'Iowa Nice' Challenges State's Conservative Stereotype: VIDEO
Iowan filmmaker Scott Siepker wants the nation to know something: his state is more than just the social conservatives who make up Republican caucus goers. It's a vibrant, hardworking and successful place that has its cake and eats it too.
"You heard we're a bunch of knee-jerk conservative reactionaries, well I guess that's why we went Democratic in five out of the last six presidential elections," he says in a two-minute short called "Iowa Nice," which offers a litany of the Hawkeye State's more positive attributes, like how it has the 6th lowest unemployment rate in the nation and Iowa's farmers feed 155 people a day.
"You like to eat? Looks like it," Siepker deadpans.
He also wonders, mere seconds into the video, "Did your state legalize gay marriage before us? Probably not."
Speaking to the Des Moines Register after the video's release, Siepker remarked, "The ideal outcome is to get people to know Iowa as it is, and not what you think it is."
It's so good, it could have been made by the state's tourism board, except there's some minor cursing.
Check out "Iowa Nice," AFTER THE JUMP...
Posted Jan. 2,2012 at 5:35 PM EST by Andrew Belonsky in 2012 Election, Iowa, News | Permalink
"Did your state legalize gay marriage before us? Probably not."
Let's not pretend that the people of Iowa or their legislature had anything to do with this. In fact, they ousted the judges who made it happen. That was the first time sitting judges were voted out in their state's history. This should tell you exactly where they stand on LGBT issues. Don't get me wrong, there are worse places.
Posted by: whatdidyousay | Jan 2, 2012 6:06:26 PM
Very cool and very well done.
Fly over and wave, we'll wave back. We're nice...
Posted by: Bart | Jan 2, 2012 6:07:02 PM
Pretending to be Louis C.K., does not make you Louis C.K.
Posted by: David in Houston | Jan 2, 2012 6:07:28 PM
As a Midwesterner who actually shot a film in Iowa I can safely attest that the population that I came across are old, cantankerous, and suspicious. I could probably think of a lot more descriptions, but the last one I would think of is nice.
Posted by: zeddy | Jan 2, 2012 6:13:36 PM
That's fine, I still don't want to live in Iowa.
Posted by: gfunkdave | Jan 2, 2012 6:13:59 PM
The first computer was invented in 1834 in Cambridge, England.
Englishman Alan Turing the "Father of modern computer science" provided an influential formalisation of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine in 1936.
Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa) by John Vincent Atanasoff is the birthplace of the first electronic digital computer.
So, the film gives partial facts in a general statement to fill a talking point. Hmmmm typical of the T/GOP conservatives.
Posted by: Dale | Jan 2, 2012 6:21:16 PM
For a video entitled "Iowa Nice", this guy is being pretty condescending to his audience.
Posted by: Mike C. | Jan 2, 2012 7:02:02 PM
So am I suppose to not care that homophobia is the only reason some closet case is rising in popularity?
Posted by: Michael | Jan 2, 2012 7:02:38 PM
Loved the video and didn't find it condescending as much as frigging hilarious.
Posted by: Matt | Jan 2, 2012 7:23:16 PM
Not too impressed with this video, but the message is very accurate, IMHO. I'm from the Chicago suburbs. I spent my undergrad years in Iowa City and over the years have explored many parts of the State.
Great people, history, diversity, cultures and traditions. My heart will always be there.
Posted by: irisgirl | Jan 2, 2012 7:37:11 PM
Ironically, I never thought ill of Iowa until I saw this. The guy in this video is very condescending - not something I had associated with Iowans.
Until this video I thought of Iowans as being like Zach Wahls....
Posted by: Jon | Jan 2, 2012 7:40:32 PM
The fact that you think every citizen of a state is the same as the guy you saw that time in that youtube video, only to change your opinion because of that other guy you saw that other time in a youtube video speaks way more about your own issues than it does about others.
Posted by: Bill | Jan 2, 2012 8:19:51 PM
Whatdidyousay, take the stick out of your ass. Have you ever spent time in Iowa? Not just driving through, but spent time in Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City, Ames....any of the cities there? Because I have and I can honestly say after living in several major cities and states around the nation, Iowans are by far the most accepting, honest and loving group of people I've ever encountered, as a whole.
And to everyone else who is criticizing his condescending nature, take a moment, go to www.dictionary.com and look satire, you ignorant boobs.
Posted by: David | Jan 2, 2012 9:44:37 PM
hey, good for him... the only people sicker than us of hearing about the Iowa caucuses have got to be Iowans!
Posted by: Pete n SFO | Jan 2, 2012 9:50:06 PM
Yeah, that's great. I think I'll stick to my snow-free coastal town. He never really gives a reason to go there so I don't think I was actually invited.
Posted by: Craig | Jan 2, 2012 10:04:48 PM
The First computer was invented in Cambridge, England. Not Iowa, time to check the facts.
Posted by: rcb | Jan 2, 2012 10:10:50 PM
I think he's kinda cute!
Posted by: Joseph Singer | Jan 2, 2012 10:11:25 PM
I'm torn between wanting to kiss him and wanting to smack him.
Posted by: Dave | Jan 2, 2012 10:29:46 PM
It's funny that in all my travels, some of the most enlightening conversations I had with strangers at various times have been from Iowa. I have only been to Iowa once, an unexpected plane landing in Ottumwa twenty years ago, and could not have been better taken care of. The caucuses are certainly a circus but hats off to Iowa for the important quality of life advances!
Posted by: Matt Ford | Jan 2, 2012 10:43:27 PM
When I fly over Iowa...I make sure and flush the toilet...just sayin.
Posted by: JT | Jan 2, 2012 10:56:43 PM
It's great. And to all the naysayers here: the judges who forced the legalization of same-sex marriage were Iowans; check to make sure you brought your sense of humor into 2012.
And yes, he's adorable.
Posted by: David R. | Jan 2, 2012 11:04:35 PM
Hipster "cub"? Nope.
Posted by: Marshal | Jan 3, 2012 12:52:48 AM
In the second sentence of the first paragraph, the text should read "its cake", not "it's cake". The contraction "it's" only means "it is" and does not convey possession.
Thanks,
GP
Posted by: Grammar Police | Jan 3, 2012 1:09:46 AM
Whenever I think of Iowa, I remember back to my clubbing days,and hitting them with fellow resort employees. At a favorite stop, our group was situated at our usual spot. One night, someone suggested moving to the other side of the club. Another member responded, "I moved here from Iowa. Isn't that enough!?"
So, yeah, my view of Iowa has always been skewed. These republican debates and the coverage leading up to Tuesday haven't done much to change the viewpoint informed by a former escapee. But, maybe, it's unfair. They can't all be idiots. Like Texans.
Posted by: TJ | Jan 3, 2012 1:55:45 AM
The piece is also horribly disingenuous when it offers up the nation's first female lawyer as some sort of badge of honor in the fight for gender equality. Iowa share the dubious distinction with Mississippi as the only two states who have never voted a woman to Congress or to the governorship. And the state voted to reject the Equal Rights Amendment. It is not, has not, and will not be a leader in women's rights.
Posted by: Bob | Jan 3, 2012 2:20:47 AM