty of art.

Thank you for acknowledging Lewis’ epicness. I was deeply surprised how the honest trailer treated her !

IMO, once you get to the middle of the '80s, and all of the residual weirdness of the '70s is dead, you mostly have to look to indie and underground cinema to find the good stuff. RoboCop was the little movie that could, and I think that Verhoeven and co. got away with slipping a lot of things under the radar.

You have given me an entirely new appreciation for the "They'll fix you, they fix everything" line and I can't thank you enough! Also, IT'S SO OBVIOUS they're doubles... So OBVIOUS I never saw it before! I am LOVING your videos; please keep it up!

I'd argue that the house tour scene is far more about his former home (and, by extension, his identity and humanity) becoming sterilized and commodified, and I'd read his punching of the TV screen as a futile--and very traditionally masculine--act of lashing out against the artificial face of corporate America, but I otherwise found the mirroring/doubling arguments quite compelling. I would also take a different read on his relationship with his family. While he is undoubtedly focusing on idealized memories, the memories may indicate his own insecurities about his masculinity more than they do any real disapproval from his wife and son. Murphy becomes obsessed over learning a gun trick that his son asked about in passing--and in a tone that suggests that he already idolized his father. So too, his mind latches onto a confrontational image of his wife, seemingly emasculating him with her disdain. In truth, though, he may have mis-remembered his wife's tone and body language precisely because he feels inadequate in his gender performance.

Best believe the hype! Maggie is back!

This is an interesting view on the film. I've always loved RoboCop, even as a wee baby who shouldn't have been watching it. I've personally never seen it that way so it's nice to hear someone speak on it like this. It really does have so many layers and that's why I've enjoyed it even more as I've grown older and my world views have broadened.

Paul Verhoeven is a beast, Robocob is just another example how good he can tell storys and even today the efx looks amazing.

Huh. So that's why I always liked Lewis. Well done.

You seem to of missed a part of the wife saying she needs to talk. It is shown later that she was just playing with him and that what she “needs to talk” about is that she “loves him”. Murphy seemed to have a very idealic family life, which makes his trip down memory lane all the more heart breaking.

You can tell when you love something when the theory crafting reaches these depths!

i enjoy your enthusiasm as much as i do your analysis!

Robocop says Trans rights uwu

Thanks Maggie for reminding me of why I love Robocop so much!

3:40 This is said just days after Burger King rolled out their "Not Always Happy" Whopper meals.

I'm not sure if I buy the trans reading, seems like a stretch. But a very interesting listen

The trans theme seems like a stretch to me, but if one of my favourite movies of all time is even deeper than I thought, and more people can enjoy it on another level, that is awesome. I mean, I don't think I ever noticed that boardroom scene is one continuous take.

I think this is the first I've been excited about watching Robocop again. Thank you

This is a fantastic analysis! I just wrapped up my masters this past year and I was studying masculinity in history. Videos like this are always so great to me as they both remind me why masculinity and hypermasculinity are important to study but also just remind me of how much fun I had studying them

I never thought that anyone could give me a reason to need to re-watch RoboCop!! But now I must!!!! Love this perspective!! ♥️🔥

16:14 - That's a really interesting (and valid) interpretation, and to be honest I hadn't noticed the difference in the takes used until this was pointed out. I can't help but think, though, that on one hand it might be as simple as the editor or director preferring the framing or delivery of the actor's second line ("I love you") in the second take. On another hand, I recently watched videos of some panels and interviews with the case and crew of the movie, and one thing that Peter Weller mentioned was that in the original script, Lewis's "Murphy, it's *you*" and confronting Emil at the gas station happened before Robocop's dream/memory of Murphy's murder (and he pointed out that the "standard" Hollywood storytelling method has physical stimuli trigger the metaphysical realisation). According to Weller, Verhoeven emphatically insisted that the "dream" had to happen first - that Murphy's "soul" had to begin to reassert itself on its own, and then have his soul drive his subsequent perceptions and actions. So how about this for an idea? The first time we see flashbacks is when Murphy is being worked on in the ER. Murphy is consciously aware that his body has been irretrievably maimed and that he has almost certainly been mortally wounded - he is obviously and understandably afraid of dying, and so the flashbacks represent moments in his life where he felt fear and concern. Being a good role model to his son in a crapsack world ("Can you do that, Dad?"), his family waving goodbye (as he knows he's been transferred to a much more dangerous precinct), and his wife confronting him ("I really need to tell you something") without the resolution we see later. Could it be possible that this version of the flashback is a representation coloured by the fear that Murphy's soul felt on hearing those words - another example of the "dream"? For what it's worth, my interpretation of the flashbacks we see later when Murphy (as RoboCop) walks around his former house is that on some level, Murphy's soul is trying to present those events as they actually happened without the veneer of fear - he *was* an honourable man, a good father, part of a happy family, and his wife *did* love him. Peter Weller does an extraordinary job through physical acting (19:00) of expressing the mounting rage of Murphy's soul as he realises what was taken from him, and to my mind the virtual realtor's "Have you thought it over?" is another example of the crass corporate attitude which dismisses the loss of his home, family and life as just another business opportunity. Sorry for the ramble, I hope this makes sense and seems interesting.

