Soylent Green

When discussing his reaction to the film version of his book Make Room! Make Room!, author Harry Harrison described it as such: “murder and chase sequences [and] the ‘furniture’ girls are not what the film is about – and are completely irrelevant” and mentioned being only fifty percent satisfied with the final product. Hollywood has a long history of treating authors shabbily and using the bare bones of their work to scavenge for parts. Enter Soylent Green in which the author’s thoughts about the work prove to be true – the least interesting parts are the Hollywood add-ons that bog the paranoia down into something more conventional.

Aggressive sexual politics (be prepared to see why the women’s liberation movement was and remains an absolute necessity), dumb-downed detective moves, and shrill mindlessness aside, Soylent Green vibrates with a paranoia endemic to the 70s. There’s a deep distrust of the government and wider society, made all the more ironic by casting Mr. NRA Charlton Heston as the lead, that’s quite enrapturing. Couple that with the smarter aspects of the film – messages about ecological disaster, overpopulation, depletion of resources, and Edward G. Robinson’s beautiful final performance – and you’ve got something that’s fascinating in fits and starts.

But we should all innately distrustful and suspicious of mega corporations, especially in times of disaster and strife. Soylent Green at least manages to make that abundantly clear in its scattershot presentation.