King Corn - a Generation of Corn

A Generation of Corn

For my politics art, I decided to watch "King Corn." This documentary was filmed in 2007 as two college friends, Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis move from Boston, New York back to their roots in Greene, Iowa to grow an acre of corn. Throughout the documentary, they will examine the increasing role that corn production is having on American society and how it will affect us in the long run.

The film starts off by introducing our two students to an upbeat country song with lots of string such as a guitar. I believe the point of this attention grabbing technique was to kind of set the mood or environment since I already know that this film will be about corn, the tune basically reassures or affirm what I am expected. The boys write a letter to the farmhand letting him know that they are interested in farming and growing their own acre of corn. The music then shifts to a real mellow kind of approach as the boys describe growing up with their grandfathers as farm workers. We immediately are taken out to the country in the next few scenes where these boys grew up and are given a look at a different side of society. Greene, Iowa has a total population of 115 so it seemed that everyone knew what these college students were up to once they got there. The film then goes on to emphasize the fact that Greene is a very tiny town and people move away and tend to forget about old fashion life. The entire town's income pretty much comes from the production of corn. As I am watching the documentary, a gigantic plant that is used to store all excess corn in this small town is shown and explained that the town will store "yellow dem," the yellow seeded corn that most of us are used to. It was becoming apparent to me that corn was part of everyday life for these folks. The boy's early childhood had me reminiscing on good old days where life seems so much more simpler. The music that has transitioned me from city slicker to a small time country farmhand was becoming increasingly noticeable.

During the next phase of the film, I am informed of some of the things that have changed during the past few decades when it comes to farming. This part of the movie really interested me because the realization of technology taking over was very real. It was explained in the documentary that it wasn't uncommon to see a single farmhand take care of thousands of acres of land. It was ironic that all the hard work that these farmers put forth back in the day to feed not only them but for their families, was being replaced by the ever-evolving technologic future. The boys explain that during the last 50 or so years, corn production has changed drastically for the good of profit. More smooth and mellow country is being played at this point of the film to kind of humble the entire situation. The tight knit and hard working style of old fashion farmers was being replaced right before our very own eyes. The cost of production would surely go down but the idea of roughing up and working