The Truth About “Soylent Green” w/ Dana Gould

We did it! If you’re reading this, you’ve made it to the present day, and may have noticed that many erstwhile promises of science fiction have been delivered on. That's not great: Most sci-fi books and movies of yesteryear — with the notable exceptions of Star Trek and The Jetsons — spell out a blighted future for humanity, and among the most famous to do so is Soylent Green (1973), a film set in, you guessed it, 2022.

But to what extent does fiction predict the future? Or instead, does the past’s vision of tomorrow serve to inspire events to come?

Either way, it turns out that Soylent Green got a lot right. From deadly pollution to a global food shortage to the rise of assisted suicide, many of the film’s predictions were made with seemingly clairvoyant precision. And while we haven’t resorted to serving people to the proles, we are in the throes of a baby formula shortage here in America, a dilemma with undoubtedly dystopian undertones. Fun.

We wanted to properly plumb the depths of this oh-so-viridescent film, and get to the obscure bottom of whether or not fiction speaks reality into being. So, we called up writer, comedian, actor, movie buff, and Charlton Heston savant Dana Gould to help lead the way. 

Dana’s preternatural understanding of old sci-fi and monster movies and experience writing on The Simpsons (also purportedly predictive) proved to be precisely what was needed to make sense of Soylent Green (spoiler: it’s people). He also helps answer the question of whether the stories we tell are accidental prognostications or words of encouragement for plucky young billionaires — egging them on to one day shoot themselves into space. 

It’s a fun one. See you in there.

JOURNOS is produced by Heather “Eagle Ears” Wilson.