Soylent Green

I found a movie in a book clearance store in the mall. It was called “Westworld”, starring Yul Brynner. As my son and I watched this Sci-Fi classic, we laughed at the 70s’ fashion influences that were projected for the future.

The 70s had a rash of science fiction movies that I remember all the kids in school talking about. I usually had to wait for them to come to television before I could see them.

The big one was “The Planet Of The Apes”. There was merchandising from that movie that was only eclipsed by “Star Wars” at the end of the decade. I was also a faithful viewer of the TV series as well.

I had introduced my son to the movie “Soylent Green” starring Charleton Heston some time ago, so he enjoys watching old science fiction movies with me. When “Westworld” was finished, he was a little disappointed with it, especially with the technology in use in movies now.

After suggesting that we try to find “Soylent Green” again, my son told me what had happened in science class at school one day.

One of my son’s classmates had gotten the science teacher talking about the world’s alledged overpopulation problem. As he was wearing down, my son loudly proclaims, “Soylent Green is people!” It was the startling punch line of “Soylent Green”. No one understood what that meant, not even the teacher, and it died as soon as he said it.

The teacher is twenty five years old. You’d think that if they were going to teach him all that old stuff of evolution, global warming, and overpopulation, that he’d at least be exposed to a little culture like “Soylent Green” and the original “Planet Of The Apes” movies.

Don’t forget “Logan’s Run”.