Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The line is the voice of the audience the film is mocking: a society that finds violence worth about a dollar of entertainment and says so with a grin. It has become shorthand for anything gleefully cheap and brainless, and the cackle still gets quoted whenever something dumb is also fun.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for RoboCopShow the scene
RoboCop (1987) is threaded with in-world television, and this catchphrase belongs to Bixby Snyder, the host of a leering comedy show who laughs it out while a clip from the cop series T.J. Lazer plays. The film cuts straight from his cheerful approval to a diner robbery. Wikipedia says Bixby was written as an Americanized, more extreme version of Benny Hill, and that writers Neumeier and Miner conceived the Media Breaks, the fake news and adverts that interrupt the story. Verhoeven wanted them to jolt the viewer.
Sources (2)
- Wikipedia: RoboCopPlotReference checked
- Springfield! Springfield!: RoboCop transcripttranscriptReference checked
Context reviewed
