Now that I’ve told you everything about King Corn except anything about the actual movie, I figure it’s probably time to write about the film itself. Well, I loved it. But that’s not really enough for you, so let’s see…
From the first moments of the movie, you get the feeling that it’s going to have a lot of “characters,” real people who are just as disarmingly charming as they probably are in real life. The professor in the first few scenes, who microwaves his lunch of a hamburger patty between two slices of white bread (I’m not even making this up), is just the first of such people; this trend continues throughout the film. And, of course, it just so happens that all of these people have something to say about corn.*
Curt and Ian are at the center of these characters, which include Chuck Pyatt, the farmer whose land provides the filmmakers with their one acre; the cab driver in Brooklyn, Fray Mendez, who was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes shortly before the film because he used to drink copious amounts of grape soda; and Dr. Earl Butz, the man who in 1973 changed the way corn is produced in America, essentially deregulating the existing balancing measures and replacing them with incentives for overproduction, though if you talked to him today you’d be reminded of your grandfather. Even the corn itself comes across as a character in this film, marching its way through the middle of America and across Ian and Curt’s stop-motion map scenes, taking on the persona of Corn with a capital “C.”
It’s through these characters, Curt and Ian included, that an otherwise boring topic becomes enthralling. I mean, come on, if your significant other came home with a DVD and said, “Honey, tonight we’re going to watch this documentary about the modern corn production and refinement system in America,” you probably would stare and blink a few times. But then you’d pop the disc into your player, and the opening scenes would start, and the catchy music would begin… And you’d be hooked.
The movie follows the story of corn in America, but I thought it was really about THEIR corn, that one acre of Iowa land that Curt and Ian farmed for a year. They didn’t set out to “change the system” or point any fingers; they deal with the corn glut in the US on a smaller (and more readily comprehended) scale, which makes an enormous problem seem less intimidating. I won’t tell you how the movie ends, because I’m lame, but not THAT lame… But I will tell you about a few of my favorite parts of the movie.
There are several scenes I loved involving stop-motion, and they’re kind of adorable (yeah, I know a lot of people have talked about these scenes already, but I like them). Sometimes little corn kernels danced their way across a map of the US, and other scenes involved little farmer dolls and moo barns. In case you had a deprived childhood, and therefore never experienced the joy that is the moo barn, they are the best toys ever. When you open the barn doors, they say, “moo.” And they have little animals to accompany the barns, and little fences to contain them with. Really, I get excited about moo barns even now. They’re used in a couple of stop-motion scenes in the movie to illustrate the ways in which the legislation changes in 1973 have affected modern corn farming, and I love the results.
Another favorite scene is when the filmmakers are waiting in a drive-thru line, and they see an old brown beater with a license plate that reads “CORNFED.” The driver is the consummate Midwesterner/conspiracy theorist, ranting about the evils of Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) while he’s taking bites out of a burger made from said beef. It’s magic.
Besides the funny and/or charming scenes, this movie has many poignant moments. While speaking with the filmmakers, one Colorado rancher says about the cows, “They put on weight faster if you don’t let ‘em move.” She’s talking about cows, but the statement could just as easily apply to Americans who eat that meat, which is most of us. Another rancher says, “One of the tenets in America is that America wants and demands cheap food.” This may be the truest statement ever uttered. I’ve borne witness to countless “Whole Paycheck” jokes, and I’m sure I’ll hear more. But whether you shop at Whole Foods, Wegman’s, or the dirty little co-op down the street, we do make choices about our food that affect the food supply chain. If every single American swore off corn-fed meat and all corn-based sweeteners and additives for even a week, the current food supply system would collectively crap its pants.
But it’s doubtful that would ever happen. Americans DO like their cheap food, even though “cheap” is a relative term. Hello, national health care costs? But the movie doesn’t delve into these myriad and diverse issues, despite the hundreds of minutes of footage gathered about these topics. I’m glad they saved that footage for the DVD (and, possibly, another short film), because if they’d included it in King Corn, I think the film would have alienated more people that it ever will in its current state. As it is now, this movie combines the perfect amounts of education, entertainment, and emotion; adding any other ingredients would have disturbed this well-struck balance.
During their time in Greene, Iowa, a town where corn farming is the widest profession and government subsidies is the largest industry, Curt and Ian meet many interesting people and reveal their stories. And, like I said, I won’t tell you how the movie concludes, but I loved (LOVED!) the ending. This movie is what Ted and I call a Sunday night film, which means that it’s a bit slower and more thought-provoking than, say, the new Rambo. Watch this movie on a somewhat mellow night, and let it wash over you in all of its corn-fed wonder. I’ve already seen it twice, and wouldn’t mind seeing it again; that’s rare for me. (Other movies that have achieved this status are Rushmore, Stranger Than Fiction, and The Nightmare Before Christmas.)
I think King Corn DVDs are available soon, just in case you don’t live in any of the cities it’s currently playing in. However you can manage it, watch this movie; you won’t be disappointed.
*For the record, there are only so many times you can write “corn” before it starts to look wonky. I’m well beyond that limit.
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