Starring Charlton Heston and Directed by Richard Fleischer
Soylent Green, starring Charlton Heston, begins in the year 2022 in New York City where the population has reached 40 million and the climate has shifted to a constant high heat. Because of overpopulation and the government’s grip on the people, citizens are not allowed out of the city and are given rations of food (Soylent green, red, and yellow) and water. The people of the world have destroyed the natural resources and as presented in the oceanographic reports in the movie, have destroyed ocean life as well. The main plot of the movie focuses on Detective Robert Thorn (Charlton Heston) and his investigation of the murder of William Simonson, a rich aristocrat and a former member of the Soylent Green board of directors. Simonson is assassinated because he was seen as unreliable in keeping a state secret. The secret discovered in the end is that Soylent Green, the more nutritious food cracker, is being made out of the dead bodies taken to the “waste disposal” plant and being converted there at the “exchange”.
The idea of the world overpopulating and the destruction of most of the natural resources are scientific concepts central to the story line in Soylent Green. Also, the prediction that the global climate would shift towards persistent heat waves also is present. The result of these conditions caused the main science concept to be created, the high energy yet cost effective food supplement, Soylent. In 1973, the writer predicts a not so distant future where food supply is dismal and due to rampant growth and limitless consumption, the governments have had to take over and establish total power. The science at the time well supports these ideas of the year 2022. The development and production of the food replacement Soylent green is mysterious and well hidden in the movie from the citizens, but also from the audience and we do not get a clear idea of how it was created and what methods and practices of science were utilized. The only information we receive from the movie in regards to the creation of Soylent green is the tour inside the factory which showed bodies being dumped and then a conveyor belt that carried hundreds of green wafers. The scientists behind the experiment are not known, nor is there a character that truly represents them in the film.
I actually enjoyed watching Soylent Green which surprised me because it is a classic Charlton Heston B-rated 70s science fiction flick. However, it was interesting to see the perception of the future from the standpoint in 1973. They must have been thinking about a retro period in style because the fashions strangely resembled the long, loose, brightly colored dresses and the long, straight, natural hair that marked the 1970s era. It was also interesting to see a possible alternative to the overpopulation of the world and possible (although horrific) solutions. One more note, Soylent looks like it tastes awful.
