Why is RoboCop's lower face exposed? Why aren't they shooting at her? (6 photos)

Category: Movie, PEGI 0+
24 January 2024

This question, perhaps, worries everyone from the first frames, when the robot policeman is first shown on the screen. What were the designers thinking when they left the lower half of RoboCop's face exposed?





5 reasons why RoboCop was left with his mouth open.

Reason #1: Psychology



The most obvious reason is to make the iron cop look more human.

There are several factors here. First, criminals will take a threat from a person more seriously than from some kind of tin can. In the entire trilogy, RoboCop was never greeted with sarcasm or the feeling that this was a cheap gambling machine. First of all, you get the feeling that this is a living soldier in invulnerable armor, and this is definitely a threat.

Secondly, civilians also trust something that is similar to them more. In a dangerous situation, you want to believe that a person is protecting you, and not a soulless tin.

There's also the factor that people focus better on what RoboCop is saying when they see his lips. If it were an all-metal robot with speakers underneath the body, people wouldn't understand where the sound was coming from and they wouldn't focus on speech. And here you immediately take everything seriously, you don’t feel fear or rejection.

Reason #2: Physiology





From Alex Murphy, the robot has the main and most necessary things left - the brain and the central nervous system. It was repeatedly emphasized throughout the film series that nothing else was used. And Murphy himself was unwound, bless you, everything there is clearly beyond repair.

Even if RoboCop himself needs to exercise regularly, his brain and nervous system cannot be powered from an outlet. From the very first film, it was shown that the robot eats a special paste, similar to baby food.

Well, how do you tell him to consume it? The second film, of course, created a robot based on one of the criminals. The system could even inject him with substances in order to better control the former drug addict. But for RoboCop, along with the first reason, it was clearly easier and more logical to make a classic power system.

It’s just not clear what happens to the pasta next - whether there is a stomach and intestines there, but oh well. That's not what we're talking about here. Although the bomb bay on Robo’s back doesn’t seem to be visible, so it’s definitely unlikely that the intestines are there.

Reason #3: Protection



Another reason is superficially revealed in films, but few people pay attention to it.

For starters, hitting RoboCop's lower face won't damage him. There is a fragment in the second film when the hero meets Murphy's ex-wife. She notes that Cope's face is cold. And here everything is revealed.

Alex Murphy's face is reproduced from synthetic materials. Such a robot is clearly built to last, so it would be stupid if the machine grew old and wrinkled. Well, or imagine that RoboCop’s teeth are sick due to caries - well, that’s nonsense.

Since the face is synthetic, then most likely there is no skull and vital organs under it. It is known for certain that the brain there is hidden in a strong metal box that cannot be penetrated with a headshot from a conventional weapon. So a hit to the lower part of the face will not cause any damage.

Therefore, since there is no threat, why not? There are no reasons against, the reasons for have already been discussed above.

Reason No. 4: Question to the bandits



If you look at the question from the other side, then what becomes interesting is not why the developers did this. Why didn't anyone shoot RoboCop in the face like that?

Here we need to pay attention to the context. RoboCop fights mainly with some street bandits and gopniks. Where did they get their precision shooting skills?

Moreover, they are also armed with all sorts of rubbish. Most of the firearms in films are either self-propelled guns or some old models. This, by the way, has even more truth than it seems.

During the filming of the battle scene at the chemical plant in the first film, everything turned out so dynamically because the editors had no other choice. There were no long scenes of bandits shooting - cheap bullets quickly jammed. That’s why they mounted it in short sections very often.

Multiply by the level of training and accuracy of the gopniks - here is your answer. In principle, it is not as easy to get into a person’s head as it seems. And when you don’t have the skills and you’re holding some homemade something in your hands (which actually shoots with God’s help), then you can’t hit RoboCop even without a helmet.

By the way, this is also true. At the end of the first film, he takes off his helmet altogether and walks around at full height - no one ever hit him.

Reason #5: Screenwriting



In the end, another real reason is script necessity.

Events unfold around this particular character. It has its dramas, its upheavals, its tense moments. RoboCop generally does not show any emotions, but occasionally he does. Especially after it “turns on” in the second half of the first part.

Filmmakers need us to empathize with the hero. So that we understand his emotions and feelings. At the end of the first film, it would have been impossible to show the complexity of the battle with Bodicker in the mud if Murphy had not grimaced from pain and tension. We would empathize with him less. So there was no other option - the hero is more riveting when he has a human face.

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