Is ‘Soylent Green’ Movie From 1972 Accurate in 2022 New Jersey?

50 years ago, (in the movies), the legendary actor Charlton Heston is pictured famously being dragged away, yelling “Soylent Green is people.”

The movie was made in 1972; but, it was set in the far off future in the year 2022, where we now actually find ourselves.

Countless movies have been made over the years, where the movie is set way into the future.

Most of these movies do not hold up well to the test of time.

Considering the fact that this theme was created 50 years ago, Soylent Green has withstood the passage of time very well.

Soylent Green is a thriller directed by Richard Fleischer. It stars Heston, Leigh Taylor-Young, and Edward G. Robinson in his final film role.

The movie is said to be loosely based on the 1966 science novel ‘Make Room.’

The movie takes place in the year 2022. Overcrowding, pollution, food, and other resource scarcities have created a crisis, where leaders face the challenge to find food for the overpopulation that society is facing.

Their solution was as macabre as it gets. The answer was Soylent Green. The people are glad to have once-a-week access to food, but the actual ingredients are unknown by the public.

A tough homicide detective (Heston) stumbles onto a secret so terrifying that no one would dare believe that “Soylent Green” food is actually made from human beings.

"SOYLENT GREEN” STORYLINE AS IT WAS WRITTEN IN 1972.

• The year is 2022.
• An overpopulated planet is experiencing climate change.
• Big companies have disproportionate power over the government and the people.
• Only 1 percent of the people can afford to have a clean, basic living.
• A head of lettuce, two tomatoes, and a potato retail for $ 279.
• A tiny slice of beef is considered to be the ultimate excess.
• Overcrowding is a significant problem.
• New York City population registers 40 million people.
• Millions have left the workplace.
• Climate change was a huge storyline in Soylent Green. Yet, it wasn’t a big focus in 1972 when this movie was being made.
• Massive inequality.
• Supply Chain issues are featured prominently in the movie.
• Homeless persons sleeping in stairways and elsewhere.
• People unwind by playing video games. In the movie, it featured the first coin-operated video arcade game.

Not all of the above issues have come true. However, considering that all of it was written 50 years ago (for the big screen), the dystopian, alternative universe bears some resemblance to today.

It reads much like today’s daily news headlines.

Soylent Green predicts what life will be like in 2022 … minus the cannibalism.

They actually got a lot of it right.