It was directed by Paul Verhoeven who is Dutch. I read that originally they wanted Nils Gaup from Norway who was relatively unknown and had made the Norwegian-Sámi movie Ofelas (Pathfinder) the same year as RoboCop came out. Why did they seem to want a European director? It's a very American movie. Budgetary reasons?
share"Why did they seem to want a European director?...Budgetary reasons?"
You think that European directors work for an apple and an egg. 🍏 🥚🐓
No, not necessarily, but if they're unknown and can get a shot at a breakthrough, they might. Verhoeven wasn't unknown in his home country of the Netherlands, though, so maybe my theory falls flat there. But there might have been a completely different reason as to why they wanted a European director. Artistic?
shareHollywood draws talents globally all around the world. Verhoeven wasn't the only European director to work there.
shareYes, but that they wanted Gaup first kind of makes it seem a little like they specifically were looking for a European one. I guess it might have been all a concurrence, though. Two can be a coincidence, three are probably not.
shareCuz he was better than any non European.
share"It's a very American movie."
But the social satire is very unamerican. Bless Verhoeven, this is his masterpiece and one of the best movies of the 80's.
In the Robodoc 4 part documentary they said they had trouble finding a director because the name "Robocop" was so cheesy, and that Verhoven had a relationship with Orion already from his last film so they recommended him. They also felt he was a good fit because a European would be better at critiquing America.
shareJust finished watching the documentary myself. Quite interesting stuff.
shareIs there much difference between European and European-American?
sharePolitically, there's a difference as Europe is 'socialist' with national health care and no guns (with a few countries like Austria and Switzerland being exceptions to the rule). Did you know that on that continent, liberalism is considered right? In the US, liberal Democrats are considered radical left. Europe has no real right aka conservatives, only different degrees of left. From an American perspective, that is.
Then you have the cultural clashes like Europeans love soccer and call it football, while Americans hate it. White Americans also get circumcised for the most part, while in Europe that is regarded as a Jewish and Muslim custom.
The US is also a socialist country, with central planning/redistribution/regulation etc.
Democrats call themselves liberal, they're obviously not.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soccer_in_the_United_States
I think the Democrats are a liberal party and some say that the so-called corporate-wing Democrats (to which Joe Biden and Kamala Harris belong) are actually right and not very different from warmongering neo-conservatives. The thing is that because of the two-party system, Democrats are forced to pander to the radical left as they cannot afford to lose their votes. For the same reason, Republicans have to to pander to white nationalists. This leads to Democrats calling Republicans Nazis and Republicans calling Democrats communists.
shareNo Democrat is a liberal, they all want central planning/redistribution/regulation etc.
shareYou can want a bit of central planning and still be a fan of free enterprise
The definition below says "democrat" to me 100x more than it says "conservative"
Dictionary
Definitions from Oxford Languages · Learn more
liberal
/ˈlɪb(ə)rəl/
adjective
1.
willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.
"they have liberal views on divorce"
2.
relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
Similar:
tolerant
unprejudiced
unbigoted
broad-minded
open-minded
enlightened
forbearing
permissive
free
free and easy
easy-going
laissez-faire
libertarian
latitudinarian
unbiased
impartial
non-partisan
indulgent
lenient
lax
soft
------------------
Opposite:
narrow-minded
bigoted
-----------------
noun
1.
a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.
2.
a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.
"classical liberals emphasized the right of the individual to make decisions, even if the results dismayed their neighbours or injured themselves"
If one wants to control other people, one does not want free enterprise, one is not tolerant etc.
The conservatives/right wants smaller government/lower taxes/less regulations/less government ownership etc, i.e. less control over other people.
"...Europe is 'socialist'..."
No, Europe is social (often not always).
For example, we've a social market economy.
That doesn't make us socialists!
Mind the details.