Paul Verhoeven: ‘Robocop was a Jesus metaphor’?

Paul Verhoeven,the director of the original RoboCop movie, was interviewed by MTV. It was interesting to me about how Verhoeven views the story.

How you do [a remake] now, you’d have to go into all of the digital world, and I’m not sure that would improve the soul of the movie, you know? The point of Robocop, of course, it is a Christ story. It is about a guy who gets crucified in the first 50 minutes, and then is resurrected in the next 50 minutes, and then is like the supercop of the world, but is also a Jesus figure as he walks over water at the end. Walking over water was in the steel factory in Pittsburgh, and there was water there, and I put something just underneath the water so he could walk over the water and say that wonderful line, “I am not arresting you anymore.” Meaning, I’m going to shoot you. And that is of course the American Jesus.

Is he right does Robocop's story mirror Jesus' life? I'm not sure, I'm sure that Verhoeven is referring to the myths of dying and rising saviors of pagan mythologies which cannot be applied to Jesus. I think it's worth further discussion. There are several differences between RoboCop and Jesus.

Jesus chose to lay down his life. He was resurrected and acted on his own without being under other people's control. Jesus predicted his death, burial, and Resurrection, and his claim to deity was validated by his resurrection. Jesus also died for others. He was punished because of our sins.

RoboCop on the other hand was murdered. He did not choose to die. The death of Alex Murphy did not save anyone or get rid of sin. Unlike Jesus' resurrection which confirmed Jesus' identity, Alex Murphy's resurrection detracted from his identity. He be came less than human. Robocop's free will was arrested and he was reprogrammed. None of these traits Jesus shared with RoboCop. The thing I always found interesting was the question about where Murphy's soul went. I think it was firmly established that Robocop retained his soul. I wonder if that means if we can ask if Murphy even really died. He was more than just a puppet on a string. Because of that soul RoboCop transcended his programming.

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Paul Verhoeven: ‘Robocop was a Jesus metaphor’