On the Legacy of Soylent Green (1973) and the Effect of an Iconic Spoiler

I’d always been meaning to see Soylent Green.

It seemed right up my alley. I love a good retro-futuristic sci-fi tale—in fact, this film takes place in 2022, if you’re curious as to what next year will look like. (It’s not looking great, folks.) And there’s a metal band named Soilent Green (copyrights, man) that I never really listened to, but their name stuck in my mind.

So I recently, finally, watched Soylent Green with a small group of people. None of us had ever seen it, but we all knew where it was going. Because, as many of you may know, the most iconic line in Soylent Green—the only line that most people even remember—is the crux of the whole film, a spoiler that colors the entire narrative in a different light. (You know the one. It’s four words, and two of them are the title.)

It made me curious about a film like this. Is this commonly known, oft-quoted line from Soylent Green a reason why someone might think they don’t need to see the film, since they know the twist? Or is that line (and how much fun it is to yell at your friends) the reason why the film has any legacy whatsoever almost 50 years later?

Soylent Green has to be one of the lesser-known pieces of art to be affixed with such a conundrum, though. Because legendary texts are spoiled for us all the time when growing up.

Can you imagine reading Romeo & Juliet without knowing the ultimate outcome of its titular protagonists? What a thrill that would be. Frankly, I do not even know how that would work. You’d have to avoid television, films, and people for the first 5-6 years of your life and then read it when you’re far too young, or something to that effect.

On a lesser but still ubiquitous level, consider The Empire Strikes Back. If you grow up around people who like movies, you’re going to hear that five-word twist that largely defines the film and the franchise itself. It’s not just iconic, it’s unavoidable.

But with Star Wars, and of course with Shakespeare, knowing the end doesn’t seem to prevent us from going on the journey. Of course, it certainly helps if your story is an all-time classic.

Is Soylent Green a classic? Well, friend, I can’t exactly say that.

But I can tell you that I was pleasantly surprised by how much my comrades and I enjoyed the film despite knowing what Charlton Heston would shout in the final moment. The noir-esque narrative, the dingy production design, the symphonic score, the performances all around—it’s quite good!

And most importantly, I have made it this far in my brief analysis without spoiling the film for you. If you haven’t seen Soylent Green, as Joe Bob Briggs would say, “Check it out!” (Remember: It’s research for the future!)

Soylent Green is now streaming on HBO Max and is available to rent elsewhere.