Much has been said about the building of a RoboCop statue in Detroit. While some have been enthusiastically embracing the notion, others have been decrying it feverishly, taking a few moments out of their busy, cause-driven day to step onto a pedestal and heroically declare that “THIS IS NOT WHAT THE CITY NEEDS!”, “ CHARITIES NEED THIS MONEY INSTEAD!”, so on and so forth—acting as though anyone entertaining the sheer notion of this monument is a moronic bastard.
For some, these angry sentiments spawn from a genuine desire to help the city; these people have donated to charities and volunteered to work with various organizations (and let me remind everyone that these charities/groups DO exist, have for some time, they are wonderful, and nothing is stopping anyone from donating to them, whether this statue is built or not). Truly, more power to them, and I wish more people were like this. For others, it has been their one good deed of the year, proceeding to get off of their expensive computers to play their expensive video games on their expensive flat-screen televisions. MAYBE they'll donate a couple bucks once a year because their favorite bar is holding some sort of fundraiser, but their primary idea of being charitable is “liking” somebody's noble-sounding Facebook post and that's about it. Shallow sentiments and broad declarations online make them feel better about their own lives, and in this digital age of instant gratification, it's a great moral “quick fix.”
I would say that I'm somewhere in between. I admit that I could be more philanthropic, but I do contribute to those causes for which I feel strongly. Sometimes I feel strongly for some rather unconventional things, and in this case, now more than ever (mostly thanks to all of you lazy naysayers calling it deplorable despite doing nothing actively charitable), it just so happens to be for the controversial immortalization of a cheesy '80s movie character.
First of all, I'd like to address everybody that has taken out their virtual megaphones to vilify this proposed statue because there are charities that need this money. Perhaps you haven't noticed in the midst of your fervent finger-pointing, but we're in America: home of the useless purchases. The magic (and oftentimes, main problem) about this country is that we can have essentially anything we want by dangling money in front of it. If you have issues with this statue being built, then you best start denouncing shopping malls, commercials, or anything else that convinces people that their useless purchases will make their lives better, easier, happier, etc. just as passionately. I'm not saying that you shouldn't critique them, necessarily; I'm saying that people CONSTANTLY spend money on things that could better be spent elsewhere—you and I included, dear Robo-Hater.
Yes, yes, I GET that things in Detroit are dire and people should absolutely donate to charities helping the city rather than purchasing robot statues, but if they have the money, why can't they do both, like me? And hey, if you're going to criticize anyone that has donated to this statue, then perhaps you should take a look at yourself first. How many things do you own that are not necessary for your survival? How many times did you enter a restaurant and spend $8 on a cocktail instead of giving cash to the homeless man standing outside? Unless you are Mother Teresa-levels of selflessness, none of us have any room to talk.
Some people are probably chomping at the bit to tell me how ignorant I am for my stance, yet they fail to consider several things: (a) there are superfluous projects like this being privately funded all over the world on a regular basis, often in other locations that face economic challenges similar to Detroit's, so to act like this one alone is an atrocity against humanity because it happens to be relevant to Detroit this particular time around is ignorant in and of itself, and (b) there are so many corrupt places that VAST amounts of money are being spent in this world that $50, 000 is peanuts in comparison. If you're going to raise a hullabaloo, perhaps consider spending more time critiquing all of the various establishments that are wasting obscene sums of money on not only selfish, but downright despicable causes. I would much rather see money being spent on a piece of art than given to some fat cat exec's bonus any day of the week.
And yes, you heard me right: I said “art.” No matter how many people disagree, it's the 21st century, and that is most certainly what it should be considered. Call it “low brow” if you want, but we are living in a world where pop culture references oftentimes speak louder to people than actual historical figures, whether you're comfortable with that fact or not. It is virtually inescapable unless you live in a bubble. If you still choose to hem and haw about how tasteless this statues seems, then go ahead and knock on MOMA's door and tell them to burn every depiction of a pop culture icon on its walls (see ya, Warhol), tear up every magazine cover they have framed, and make Banksy public enemy #1. While you're at it, why not tell Central Park to remove their expensive Alice in Wonderland statue? Like RoboCop, she's a fictional character too, and better to have monuments of statues killing natives that are wrongfully deemed heroes than anything that sparks the imagination, right? I mean, at least those assholes existed. Clearly that's all that seems to matter to anyone right now.
Critics are under the impression that anyone “pro-Robo” simply has a bad sense of humor, but I personally did not contribute to it because I thought it would be funny. Like the Heidelberg Project and innovative events like Theatre Bizarre, I feel like this statue facilitates optimism in the city in a fun, creative manner. If you want to rebuild Detroit, recognize that a city is never truly alive until the arts (high AND low brow) are flourishing in it. Look at any major city that has droves of people flocking to it, and you will see instances of this. It is vital to a city's personality and certainly exists here, but is not prevalent enough in Detroit at this point in time. Don't get me wrong: this is not to say that I consider causes like sheltering the homeless or funding education programs less vital to a city's development by any means, but both need to be nourished in order for a city to reach its maximum potential.
People are also acting like this is the beginning of some rampant statue-building frenzy, where anyone and anything will suddenly have a statue erected on its behalf. Has everyone forgotten what the film RoboCop was actually about? It's more than just the story of a robotic police man. It is about an entity that is able to stand up against the corruption of Detroit's corporations, officials, and police force. Does that sound familiar (*ahem* Kwame *ahem*)? Wouldn't it be nice if more people actually stood up against and questioned corrupt authority figures? This is why a statue of RoboCop is different than a statue of Kid Rock, for instance. No matter what your opinion of the film is, RoboCop stands for an ideology that is worthy of commemoration—he's not just some happenstance character that's getting a statue now thanks to some joke gone awry. For this reason alone, if you think this is going to start some senseless “statue trend,” and that every unnecessary endeavor is going to be met with gobs of funding now that this is happening, you should probably think again.
If a RoboCop statue is an insult to the city, then I'll gladly “insult” it. As of today, the project is moving forward, so I reckon I'm not the only person that feels this way. Nobody will ever be able to guilt me out of my contribution, and I hope that other donors feel similarly. More importantly, I also hope they contribute to other charities, like I have and will continue to do. If so many people have hopped aboard “the RoboCop bandwagon” without allegedly thinking through their contributions in terms of what it means to the greater common good, then just as many have hopped aboard the “Robo-hating” wagon without really thinking that one through either. Maybe you wouldn't “buy that for a dollar,” or two, or three—or, well, $50,000—but as long as you're in America, you're going to need to come to terms with the fact that others would. Sometimes, they even have good reasons for doing so that might not particularly speak to you, but exist nonetheless.
Robo-Haters, get off your high horses, stop hating, and actually DO something. I don't care if it's donating money to a monument that will make you smile or solving world hunger, really—just act upon something you care about, rather than sitting back passively and telling people how they shouldn't be whilst not actively promoting the contrary. For those of you that fall under this category, I daresay YOU should be the ones ashamed, not I.
I might be an ignorant Robo-Lover, but at least I acted upon something I wanted. That's more than many have done. Now go out there and make RoboCop proud, because he's coming, whether you like it or not!
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