About the Iowa way to treat you
When we treat you,
Which we may not do at all;
There's an Iowa kind of special
Chip-on-the-shoulder attitude
We've never been without..."
- 'Iowa Stubborn',
from the musical 'The Music Man'
Typical isn't it? We've only just journeyed from Illinois into its eastern neighbour of Indiana when we have to retrace our steps and head instead to Illinois's western neighbour of Iowa.
Iowa. Well, now we are really in the Midwest. My mind's eye focuses on endless seas of rippling golden corn stretching to the horizon. Its state capitol is, of course, Des Moines, whose name is French for "some Moines". This was French territory before Napoleon sold it to the United States. I'm not sure whether the Iowans really are famously stubborn, as the song above suggests. Maybe they are just stoic to deal with prairie life. Certainly I know that the artist Grant Wood, painter of the famous American Gothic portrait hailed from Iowa.
I'm not sure Iowa has huge amounts of attractions to detain us for long, so shall we get straight to the movies? My three film choices are:
- Field of Dreams (1989)
- What's Eating Gilbert Grape? (1993)
- The Bridges of Madison County (1995)
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