On this week’s Movies vs. Capitalism, hosts Rivka Rivera and Frank Cappello are joined by TV writer and producer Mike Benner to discuss the classic action movie Robocop. The modern era of social disinvestment and police militarization has shown us expanded policing is not the solution to all of society’s problems. Yet many Americans still believe that slashing social programs and increasing policing budgets will eventually keep us all safe. Before we understood the failures of these neoliberal policies, Dutch filmmaker Paul Verhoeven was sounding the alarm in 1987 with his hyper-violent satire Robocop. The MVC team discusses how the film’s evil corporation, Omni Consumer Products, serves as a perfect stand-in for consolidated corporate power and greed. They also unpack Verhoeven’s depiction of homoerotic male aggression as a metaphor for capitalist competition, and how the titular character of Robocop has been misappropriated by police officers who think the character is “badass” rather than “a cautionary metaphor for the dehumanization of police.”For next week’s movie, MVC will be watching Greta Gerwig’s latest film and cultural phenomenon, Barbie.This podcast relies on listeners like you to keep the show going:Go to MVCpod.com to become a supporter or leave us a tip. Supporters will also get access to The Lever’s premium content, including their exclusive newsletters, private podcast feed, e-books, and live events. MVC strives to practice its values as anti-capitalist media and will not be selling traditional advertisements. Instead, we will be donating our ad space to progressive or leftist causes. If you’re part of an advocacy organization, mutual-aid group, a worker co-op, a political campaign, or some other org, and you are interested in promoting your work on MVC, you can email us at moviesvscapitalism@gmail.com.A rough transcript of the episode is available here.Follow us on Instagram and TikTok.You can also watch our full episodes on YouTube.Produced by The LeverArtwork by Rufus Paisley
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