Today’s post is “brought to you by Soylent red and Soylent yellow, high energy vegetable concentrates, and new, delicious, Soylent green. The miracle food of high-energy plankton gathered from the oceans of the world.”
SPOILER ALERT: This post will discuss the ending of the movie Soylent Green so read at the risk of spoilers. Apologies 168sean168!
In our silly lil game, we sometimes see things pop in that we have no clue as to their Origin. They seem familiar, but we just can’t pinpoint from where. So that is why we decided to make a fun lil reminder out of it. To let you know just Where did THAT Come From?
You know, sometimes this game does things that just make me a happy Wookiee inside and Issue 2 is no exception. It’s all well and good to get new characters and buildings but I’m one of those fuzball’s who loves references to pop culture in my favorite game and cartoon. For Issue 2, this came our way via Soilant Red. A take on the term Soylent Green, I’m thrilled to see this in the game. It’s clever, interesting, and it’s not the first time Soylent Green has ever been mentioned in TSTO. Drew Dabble posted about dialogue concerning it way back in December 2013.
Shout out to Double D for saving this and also a big Wookiee roar of glee for a Futurama reference. Soylent Green figures in their episodes too. While Soylent Green is a different name than Soilent Red, I think it’s pretty clear that one is a parody of the other. Whenever I think of Soylent Green in the the Best. Show. Ever., I reminisce right back to “Itchy & Scratchy: The Movie” (S4:E6). Homer finally puts his foot down with a rambunctious Bart and punishes him. Bart is forbidden to see the Itchy & Scrathcy Movie. Homer hopes that his parenting might someday result in Bart getting the chance to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. We even see a potential future where Chief Justice Bart and his old man finally go see the movie. The Aztec Theater has started serving Soylent Green and you can even get it with extra butter. “Mmmmmm… Soylent Green.”
I guess I should take the time to point out that all of this comes from a 1973 science fiction movie of the same name starring Charlton Heston. Here’s a fun synopsis I found on idmb written by a fan (Mystic80):
“A tale of Earth in despair in 2022. Natural food like fruits, vegetables, and meat among others are now extinct. Earth is overpopulated and New York City has 40 million starving, poverty stricken people. The only way they survive is with water rations and eating a mysterious food called Soylent. A detective investigates the murder of the president of the Soylent company. The truth he uncovers is more disturbing than the Earth in turmoil when he learns the secret ingredient of Soylent Green.”
Pop culture has taught most of us what the secret ingredient was. The writers of the Simpsons apparently enjoy this movie because it pops up in episodes. The “Treehouse of Horror V” (S6:E5) segment “Nightmare Cafeteria” is clearly inspired by Soylent Green. Anyone feel like some Uterbrauten or Sloppy Jimbos? The end of “The Old Man and the Lisa” (S8:E21) aka the Lisa Simpson recycling episode is a parody of the ending of the movie as Lisa begs people not to recycle to stop the slurry. The Euthanasia Center in “Million Dollar Abie (S17:E16) is also a spoof of the euthanasia center from the movie although the Simpsons one is never connected to (spoiler alert) making food out of people.
Det. Thorn: Ocean’s dying, plankton’s dying… it’s people. *Soylent Green is made out of people.* They’re making our food out of people. Next thing they’ll be breeding us like cattle for food. You’ve gotta tell them. You’ve gotta tell them!
Hatcher: I promise, Tiger. I promise. I’ll tell the Exchange.
Det. Thorn: You tell everybody. Listen to me, Hatcher. You’ve gotta tell them! Soylent Green is people! We’ve gotta stop them somehow!
Inspirations are all well and good but what about actual appearances? In “Bart to the Future” (S11:E17), we find ourselves viewing Bart’s future courtesy of vision quests with the Chief at Ceaser’s Pow Wow Casino. Thirty years in the future, Bart is a 40-year-old loser with a failing music career and a degree from DeVry who lives with Ralph Wiggum. The future holds delights like holograms, virtual and cyber fudge but it’s the tasty treat that Homer offers Ralph that interests me here.
You know something is common knowledge when even Ralph knows Soylent Green is made from people. (“Oh. Here we go.”) The last appearance is in yet another future episode. When Cyborg Snake is robbing the Kwik-E-Mart in “Holidays of Future Passed” (S23:E9), we see both Soylent Brown stocked on the shelves and a display for Soylent Green… now with 30% more people.
So there you go friends. The inspiration for Soilant Red. I think this is funny and definitely an old movie worth checking out. What I find mild disturbing is that you can actually find food nowadays using the word Soylent. It’s enough to make a fuzzball wonder. What do you think of the movie/event currency/appearances? Have you ever seen it? I discovered while writing this that my oldest hasn’t so I’m definitely looking forward to our next movie night. Sound off in the comments with your thoughts and happy crab juice tapping!
Smell ya later! TTFN… Wookiee out!
In my Springfield I wasn’t given 1 Soilant Red… I was given 66. Is this some sort of glitch??
