We've all heard horror stories and urban legends about McDonald's ingredients -worm meat, animal brains, etc. It's possible people would be initially horrified, but I suspect most would soon bury that knowledge, just like we currently do while enjoying a hot dog. This raises some troubling questions: What next? Is the Soylent Corporation held accountable for their awful secret? Does a shocked and outraged society rise-up against them? And if all plant and animal life are already on the verge of extinction, what are 40 million people in New York City alone going to eat instead? And if Soylent Green itself is so deliciously addicting, would anyone really care what it's made of? The film ends with Heston screeching that immortal, meme-worthy line to the masses, the camera freezing on his bloody, outstretched hand. Neither my wife or daughters have ever sat and watched the movie, but even they know what Soylent Green is made of.īut getting back to the film itself: my pessimistic view of human nature has me wondering if Thorn's discovery would realistically make a difference. Yours truly even owns a novelty t-shirt advertising Soylent Green cereal ("Now with more REAL PEOPLE in every bite!"). There are numerous Soylent Green food & cocktail recipes. There's a metal band that took its name from the title. For over four decades now, it has been referenced, name-dropped and parodied in countless films, TV shows and various other media. Still, "Soylent Green is people!" more-or-less immortalized the movie, which has left its indelible mark on popular culture. We've subjected to so much self-perpetuated human misery that when the big twist is finally revealed, perhaps we really aren't all that shocked. Elsewhere, the film is aesthetically drab and grimy, the tone relentlessly downbeat and pessimistic, its environmental message sobering. He and Heston were friends, so their emotions during his deathbed sequence were genuine. ![]() In fact, it's downright depressing at times: such as when Sol finally decides to cash-in at one of those clinics.That scene is even more poignant when you realize Robinson was dying of cancer at the time. Soylent Green ain't exactly a feelgood film. Robinson, in his final film), the investigation leads him to discover the Soylent Corporation's dark secret: the main ingredient of those delectable crackers isn't soy at all, but people who've been processed through the euthanasia clinics. With the help of his researcher and roommate, Sol (Edward G. In fact, Soylent Green proves to be so popular that people riot when food centers run out.įrank Thorn (Heston) is a cop investigating the murder of a Soylent Corporation bigwig who was bludgeoned to death in his swanky apartment. Everyone else lives off of government issued crackers, Soylent Red, Soylent Yellow and, everyone's new favorite, Soylent Green. Livestock and crops are nearly non-existent and reserved for those who can afford 150 bucks for a jar of strawberries. Anyone sick of life can simply show up unannounced at their friendly neighborhood euthanasia clinic and peacefully end it all. While the wealthy live in relative comfort in luxurious high-rise apartments (complete with young concubines), most poor bastards dwell in crowded squalor. In 2022, the world is severely polluted and overpopulated. ![]() The film isn't nearly as much fun, either. ![]() Soylent Green is not as culturally revered as Planet of the Apes, though Charlton Heston was becoming cinema's apocalypse poster boy at the time. and clueless nine-year-olds catching it for the first time on CBS (hopefully without their spoiler-happy mothers lurking about). From that point on, the only people shocked by the film's climax were those fortunate enough to have seen it in 1968. That final image of the Statue of Liberty buried in sand became almost instantly iconic (without help from the internet). The funny thing is, she knew Planet of the Apes' big twist without ever actually seeing the movie herself. I didn't actually say that, of course, because I preferred my ass to be welt-free. It isn't like the time I was watching Planet of the Apes on TV when I was 9-years-old and Mom came waltzing into the living room to smugly announce, "You know it's really Earth, right?" What the fuck, Mom? So quoting the final line in Soylent Green-memorably moaned by that master of subtlety, Charlton Heston -probably isn't spoiling the party. Everybody knows that, just like everybody knows Darth Vader is Luke's old man, Dorothy was only dreaming, and Taylor has been on Earth the entire time.
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