The movie Soylent Green — which depicted a world so overpopulated that the only solution was industrialized cannibalism — came out in 1973. It was inspired less by the novel it was based on (Make Room, Make Room) than Paul Ehrlich’s overpopulation alarmist book The Population Bomb; which predicted that, due to overpopulation, the United States would experience widespread famine by the early 1980’s. Soylent Green was set five years in the future from our current year, in 2022. I can’t help but notice, we’re not on the verge of industrialized cannibalism. Much like Ehrlich’s vision of famines and global upheaval, it never happened. (Ehrlich has moved on to become a champion of Climate Change and is still well-regarded on the left as a “Population Expert.”)
Yet, here we are, 44 years later, and Hollywood is still churning out overpopulation movies. Even though current demographic trends in the Western world point to population decline, not overpopulation. And if we could get Africans to use birth control, then we pretty much would have global population decline.
So, why is Hollywood still beating this old drum? Well, for one thing, liberal (in the leftist, not classical sense) culture has ossified around the concerns of the hippie baby-boomers who defined the modern left. If it was a big deal in 1972, then to them it’s a big deal in 2017; which is why we’re stuck with all this ridiculous race obsession, and why Hollywood makes stupid movies about overpopulation. But I think another part of it is that overpopulation provides a rationale for abortion, and we all know how much Hollywood loves abortion.
In other stupid Hollywood news, have you heard about the remake of Lord of the Flies with an all-female cast? I am not making this up. I am thinking in this version, Simon will become Simone. The other girls won’t physically rip her apart, but will destroy her self-esteem through bullying and psychological abuse until she dies of anorexic starvation. Piggy will become ‘Peggy,’ and will be trampled to death during a shoe sale.
And it will still be funnier than that female Ghostbusters movie.
It seems to me that the leaders of the left (who are getting long in the tooth and keeping a new generation from coming up) are stuck at the time that they ‘came of age’ and can’t understand that the world has changed.
That also explains why they keep fighting and pushing for abortion – because to them it is still illegal.
It also explains their pathological distrust of the military; in 1972 it was a mess overseas and couldn’t be trusted at home, having experimented on citizens with drugs, shot protestors, and some other ‘iffy’ behavior.
Thanks for sharing my article. The best dystopian stories have a whiff of reality to them. Not so much here…
V the K agrees with a feminist.
Forget Soylent Green and their dumb past projections.
Wanna know what’s really alarming?
That our friend Vladimir still has an endless supply of these zombies to choose from:
https://youtu.be/em4btiNve4Q
…
I thought there was already a female remake of Lord Of The Flies…wasn’t it called Mean Girls?
I wonder what other TV shows or movies Hollywood could reboot to a modern day PC version or primarily female cast?
It occurs to me that there already is a movie where women go to an island and establish a utopian feminist society. It’s called The Wicker Man. And it was also funnier that that female Ghostbusters movie.
A theater in Memphis has canceled a showing of ‘Gone With the Wind” because it is just not PC. I wonder how a race-reversed GWTW would play out? With white slaves and black plantation owners.
V the K, Heinlein wrote a story about that called “Farnham’s Freehold.”
There’s always the classic “Twelve Angry Men”, but the twist is that it’s 11 to acquit until one forms them into a vengeful, bitchy Feminist Lynch mob, …or the hosts of The View.
Ossified in 1972 is a good description. The American left looks through a prism where every overseas conflict is another Vietnam, every allegation against a Republican is another Watergate, and political action means one angry protest march after another. It’s why the media keeps revisiting, decade after decade, the anniversaries of the JFK, MLK, and RFK assassinations, along with the anniversaries of 1967’s summer of love, the 1969 Woodstock festival, and the landing of the Beatles in America. As you point out, V the K, it’s the perspective of the hippie baby-boomers, frozen in time.
V the K: clearly you’re referring to the horrendous remake of TWM with Ellen Burstyn and Nicholas Cage; DO see the original.
I was wondering what V the K was talking about — I’ve only seen the original* and I certainly wouldn’t characterize the society depicted as some sort of “feminist utopia” gone awry, even though a certain subset of feminists may have very romanticized views of paganism.
* Or rather, the only Wicker Man I’ve seen in its ENTIRETY is the original. Of course I’ve watched the YouTube clips of Nicholas Cage spin-kicking Leelee Sobieski in the chest, and “HOW DID IT GET BURNED?!?!?” and Face-Full-O-Bees.
And Bastiat Fan
Even though I agree with you that the original with Roger Woodward is far superior, Nick Cage was … I don’t know… how do you describe such an incredible performance? 🙂
And punching out a woman whilst wearing a bear costume, Throbert McGee, don’t forget that magic moment…
OMG, I have to see this now.
The left is so bad at math.
The world population has essentially doubled since 1970. Sounds to me like the human race is thriving, not suffering. The current world population could fit in Texas at a density rate of 27,362 people per square mile, one-fourth the density of Manila (107,562 people per square mile).
I do think overpopulation is an issue. However, I think it’s more of a regional issue than a global one.
“we’re not on the verge of industrialized cannibalism”
Except in the sense that the left is eating away at our culture like an ichneumon wasp larva.
“V the K, Heinlein wrote a story about that called ‘Farnham’s Freehold.’ “
And it was roundly condemned by Progressive Minded People for racism.
There’s also What Happened To Monday on Netflix, which I actually enjoyed.