The movie is loosely based on the sci-fi novel Make Room! Make Room! written by Harry Harrison, one of my favorite authors. I had read the book before seeing the film and felt the film, although excellent, did not live up to the brilliance of the Harrison’s work. Ah…but that is a different thread.
Set in New York in the not so distant future this film depicts a society in chaos for a variety of reasons: global warming; overpopulation; unemployment; illiteracy; dwindling fuel reserves. The inability of the earth to provide the resources to meet societies needs results in a totalitarian state.
Natural foods are rare and extremely expensive which is “solved” by scientific and government interventions. Synthetic food, known as Soylent Green, and government sponsored euthanasia centers are ways that this dystopian society tries to survive.
The visual imagery of the film is particularly poignant; the colors and photography used to symbolize pollution and despair is palpable. The visual contrast of how the earth used to be makes this message even more heartbreaking. The music is also used effectively and was another aspect of this film that moved me.
The relevance to today’s society is marked and unmistakable. The rich are getting richer while the poor struggle to survive. Health care, medications, food, and natural resources are becoming available only to the wealthy that are unwilling or unable to share with those who need them most.
War, terrorism, starvation, overpopulation, catastrophic weather, and lack of resources are just a few of today’s problems; generally the result of the affluent striving to remain so or the poor desperate for any escape. The book and film tries to illustrate the world when even the rich can not overcome the devastation humans have caused to the earth and to each other.
Both the book and the film are a warning to society; the earth and those in it are vulnerable. If the world is to survive recognition of earths limitations and a conscious effort to accept them is vital and necessary. If not…
I don’t remember feeling as sad while watching this movie the first time. It might be the realization of how little we have done to prevent the chaos that is outlined in both the film and book. Maybe it is my increased understanding of how fragile and precious life and this world are.
Whatever the reasons, I’m afraid that we are on the slippery slope to our own self destruction. I only hope that we are smart enough to recognize the path that we are on and are willing and able to stop ourselves before it is too late.
