As you might have already read on this website, a viral Internet movement is underway to provide the citizens of Detroit a RoboCop statue [read Fans Decide Detroit Needs A RoboCop Statue Despite Government Rejection]. What started off as a joke suggestion from a New England man on Twitter has turned into a donation drive to bring an actual statue of the sci-fi hero to the city. The drive has been so successful, the required $50,000 cost has already been raised in less than 10 days. While this grassroots campaign is nothing short of amazing, I can’t but feel like this is leaving a sour taste in my mouth.

Face it, there are a million reasons why Detroit’s Mayor David Bing rejected this idea of creating a RoboCop statue. The most important reason? Because it is stupid. Why spend the city’s dollars on creating a statue to a fictitious crime fighting robot? What will that do for the declining city and its disenfranchised population? Some parts of Michigan don’t even have enough money to run a local paper and yet somehow, $50,000 was raised to put up a statue of RoboCop? I am as much of a fan of RoboCop as the next guy, but there isn’t a reason out there that can explain why a statue is needed.

It started as something of a joke. A New England man suggested to Detroit Mayor Dave Bing that they should build a statue in honor of RoboCop, the science fiction classic that was set in the city, in an attempt to improve the city’s image (and likely bring in a fair share of movie-loving tourists). Bing rejected the suggestion because, well…it’d be a little odd for a mayor to OK a statue of cyborg crime fighter.

Rejection be damned, fans of RoboCop everywhere started to call for the statue to be built anyway, and a movement began to raise the funds necessary. While some still think it would be wrong to have a figure associated with such a violent franchise displayed publicly, donations started pouring in, including one weighing in at $25,000 — half of the $50,000 goal that was set.