Soylent Green Film Analysis

Whether it is being hotly debated by the nations top pundits on a news show or discussed in the term papers of meteorology students, global warming is a worldwide issue that has dominated the media circuits in waves of attention. Each time a major population center is devastated by an atmospheric disaster, or we are treated to a picture of a drought-stricken river, the general masses are once again reminded of their supposed (depending on the argument you subscribe to) impact on the planet we inhabit. With the advent of superstorms such as Hurricane Katrina and Andrew, with the rapidly drying arid areas of the Southwesten United States, and images of ice caps with emaciated polar bears hobbling along the great white expanse, it is impossible …show more content…
In the 1973 movie Soylent Green, the Earth is predicted as a world in complete disarray, having succumbed to overpopulation, pollution and global warming. With the backdrop story of a detective hot on the trail of the murderer of a prominent businessman, we are introduced to the harsh elements that could befall a giant metropolis (such as New York City, where the film is set) in a situation where the global climate renders a tolerable standard of living impossible. There is barely any “real” food any longer, only synthetic food wafers named Soylent, made from soybeans, lentils and plankton. Only the rich and wealthy can afford rare luxuries such as meat, vegetables and liquor, all which are in extremely short supply and command exorbitant prices. People sleep in the hallways and stairwells of apartments, and women desperate to escape a life of poverty by selling themselves as concubines that come with high-rise apartments, people casually referring to them as “furniture”. The rule of law is nearly non-existent. For the time, it was a rather shocking and surprising look into a very possible world and over time it has become a very realistic scenario as we begin to gain understanding of the potential effects of global