In my personal experience of trying to achieve the hyper masculine traits expected of me by my (grand)uncles between the ages of 11 and 20 (father out of picture completely, was/is incarcerated, parents were addicts, brothers and sister raised by grandmother since I was 6 and Im oldest for backstory) then finally snapped cause I couldnt meet the expectations they/I had set. Ended up diving deep into my own Jungian anima, after a few years contemplating who I really was, I became more secure in myself than ever before. Its easier to know yourself when youre not trying to fit somebody elses mold, a mold they dont even understand was also forced upon themselves originally and how much it stunted them.

Every video you make is an absolute joy to watch. Thank you for making such thoughtful and interesting content!

A counterpoint to the James Cameron point. That shot of Sarah Connor IS her attempting a masculine "let's shoot the problem away with our guns" solution. But the narrative immediately shows how this is a wrong headed move, and how it takes a toll on her emotionally. She suffers by becoming a terminator macho lady lone gun doing it alone. She wins through collaboration with others and learning to trust. Also, as far as the writing of badass female characters in action movies who aren't trying to be ultra masc/macho to be badass... Rose from Titanic?

Interesting take. People forget that a movie can have multiple meanings, and that half the story of a movie is written by the watcher. I think that a LOT of these things are a stretch and could easily have much different meanings, but that's because I'm watching it. A lot of this may not even be necessarily about being trans per se, but reclaiming those aspects of your personality that are coded by society as feminine and thus supposed to be rejected.

Gosh, this was just amazing! Thank you so much for making quality content like this.

I think I had an epiphany watching this... Murphy became something more; why should we all -- humans who construct concepts like identity -- be bound them and unable to grow, or change them into something new? Something *more?* Humanity explores, examines and evolves; so too should society and the concepts that uphold it. The body can't grow if its bones remain the same as they always have been. I think I need to do some self-exploration of my own now... Thank you for making this for all of us. I can't wait to see what you choose to analyze and explore next, as well as how it will transform us viewers and our view of this ever-changing world we all share.

I don't think robocop is saying that "cops are human" I think it's suggesting the opposite: that the function of being a cop is inherently at odds with being human, that's why robotic cops are in demand and that's a major source of the conflict between the robotic and human part of robocop. But hey thats just my opinion. (And I havent seen the film in a long time so I may be missing a lot, or maybe I'm just reading that way bc I don't like cops, idk)

Oh yeah you should consider keeping the title of film school with Maggie Mae Fish, it's got a good ring to it ya know k great job.

Very interesting look, thank you for this input Maggie

That reading you´re presenting is making me kinda angry on the remake

I’ve seen Robocop somewhere between 10-20 times, have spent an ungodly amount of time thinking and talking about it, and I have never considered ANY of the stuff you bring up. What an amazing movie.

Love Robocop even more now thanks to this video. That is so crazy though about those two slightly different takes for the same memory! Would love to see what a Robocop 2 that pushed these themes more would look like.

This is a great video. You're killing it with the video essays!

I actually just rewatched this movie after years. And i really enjoyed this analysis.

This was good analysis! Great job!

Robocop is what people mean when they say "not all cops."

Robocop is now my favourite movie! Great video; and I'm looking forward for the next one! :)

I LOVE this. Liked and subscribed, time to binge the back catalogue. :)

"She also doesn't shed her femininity..." Nancy Allen had several haircuts until Verhoeven was satisfied that her look was neutral enough for her to not be considered a romantic interest for Murphy. Jussayin.

Bring the Fish, family, I don't know if I can hold on any longer XD

I'd have been interested to see some thoughts on how some or all of this fits (or doesn't) into the remake.

Okay but does Robocop go into a gay bar?

Robocop is a social commentary that ultimately touches on what makes someone human whilst showing the folly of corporations. It also shows how money overrides democracy and how America's political system is a farce (or at least how it could become a farce). Robocop being a trans icon? I'm sure if you look hard enough you could find things to justify the claim, but I don't think that's the intention. All forms of art can be interpreted differently from person to person though. That being said, if you want some intended trans related symbolism/metaphors I swear the Matrix is full of them.

Given its one of the first R-Rated movies I've watched as a kid (sorry Mom), this is an amazing insight on one of my childhood favorites. Of course I can't say I understand the science of filmmaking, but I know a good movie when I see one. This gives me a greater appreciation for how's it's made from a director's perspective (because he loves his symbolisms) as well how's it's studied.

