Maybe you’ve seen the meme. Classic film characters up to their necks in muck, with text reading, “As a kid, I thought quicksand was going to be a much bigger problem in my life.” Quicksand was an uncannily common plot point in the 70s and 80s, but murky wetland depictions in film haven’t gone away. 

A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looks at how wetlands are portrayed in film, suggesting they play specific roles in story development and reflect society’s collective perceptions of these unique ecosystems and the cultures they conceal. 

“A lot of people today are disconnected from nature, and the way they experience nature is through film or on screen in some way. We were interested in how the portrayal of wetlands in film might influence attitudes about these ecosystems,” said study co-author and wetland ecologist Jeff Matthews, an associate professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at U. of I. 

Learning how Hollywood shapes our perceptions of wetlands

Characterizing wetland portrayal in modern film meant scouring movie databases for 30 wetland-related keywords including swamps, bogs, marshes, floodplains, and more in films released between 1980 and 2019. That search led to 163 movies with at least one wetland scene. The four-person research team then divvied up the films, fired up their popcorn poppers, and sat down to watch. 

“We recorded pretty detailed notes on everything going on in the scene: music, visual cues, location, and so on,” said lead author Jack Zinnen, wetland plant ecologist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at U. of I. “Sometimes we would watch a two-hour film for a one-minute wetland scene, but we got every detail of that minute.”

After tagging and tallying everything from all 163 films, they analyzed their data to arrive at several main themes.

Wetlands as perilous pathways and psychological barriers

Wetlands were portrayed fully negatively in a little more than half of the films, representing some type of challenge or woe for the characters. That could be in the physical sense, such as an obstacle they had to trudge through or get around, or as a setting that conveyed the troubled emotional state of characters, such as in the so-called “Swamps of Sadness” in The NeverEnding Story.

“Many of the negative portrayals were straightforward. There’s a crime scene with a murder victim, and they’ve got to put it somewhere,” Matthews said. “But some negative portrayals were more complex. In a lot of films, the wetland is not only a dangerous place, it’s a weird place filled with strange inhabitants and elements of the paranormal.”

Mud, mystery, and marginalization: The complex role of wetlands in film

Several films featured ‘othered’ cultures in wetlands, often reinforcing stereotypes and cultural attitudes towards the marginalized peoples who retreated to wetland landscapes in many parts of the country and the world.

“Wetlands are difficult to traverse, so it's a place where people who were disenfranchised or marginalized sought refuge. They're challenging places to live in,” Matthews said. “At the same time, however, wetlands are biodiverse and resource-rich environments, so people could make a living in these places while staying away from persecution.”

Zinnen highlights Beasts of the Southern Wild as a departure from the prevailing depictions of ‘othered’ communities in wetlands. “I went into it blind and loved it. It hits on a lot of really interesting themes about poverty, community, and climate change, with the wetland itself almost being a personification of these marginalized people.”

From danger to discovery: Wetlands as transformative spaces

While a majority of films showed wetlands and their inhabitants in a categorically negative light, other portrayals were more dynamic. Characters initially faced danger or despair, but, in the process of traversing the swamp, they learned key lessons or met important characters that helped change their journey for the better; at the same time, potentially changing audiences’ perception of the setting.

“This was particularly well illustrated in some of the animated films like Shrek and The Princess and the Frog,” Matthews said. “In both of these films, the portrayal of the wetland is initially dangerous or gross, but becomes overwhelmingly positive. In the case of Shrek, the swamp becomes home, and it's a place of joy. And in the case of The Princess and the Frog, the characters adapt to the setting, and they find friendship, fulfillment, and ultimately love in the wetland. The audience is introduced to wetlands as positive places by the end of these films.”

Cinematic wetlands: A reflection of reality?

Surprisingly, even when wetlands were portrayed negatively or fleetingly, film producers took the time to include realistic depictions of the biodiversity and beauty inherent in these ecosystems.

“Even if wetlands are portrayed as nasty places, there's a lot of emphasis on nature and wildlife,” Zinnen said. “The filmmakers will take time to show the pretty egret flying in the mist.”

The authors encourage viewers to pay close attention to the ways in which filmmakers use natural settings to advance storylines and to interrogate their own attitudes toward wetlands, especially if their only experiences of them are on screen.

Changing tides: Wetlands as ecosystems in popular film

“Historically, Westerners viewed wetlands as physical encumbrances to colonization and movement across the landscape. They were waste grounds not suitable for agriculture, breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and hiding places for people living outside of the law,” Matthews said. “It was this disdain for wetlands that, in large part, led to their massive destruction. We’ve learned a lot in the last few decades about the value of wetlands and the ecosystem services they provide, but there’s still an inherent fear underlying our attitudes about them. I think that's what we see coming through in a lot of these films.”

Although Zinnen agrees with Matthews that people should visit wetlands in real life, he stops short of suggesting filmmakers should change how they depict the boggy ecosystems. 

“I think people should do what they want creatively, and if you want to make the wetland the bad guy, I actually say go for it. To me, it's kind of cool that wetlands have this street cred,” he said. “I just think people consuming or producing media need to be aware that things are caricatures. They're not a reflection of reality.” 

The study, “Wetland portrayal in modern films,” is published in Wetlands [DOI: 10.xyz10.1007/s13157-024-01840-5]. Authors include Jack Zinnen, Brian Charles, Chris Wilhelm, and Jeff Matthews.