ELI5; Why was quicksand such a common film trope when it’s not a problem that people commonly run into in real life?
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For the same reason that people always slip on banana peels and you can’t have any noises at all when you’re cooking a soufflé.
As a young child I always thought quicksand would be a bigger problem then it turned out to be.
It is a literary “ticking clock”. It is a plot device that creates suspense and a sense of urgency by setting a time limit. So not only do they have to be rescued but they are in a race against time as well. It is one thing to rescue someone who got trapped in a room, it is another to rescue someone who is trapped in a room that is slowly filling up with water!
The simplest answer is probably this: It’s cheap as hell as a special effect to show someone drowning in QUIIICKSAAAAAAANNND!
All you do is have an actor stand in the mud, then squat a bit. Much easier than a giant rubbery monster.
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