It started as a joke, but as we’ve seen before, whenever the internet becomes fixated on something, they can essentially just will it into reality. When a fan approached the mayor of Detroit last week with the idea of erecting a statue of Robocop in their fair city, he was initially shot down. However, another fan was inspired by the exchange, and started up a Kickstarter campaign over at DetroitNeedsRobocop.com. He ended up raising over $50,000 in less than a week… because, you know, what could be a more deserving charity than a group paying tribute to Paul Verhoeven’s 1987 cult classic? So now it looks like Detroit really will be getting a Robocop statue after all. Go figure.

They plan to continue raising money until March 29th in order to ensure that the sculpture is of the highest possible quality. A suitable location is still being decided upon, but there is still some debate over whether or not a Robocop statue would actually be a good thing for the city. After all, isn’t it a reminder of the city’s reputation for being plagued by crime?

At the very least it would be an interesting tourist attraction. If Philadelphia can have a Rocky statue, and Tokyo can have a Godzilla statue (albeit a pretty tiny one), I don’t see why Detroit shouldn’t get a Robocop statue. What do you think, is this an awesome idea, or is it another example of the internet wielding its power in irresponsible ways?

(The artist’s rendition above comes courtesy of The Detroit News.)