What's the deal with cornfields in big time alien movies?

Just something I noticed the other night when I was watching E.T. on cable, but behind Elliot's house was a cornfield, prominently displayed in the scene when Elliot threw the ball into his backyard shack and E.T. threw it out. Two other big time alien movies (right off the top of my head) where cornfields were involved were Signs and The X-Files. As you all know the cornfields were especially prominent in The X-Files, producing the alien modified corn/corn oil.

What's the deal with corn?

Edit: BTW, I think there was some cornfield involvement in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but I'm gonna have to watch it again to make sure.

Peace

[edit on 14-10-2008 by Dr Love]

Have you ever walked around/in a corn field? It is the perfect place to nurture paranoia and fear. You cannot see anything except the corn stalks in your immediate vicinity, but you can sure as hell hear every little crunch or crackle from within the field. The effect of hearing the distinct sound of movement without the ability to see just what is moving can be fantastically frightening. Also, I guess cornfields remind you of small town, everyday America, where bad things just aren't supposed to happen. Isolation is another factor, as these areas are typically in areas of low population.

yeah i think cornfields are probably just a plot device used to help push you into a state of fear. typically, cornfields or farms in general are in rural areas, which are commonly known as being isolated or sparsely populated. that puts it into the viewers mind a sense of helplessness and isolation.

basically it helps to drive the story forward by establishing that it's scary and the character or characters are too far away from help.

plus as previously mentioned, corn is so tall that if you are in the middle of a field of it and start hearing crunching and crackling, things can get intense rather quickly as you have no visual reference.

I am not gonna be tricked into this alien/corn debate again.

if you want to know why, ask elevatedone

I think it might be because it's just something spooky, I think some horror movies had corn fields too, some are so big you can really get lost in them at night.

or it just might be to promote corn, since I have read some nice things about High-fructose corn syrup

[edit on 14-10-2008 by Grey Magic]

reply to post by Dr Love



I think the answer is in your question.

The way I've come across it is that you don't change a winning formula.

E.T is like nearly 30 years old, you also had Children of the Corn which was a mild success as well, Signs killed at the box office and X-files, well, we all know how popular that was.

common denominators? suspense and corn fields.

It's always worked, and added to that the fact that any time (however rare
) the mainstream media touches the occult, you can bet it's either a ufo or a crop circle. The mainstream public relates those things and outer space.

Add those in your movie=better audience reach=$$$$ at the box office.

just my take on it.

Ther are cornfields and spiritual beings in Field of Dreams too I just realized the other day as I was watching it.

There's something about cornfields and the supernatural I tell ya. I know I'm forgetting some movies.

Peace