[lbo-talk] soylent green

Diane Monaco dmonaco at pop3.utoledo.edu
Tue Dec 16 10:32:52 PST 2003


Brian Siano wrote:
> On the brighter side, I met Harry Harrison.)

Hey cool. The author of the reproductive rights book of sorts (or at least a pro-contraception theme), "Make Room! Make Room!" that was later made into the movie "Soylent Green" with more "recycling" and government food regulation themes. Earth is overpopulated, divided into haves and have-nots, and horribly polluted with green house effects that have led to food shortages. The world of the haves consists of traditional food to eat and nice luxurious places to live where women are not only property/slaves but are referred to as "furniture." The have-nots, on the other hand, live on soylent - a new manufactured plankton biscuit or something. The top of the line of this soylent line of biscuits is "soylent green" which contains a special government endorsed "protein" ingredient that is manufactured in soylent factories that look like garrisons. Now with overpopulated masses and food shortages, it doesn't take too much imagination to guess what that special ingredient is exactly. Especially when you see dump trucks scooping up the unemployed masses -- presumbly as a crowd control method -- during the food shortage riots.

I do think the movie played down the reproductive rights theme of Harrison's 1960s book...not all too surprising since it was made in the early 70s. But in my opinion, Harrison's "Make Room! Make Room!" is right along side the other great dystopian novels: Brave New World, The Handmaid's Tale, 1984.

I also seem to recall "Stainless Steel Rat" villain books by Harrison with lots of James Bond style gadgets that one of my brothers and his friends liked a lot.

Diane

Postscript: Charlton Heston: "Plankton is dying. It's people. Soylent green is made out of people! Did you hear me? Soylent green is PEOPLE!"...or something like that :).



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