Very interesting analasys of one of my favourite movies of all time. Thanks for the insight!

This is the kind of in depth structural analysis I've been severely lacking in my subscriptions lately 😭 Delighted I found your work

I think its important to note, that in my opinion femininity is not the opposite of hyper masculinity, not even masculinity. Core ideas of rejecting programing, social expectations or whatever its called does surely applay to trans persons inhertly. But I think the movie is more about answering the question "Is that I?"

You must have watched a different film than me.

Thanks TY. Finally a suggested video that's amazing. I've watched this movie a million times always amd find new ways to look at parts of the movie. You have pointed out some amazing new view points that I will remember when I watch it again

I am binging your channel on a lazy Saturday and I have to say - I love your style and informative perspectives

3:08 - wasted opportunity for “brobot” (Love your work MMF)

big fan of Paul Verhoeven and really enjoyed this take. great video!

JESUS! I have to go watch RoboCop again! 🤯 I'm so glad I found this channel, and I'm so glad you are making these! 🙂

You can’t see this, but I’m furiously clapping like Charles Foster Kane. Amazing analysis!

Huh I loved this film so much already love it even more after this analysis! 💙💙💙

Interesting read, but sounds like an imposition of 2019 talking points on a late 80's movie.

Great Scot! I have never thought of the societal gender layer to ROBOCOP before, but it feels like learning that there's more spices in your favorite dish than you knew about. It actually makes me love the film more. Your analysis rocks!

So Good! I love this channel!

It’s amazing to see someone give a brief criticism and discussion of James Cameron’s female characters. I want to see somebody ACTUALLY have a conversation about Ripley.

Wow! I love this movie and watched it a million times and this Never occurred to me!

I love this film and this analysis! Thank you.

This has always been one of my top 3 favorite movies. Thank you Maggie, for dignifying it ways I never realized it was dignified.

Okay, I did not think it was possible to enjoy Robocop- a movie I’ve watched countless times and is one of my absolute favorites- any more than I already do, but god damn, this was a thoroughly enjoyable video essay. Like I’m going to rewatch Robocop tonight with all this fresh in mind. Thanks for making another dope video.

Love Robocop, love videos like these that open up angles that I haven't considered!

I would also run slow motion across a field to be wrapped up in Lewis's arms

That's an interesting way to see it. I had never thought of it in that sense. I had interpreted this as asking hard questions about what makes us human with a framing of an action/sci-fi movie, a critique of consumerism and asking questions about the consequences of privatizing public institutions.

Maggie, please do a video about Starship Troopers and Gremlins 2.

This is the craziness shit I've ever heard regarding this movie.

Excellent! I have seen this movie so many times and I have never thought of many of your points.

This was incredibly fascinating watching. I have been planning to start making films with a friend, both of us with zero experience but lots of enthusiasm and shared ideals, so we've been reading, watching, studying lots of content that is relevant to us and you are talking about the very things that are most important to us, the things we want to do through film.

This was a brilliant and unexpected look at one of my favorite movies ever. Excellent work!

The James Cameron dig was sort of weird. I assume it’s in reference to Linda Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver? He only created one of the characters those women portray. Would you call Rose Dewitt or Lindsey Brigman soldier moms? Also, Sarah Conner is kind of hapless and scared in The Terminator. Until the very end, everything that happens is sort of beyond her comprehension and out of her control. And again, Cameron did not create Ellen Ripley..... So I guess all we’re left with is T2? That’s his only movie with a soldier-mom of his own devising that I can think of. Unless Jake Sully has some kids we didn’t hear about....

I remember reading a Libertarian review of Ghostbusters that opened with "Ghostbusters is about small time entrepreneurs struggling to succeed against draconian government regulations" and then went forth to interpret every character, every scene, every object, every line of dialogue through that lens. That's what this reminds me of. I mean, sure you can interpret all those things through that lens. If you like.

"I never really used to 'get' the '80s..." I've been there and I didn't really get it, either... XD

Yay. Thanks Maggs

This is an interesting take on the film that I've never really come across before. It's kind of cool actually. Here's my take though -- I think Robocop is really more about someone discovering their asexuality. In the sequel, they make a big deal about Murphy being the only one able to survive the procedure. The other officers they tried to turn into cyborgs kill themselves after they lose their bodies, and with it, the ability to have sex and feel sexual pleasure. See, Robocop is Murphy's true identity, even before he was murdered. His wife has taken to wearing seductive bathrobes in what seems to be in the middle of the day because Murphy has stopped having sex with her. He has one son -- this was filmed in the 1980s, at a time when birth control was kind of shit. Murphy should be the father of at least three children yet he seems to have stopped at one. When he's resurrected as Robocop, he remorselessly emasculates a rapist; not castrate, which only removes the testicles, but emasculates him and renders him a screaming heap. He is no more sympathetic to the female victim. For Murphy, sex means nothing and has always meant nothing. His two "phalluses" in the movie, as you mentioned, offer no pleasure. His gun is for work and his interface spike is for gathering information. Even ED-209, his primary robotic rival looks like a walking uterus and fallopian tubes and Murphy has to run away from it and blows it up with a gun near the end. The very idea of sex repulses him and this is the key reason why he was able to exist as a machine for justice. You also spoke of foreshadowing -- Murphy shoots a rapist in the dick as his first mission. He regains complete control of his identity toward the end by shooting another dick, a man literally named Dick Jones. Fore-fucking-shadowing.

