Quickly now: Think of Detroit!
What was the first thing that popped into your head. If you're me--and a lot of other nerds like me--the first thing that popped into your head was Robocop. You may also have thought of The Crow, another dystopia-backgrounded film, also set in the city upon which dystopias are now based because New York cleaned up its act. Hold onto that latter thought for a moment and go with that first thing.
Apparently, the mayor of Detroit is soliciting suggestions from the citizenry about ways to improve what has been in reality (and, importantly, in the cinema), a notoriously shit city. He has politely, but firmly, told off somebody for suggesting that Detroit build a statue of Robocop. Naturally, many nerds feel he's burning a few tourist dollars his otherwise shit city doesn't and wouldn't ever have by closing the door on that one. I happen to think that, while, say, Metropolis gets a few hard-core visitors who want to see the city that is the object of Superman's affection, the money in that sort of thing probably isn't as ready or willing as the nerds would like to believe.
The best thing about this suggestion, though, is the counter-suggestions that the disappointed nerds have come up with. In just the thread of comments from the above linked post, someone suggested an ED-209 fountain (the ED-209 for reference), which is both amazing and unlikely to ever happen, alas. This comment thread, though...
Ranchoth: Well, [Robocop]'s not Detroit's ONLY claim to fame...The Crow was set in Detroit, too. I'm not sure which one is worse for attracting tourists, though.
KingOfDoma replied to Ranchoth: Robocop: "I'm an all-American icon drench in ultraviolence!"
The Crow: "I'm a Hot Topic icon drenched in ultraviolence!"
Yeah, no contest. I will note that it's kinda funny that both times the city is depicted as a crime-riddled cesspool...
MattK replied to KingOfDoma: What if The Crow had gotten to Alex Murphy before OCP had, and Murphy became Robo-Crow...or Crow-bocop?
I'm sorry. The rest of you who were hoping to win at life today? You will have to wait until tomorrow.
::GIGGLES MADLY AT THE IDEA OF CROW-BOCOP, GOES TO CHANGE LJ NICKNAME::
Apparently, the mayor of Detroit is soliciting suggestions from the citizenry about ways to improve what has been in reality (and, importantly, in the cinema), a notoriously shit city. He has politely, but firmly, told off somebody for suggesting that Detroit build a statue of Robocop. Naturally, many nerds feel he's burning a few tourist dollars his otherwise shit city doesn't and wouldn't ever have by closing the door on that one. I happen to think that, while, say, Metropolis gets a few hard-core visitors who want to see the city that is the object of Superman's affection, the money in that sort of thing probably isn't as ready or willing as the nerds would like to believe.
The best thing about this suggestion, though, is the counter-suggestions that the disappointed nerds have come up with. In just the thread of comments from the above linked post, someone suggested an ED-209 fountain (the ED-209 for reference), which is both amazing and unlikely to ever happen, alas. This comment thread, though...
Ranchoth: Well, [Robocop]'s not Detroit's ONLY claim to fame...The Crow was set in Detroit, too. I'm not sure which one is worse for attracting tourists, though.
KingOfDoma replied to Ranchoth: Robocop: "I'm an all-American icon drench in ultraviolence!"
The Crow: "I'm a Hot Topic icon drenched in ultraviolence!"
Yeah, no contest. I will note that it's kinda funny that both times the city is depicted as a crime-riddled cesspool...
MattK replied to KingOfDoma: What if The Crow had gotten to Alex Murphy before OCP had, and Murphy became Robo-Crow...or Crow-bocop?
I'm sorry. The rest of you who were hoping to win at life today? You will have to wait until tomorrow.
::GIGGLES MADLY AT THE IDEA OF CROW-BOCOP, GOES TO CHANGE LJ NICKNAME::