‘Soylent Green’ Trends After NYT Asks Why Cannibalism is So Fashionable

A NYT piece has Twitter buzzing about a question regarding cannibalism, and why it’s so trendy now … ominously reminding people of an old movie touching on just this topic.

The story published by the paper Saturday is titled, “A Taste for Cannibalism?” … and the Times’ tweet promoting it reads … ‘Cannibalism has a time and a place. Some recent books, films and shows suggest that the time is now. Can you stomach it?”

The whole premise explores why eating people has appeared so prevalently in our pop culture these past few years — whether it’s in newer movies like “Raw” or “Fresh,” shows like “Santa Clarita Diet” and “Yellowjackets” … or even novels of late that delve into the subject.

It’s a pretty fascinating read — and there are different theories mulled, like cannibalism being embraced anew in fiction as a response to the pandemic, climate change, food shortages, capitalism, eating disorders, politics or just old-fashioned thrills from societal taboos.

But as the Times also notes, cannibalism in media is nothing new … with depictions of it dating back to olden times — but more recently in films like ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ or perhaps more prominently in 1973’s ‘Soylent Green’ … which is trending right now over this.

The memes, of course, are flying … with some jokingly pointing out ‘SG’ actually takes place in the year 2022, and that all this cannibal content might be a forecast of what’s to come.