I keep coming back to this video, its really something

Completely unrelated to anything in this essay, but I totally forgot that Miguel Ferrer and Ray Wise were in this.

I never would have considered this interpretation. Thanks Maggie!

Maggie,I think you're great. But while you made some good points regarding duality and the cinematography and editing choices, you lost me near the halfway mark. I suppose it could be said that films dealing with transformation, especially the subgenre of cyberpunk, can get metaphoric with LBGT themes from time to time it's still open for subjective interpretation. My take is something more organic, however. Consider the scene in where Murphy, as RoboCop has the PTSD memory of his murder. On a monitor, we see a few fuzzy images of Clarence giving off the POV headshot. Murphy gets a fraction of his memory back over the course of the film, with context becoming more clear. Those memories are in no particular order: TJ Laser ad/son looking up to his police officer dad. "You are a hero in my eyes" Halloween, which includes the photo and quite possibly Murphy's wife telling him she loves him.. His death. (Follow up EDIT: these fragmented memories are in a 24 hr period before his "death"; this means it took 2 1/2 months for him to be rebuilt as RoboCop, given the drunken OCP NYE scene) The morning of him going to work that morning of his death isn't a memory from his POV, as he would be driving to work and he can,in his final moments, imagine that his family is waving him goodbye.(EDIT :it could be his rear view mirror) it was clearly stated that Murphy was a transfer on short notice. There is nothing to suggest that his marriage was on the rocks. The idea that he "becomes" his wife in his memory is flimsy. In most marriages,spouses do have life struggles, but responsibility is shared (or should be) so he would see her as an equal. If there is any strain on the marriage it would be work related, as there are a high number of officers being wounded and/or killed in the line of duty and the OCP meddling is an indirect (or direct) cause of this. Instead, both wife and son are "proud" of Murphy because he is a police officer. Murphy even tells Lewis this, when he references TJ Laser. (how did you miss that?) It is possible that Murphy's wife is frustrated that he was transferred in a more dangerous and challenging precinct (Metro South, I guess is more laid back?) but it isn't really her husband's fault so she has to tell him she loves him as the next morning he will leave for the new assignment. This will be one of the last things she will say to him.Makes perfect sense. RoboCop having the TJ lazaer inspired gun twirl might be due to Murphy's subconscious memoryas he considers it is what a "good super hero" might do; but there's also a chance it was part of RoboCop's programming, as pop culture and consumerism influences the inventions,concepts and media. Okay,maybe the data spike is flipping off Cecil, I'll give you that much. When RoboCop/Murphy goes through his old house, the virtual real estate agent's tone is seen as adding insult to injury. Why was the Halloween photos and the coffee mug left behind, with nobody packing them up or throwing them away? My interpretation was that,Murphy's wife,upon hearing her husband's death, got upset and smashed a few things in anger....once she seen "RoboCop"on TV news. It's more likely her rage was on the day her husband died on the operating table, an OCP and other companies may have owned the house, so she would have to move out soon.. But either she or her son put these items/memories out in the open to warn the next family as "corporations" like OCP ruin lives. Murphy's humanity is ripped from him.His identity as a husband an father is gone ("I can feel them,but I can't remember them") but during the course of the film he gets part of that identity back. First the memories and thoughts. Then the "eye opening", Soon the visor comes off. Then the end, which calls back to an earlier scene with Morton and Lewis ("He doesn't have a name. He is our product") that's why there's satisfaction when The Old Man asks "What's your name?" and Murphy gives his own name. Earlier, he refers to himself in third person, suggesting by thistime when the Old Man asks, RoboCop would rather be human again, or at least giving "Murpphy" the proper respect he deserves. *whew* Keep the peace -DjS

lol'd at the James Cameron reference. Verhoeven studied Cameron's films prior to making Robocop, but that aside, Cameron's films frequently featuring very strong/masculine female characters reflects his personal life, where he was married to a string of powerful women who occupied traditionally male roles (and in the case of ex wife Kathryn Bigelow) focused their art on machismo.

I already loved this movie, now I super love it and will force more of my friends to watch it.