RP3

I was intrigued by the last film we watched in class yesterday, in which the scientists were attempting to grow corn in space in order to sustain life on Mars. At first, I was humored by this concept of the exploitation of the plant; that we had moved past the earthly means of hydrogenated corn syrup/oil/protein (that which seems to be included in every manufactured food product), and now to the celestial realm of corn dependency. Earth! Bringing Corn Dependency to YOU!

Though this may have been a misinterpretation of the importance of the corn plant in the film. The film attributed seemingly magical characteristics to the corn, specifically the Navajo corn that came to the rescue at the end of the film. It seemed to suggest that the white man doctor was uncaring of the plants and their needs, causing them to perish within the space-ship. It was not until the intervention of the Navajo corn cobs, gifted by the presumably Navajo commander to the (also presumably) Navajo woman scientist, that the plants were able to grow and be sustained for their new life on Mars.
What does this suggest about the relationship between the Navajo people and corn/plants/resources?

The film also seemed to contain an allegory for westward expansion, that which I was surprised by. I couldn't help relating the invasion and corn colonization of Mars to that which was experienced in the United States by the Native Americans. I found it interesting that the corn colonization (which, I'm sure, was followed by human populations) was lead by a Native American man, committing paralleled acts of invasion onto another's land. Yet, the human invasion of Mars was glorified, with images of sparkling and shimmering corn stalks amongst the red gravel of Mars to close the film. Was the glorification of the invasion supposed to be ironic? I  am curious as to what others thought of the film, and how they interpreted it.

The series of films that we watched in class seemed to follow along the theme of 'elsewhere', at least in comparison to myself. Hawaiian, New Zealand, and Navajo culture, for example, are very outside of my realm of reality, therefore I have little basis of their cultural norms. This short film in particular contained a literal interpretation of the meaning elsewhere, by including the foreign land of Mars in its narrative. I feel as if my interpretations of the film may have been skewed, purely because of how far away this 'elsewhere' was to me.