The amount of information we receive daily is staggering, and when it comes down to understanding the choices we make in each moment we are often confronted with every aspect of our decisions. Whether it's more obvious ones like buying gas, or more complex choices like the everyday products we buy, we are often somewhat aware of the vast web of connections these choices are tied to. Frank Zingrone, a student of Marshal McLuhan, calls this modern consciousness the Symplex - where we are faced simultaneously with the simplicity of our choices (i.e. I'm hungry) and also the complexity of our choices (i.e. where does this food come from, what is it actually made out of, who makes it, how does it affect the planet, etc.)Often, back in the day, investigative journalism took the helm in exposing issues and showing the deeper connections, but since prime-time news and newspapers have become more and more standardized and superficial, along with the advent of cheaper forms of media and the internet, a more personalized investigative journalism has become the gold standard. The most obvious present example is Spurlock's Super Size Me, although it's just one in a long line.
A welcome addition to this tradition is Aaron Woolf's King Corn. It follows Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis from Boston to Iowa where they plan to plant and harvest an acre of corn as to better understand one of America's largest 'food' crops. Far from being simply a look at the corn industry and the history of corn, it also follows the story of Cheney and Ellis' look at familial roots as their great grandfathers were both farmers working in the corn industry at the turn of the last century.
For the most part Cheney and Ellis are interesting and they ask enough pertinent questions to keep the film going. Nearly every aspect of corn's evolution to the present product is examined deeply enough to keep the information relevant and to bring to light what becomes the 'point' of the film, namely the inauspicious effects of the industry on the world at large: i.e. corn is in nearly everything we eat or drink.
What is easy to appreciate about King Corn is that it is a pretty even handed and objective documentary. Sometimes it seems as if Cheney and Ellis are playing it a bit naive and hiding an agenda behind their sincerity, but for the most part it allows the viewer to make up his/her own mind about what they see without pointing fingers. What could too easily be a damning look at the industry feels a lot more sympathetic than the conclusions one can make after viewing the film.
People from all aspects of the industry are given a chance to speak honestly about their views without putting them in a bad light. As much as the information may be disagreeable and as many times as I had felt angry about certain points I found it hard to relieve my frustration by finding a target to foist my anger upon. Like any issue it is intensely complicated and we're all tied to it and implicated in it as well.
Ultimately King Corn succeeds by being as objective as possible and simply letting the content speak for itself. It allows us to become involved in the complexity of the issue without simply demonizing some aspect of it. In this way one feels compelled to see their part in the issue and to attempt to look more deeply in how they live their lives in relation to it.
Michael Pollan is given only a few sound bites in this film, but if you're interested in the issues presented in this film as well as industrialized agriculture itself, check out his books, and vids on Google video.
Watch King Corn here
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