Yea several people had this happen…try contacting EA see if they can remove them
Okay thank you!
Yep, the Romulan Ale thing is a definite boo boo.
I keep expecting a Simpson character is going to reveal the truth in our game. “Soilant Red is made out of FELONS!!” (And Lisa debunks the claim or something)
It’s not too late for something like this. My guess is during the boss fight.
Thank you very much for the shout out Mr. Wookiee 🙂 That CBG dialogue sure takes me back. In fact, it sent me on an hour-long stroll down memory lane where I found another screen shot from that same Christmas 2013 “Too Much of a Good Thing” quest-line…
https://www.flickr.com/photos/drewdabble/28214443281/in/dateposted-public/
Btw, there is a mistake in this dialogue that dedicated Star Trek fans can probably identify. Anyone know what it is?
You are very welcome pal. I’m not a Trekker but I know the error. I’ll bite my tongue to see if anyone else knows.
You mean besides the fact that Romulan Ale is actually illegal in Federation territory? (But just kind of the way Cuban cigars were illegal here in the US for many years.)
Romulan Ale is blue, not green!
🙂
Your hint is above: “Now with 30% more people!” and “Now with more girls!” Yep.
“Soylent Green”, “Omega Man”, “Planet of the Apes” – classic Heston and all have been invited into “the Simpsons”! If you haven’t seen the first two check them out. If you haven’t seen the third I have a lever to help get you out from under that rock!
I’ve seen Soylant Green several times and Planet of the Apes more times than I can count, but I realized that I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Omega Man! (Not that I’m a big Heston fan, but that is a classic, I think…) Fortunately, I was able to set a recording for it on one of the Cinemax channels at 3:40 am tonight/tomorrow morning! 🙂
I just wish that Comcast and Cinemax weren’t feuding about the Cinemax Roku app…I would have liked to have seen it in HD (but not enough to spend $3.99 to rent it from Amazon). (I have an older TiVo, that’s SD-only, so anything I record is in SD. But, if I can watch it on Roku, I can watch it in HD, because my TV is an HDTV.)
So excited for you to see Omega Man. They re-made it with Will Smith but the original is a classic.
The Will Smith remake also has the same title as the story behind the screen play. Also, the remake seemed to be more about the horror the cancer “cure” wreaks in the form of monsters, while Omega Man was more of a social commentary on the decline of society. Both good, in their own ways.
Maybe Friday or this weekend, if I end up being in that kind of a mood. (Not sure I saw the Will Smith one, either, although I often watch his movies..)
I love all of these movies but I’m a sucker for classic dystopia in cinema. Apes is my favorite second only to a certain epic space opera.
Speaking of foods with “Soylent” in their name… what about a food *just* named “Soylent”?
http://arstechnica.com/series/ars-does-soylent/
(That link is to a highly amusing series of articles, in my opinion. Enjoy — and eat healthy! 🙂 )
Soylent Cola varies from person to person.
The film is based on a classic sci fi book called Make Room Make Room! by Harry Harrison. Well worth checking out.
Didn’t know that. I’ve got other HH books but that’s not one I’ve heard of. Best go shopping 😀
Stainless Steel Rat ones I hope!
Woo hoo! A silly post which is sparking folks to read classic sci-fi and re-watch or watch classic movies!
Spent my teenage years devouring sci fi. Still love it now. Anyone who dismisses it as not highbrow or proper literature has never picked up a Ray Bradbury book.
Agreed.
Yes! I’ve only read it once from the library a long time ago but thoroughly enjoyed it.
Soylent Green is definitely one of the classic dystopian movies, have seen it more than once. Don’t really remember it from The Simpsons, though.
I’m glad I could share then.
So, there’s nothing directly, eh? What is Soylent Red? Is it made of crab? I don’t get it. The crab guy killed his own brethren to make this? Also, the antidote is crab juice. Isn’t that like both products being essentially the same thing? Do I need to rewatch the movie to really understand this??
Lol… It hasn’t been completely said but whatever soilent red is… it seems to turn people into crabs. Something in the Khlav Kalash crab juice counteracts this.
Anyone remember the Saturday Night Live skit with Phil Hartman as Charlton Heston in Soylent Green?
Oh no. I got the movie soylent green but I have not watched it yet. I have been spoiled.
If you had it why didn’t you watch it? Some movies need to be watched right away to avoid spoiling. Lucky/unlucky you. I only got to see the movie after knowing the spoiler. Maybe I would have paid better attention if I didn’t know the “truth” beforehand.
Yeah. I keep delaying watching very old movies. Waiting for the right mood.
If your going to watch it find some real comfortable Furnature to watch it with …oops, not sure that’s a spoiler term or not :p (lol, couldn’t help myself)
Hmm sounds interesting..
Apologies… I will throw a spoiler alert at the top of the post. Figured it might not be necessary for a movie from the 1970s. There’s been a bit of time for people to watch it.
I have been waiting for a boring afternoon to watch it . It is ok . The plot does sound morbid.
If it makes a difference, I apologized to you in the spoiler warning.
Haven’t seen the movie. Not sure I will, though I am curious as to what the secret ingredient is.
I’ve seen it. Old movies are hard to watch sometimes. I don’t think I even remember the spoiler part because I wasn’t paying attention by then… Good thing I know all my pop culture knowledge from other bite-sized sources.
Don’t suppose it’s any use urging you to read the books then? Omega Man is the book I Am Legend by R.Matheson. Soylent Green is Make Room, Make Room! by Harry Harrison. They are both quite short.
Good movies don’t get old, terrible movies are hard to watch no matter how new they are (or how big their effects budget was, who the big stars were, etc.)
They do get old, otherwise I agree with you.
Why are “old movies hard to watch sometimes”? As someone who saw this (and probably other movies that you’d lump in with “old”) at the time they were still new, I’m curious to get you insight into that.
I’ve also watched many movies that were from before my time (in fact, one of my all-time favorite movies is the Tracy/Hepburn classic, “Desk Set”) and don’t generally find them hard to watch, unless the film/sound quality is really bad (or it’s just not a good movie). And most originals are better than their remakes – I don’t mind when they remake a movie that wasn’t that great the first time around, but I totally don’t get when they remake a movie that was about as good as that movie could get (given the plot, script, etc.) the first time around.
You’re right. They should remake Soylent Green. 😉 😛
I haven’t seen it in a while, so my impressions may not be totally useful. In general I noticed that older movies often have a slower pace that never picks up. I understand slow starts but they have to get going at some point and then I’ll be fine.
I’m not sure what I can tell you, but maybe if you consider older productions of Shakespeare plays (as movies) and compare them to more modern ones you might find their activity level is somehow different. I bring that up because I’ve watched modern Shakespeare plays and they’re okay even considering that the material is as old as ‘old’ can be. (I haven’t really seen older productions, though…)
Of course I’ve seen other classics, everything from Wizard of Oz to The Apartment. Actually, I think it’s just the “older” movies from the 1970’s that I have trouble with. Maybe it was all the drugs. 😉
Like Star Wars? 😉
Yes. As long as George Lucas isn’t behind the remake.
I wasn’t talking about remakes…I was reacting facetiously to your characterization of 70s movies as having a slower pace that never picks up.
Darn. But wasn’t that 77? for the first then the rest in the 80’s? So, basically not in the 70’s. 😉 Also, as others have pointed out, maybe some movies just weren’t as good as others, end of story. Speaking of story, that’s not to say the story isn’t good, but just the actual filming. Dunno. I’d have to watch it again, as an “adult”. (A “sleepy” adult, but still.)
In terms of pace, I’ve watched (more than once) 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining, both of which are pretty slow, but both of which are Kubrick.
“Soylent Green” can be worth it. For the Heston Trilogy, I prefer “Omega Man” and “Plane of the Apes”, but SG is a good time. As others mention, you just have to get into the mindset of old movies with their relaxed slow pace. It can be quite rewarding!
Don’t forget Heston’s cameo in Beneath the Planet of the Apes. That’s the one which truly terrified me as a child.
What number is that? I think I saw the first and second movie, and maybe the third.
It’s the second one.
Oh. Well, I don’t really remember anything after the first. 😛 Why was that part scary as a kid? (I wasn’t that young when I got around to seeing these movies.)
The reveal of the underground telepathic people frightened me and we were all still very afraid of anything nuclear in the 1980s. Just got me.
I heard about people being frightened by that stuff. 1980’s? I thought that was in the 1950’s, with kids hiding under their school desks.
Nothing sparked a memory from your description so I’ll have to somehow rewatch that movie again.
Oh they definitely were more afraid during the Atomic Age (some of the stories my Mom told me are quite interesting) but I can remember being frightened by all things nuclear as a kid. Lots of movies seemed to feature this as the big bad (and rightfully so, it’s truly horrifying). It might also be that I watched movies that were allowed by my grandparents so I may have been seeing different stuff and effected by it. They helped raise me so I’ve always been a bit of an older soul. As for the re-watch, all I can say is that the viewing may be worth Linda Harrison alone. She is certainly easy on my eyes and one of my first crushes in cinema. Of course, she was in the original too so doesn’t require a viewing of the sequel. I’m an uber POTA fan though so my opinion is what it is. “Beneath” has always been my favorite followed closely by the original.
Are you sure it wasn’t the third one? Because I thought Escape (my favorite) was the fourth one and it starts with Xera (Zera?), Cornelius, and Dr. Zaius….well, you know…no spoilers, but they wouldn’t have been doing that, if the other thing hadn’t happened at the end of the previous movie. Right?
Nope… second. Original (1968), Beneath (1970), Escape From (1971), Conquest of (1972), and Battle for (1973). They escaped during the third.
Ah, okay…I stand corrected! 🙂
Planet of the apes TV series were running forever when I was a boy and it was like the must watch TV show then. As an adult whenever there are movies adaptations, I will definitely catch them.