# So I just saw Fargo... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2004, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508 "2004-07-16T23:39:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/41 "2004-07-18T02:22:50Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > One of the best things about _Fargo_ however, was that it was a true story! They ‘dramatized’ it, but they didn’t have to make up the plot. It was in the papers. [No, it’s not](http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/fargo.htm). However, a Japanese woman [did die in North Dakota](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/fargo.htm) while _possibly_ looking for the treasure from the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/42 "2004-07-18T02:27:12Z")
> [@Antonius Block](#): > > However, a Japanese woman [did die in North Dakota](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/freakish/fargo.htm) while _possibly_ looking for the treasure from the movie. Correction to my above post: she actually died in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, after making enquiries in North Dakota. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/43 "2004-07-18T06:44:00Z")
> [@xvxdarkknightxvx](#): > > Never seen **The Fully Monty** , and I haven’t seen **Gone With the Wind** for a while, but I do remember that Prissy had the most annoying voice I’d ever heard. > > You sound a bit offended. Please read the OP again. You mean this part? > [@](#): > > Sorry if I offended anyone who actually talks like that, but c’mon. A. I’m not offended; actually, _you_ sound like you’re offended. B. I don’t talk like that, so even if I _were_ offended (which I am not), your apology wouldn’t apply to me anyway. It sounds like accents just bug you in general. Maybe you could watch movies on DVD with the subtitles and just turn the sound down, then it wouldn’t be so annoying for you to hear people talk. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/44 "2004-07-18T07:46:47Z")
> [@blowero](#): > > You mean this part? > > A. I’m not offended; actually, _you_ sound like you’re offended. > > B. I don’t talk like that, so even if I _were_ offended (which I am not), your apology wouldn’t apply to me anyway. > > It sounds like accents just bug you in general. Maybe you could watch movies on DVD with the subtitles and just turn the sound down, then it wouldn’t be so annoying for you to hear people talk. Great idea. I wish someone had warned me beforehand so that I could have tried that with this movie. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/45 "2004-07-18T18:03:46Z")
**Blowero** , what exactly is wrong with someone finding an accent annoying, in a movie or not? When I saw _Fargo_ a few years ago, the accent annoyed the living hell out of me, and actually pretty much spoiled the movie for me. Now, I’m Dutch, so I have little knowledge of American accents to begin with - I just know what sounds annoying to me, and what doesn’t. It was an OK flick otherwise (certainly not as fantastic as some people seem to make it - or at least not to me), but the accents were a total turn-off. Now, obviously I harbor no ill-will towards the people of Minnesota, all of whom are no doubt wonderful in their own right. I’ve never been there, so I have no real opinion of their state. I just know that if _Fargo_ is any indication, I might find the (rural) Minnesota accent quite annoying. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/46 "2004-07-18T20:07:35Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > **Blowero** , what exactly is wrong with someone finding an accent annoying, in a movie or not? > > When I saw _Fargo_ a few years ago, the accent annoyed the living hell out of me, and actually pretty much spoiled the movie for me. Now, I’m Dutch, so I have little knowledge of American accents to begin with - I just know what sounds annoying to me, and what doesn’t. It was an OK flick otherwise (certainly not as fantastic as some people seem to make it - or at least not to me), but the accents were a total turn-off. Now, obviously I harbor no ill-will towards the people of Minnesota, all of whom are no doubt wonderful in their own right. I’ve never been there, so I have no real opinion of their state. I just know that if _Fargo_ is any indication, I might find the (rural) Minnesota accent quite annoying. But the accents are the _reason why_ it’s a great movie. To be sure, the plot and characters are interesting, but most of the charm of the movie is way the characters talk and interact. Without the accents, the movie would be nothing. It wouldn’t work. So if the accents _annoyed_ you rather than amusing you, then you pretty much missed the whole point. If you can’t bear to hear people speaking with an accent, then obviously such movies aren’t your cup of tea. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/47 "2004-07-18T20:33:30Z")
I never said _all_ accents annoy me - but this one certainly did. I don’t know why: like I said, I’m not versed enough in the wide variety of (American) accents in the English language to analyse things linguistically. I just know what’s pleasing to the (my) ear, and what isn’t. Subsequently, when you say that the accents were instrumental to making the movie “work”, I’ll have to take that at face value. Had the movie been entirely spoken in a more “generic” American accent, it would have been less annoying _to me_. You may well be right in assessing that the accents were vital, but someone who’s not familiar with the accent at hand may just as easily NOT appreciate that fact. Perhaps I wasn’t the target audience, then. ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/48 "2004-07-18T22:21:21Z")
But **Coldfire** , ‘Gone with the Wind’, ‘West Side Story’, ‘Dr. Strangelove’ ‘The Godfather’ and a lot of others, have necessary accents. What if the bad guy didn’t speak with a foreign accent? I can’t imagine an action movie without hearing the scoundrel talking with a heavy Russian, German, English, or Dutch accent. 😃 Accents work, imho. Even though I can’t place the exact location of the accent either. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/49 "2004-07-18T22:30:07Z")
I’m not denying that - accents DO work. I just didn’t like the sound of this one. Kind of like how I’ll flick the channel about 3 seconds after hearing Fran Drescher speak. Although with her it’s both the accent AND the intonation. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bbe5ce/32.png) [@gum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gum)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/50 "2004-07-18T22:37:28Z")
Tell me about it. That laugh. My cats get constipated when they hear her. 🙂 [though I quite like the woman] ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/51 "2004-07-19T00:01:43Z")
I wonder if there’s a correlation between not liking the accent and not realizing that people actually do talk that way. If you thought that the accent was grossly exaggerated in an effort to be funny, then I could see how it could annoy you. My guess would be that the accent is exaggerated in the sense that almost everybody in the film had a strong accent, while in real life, only some people would have an accent that strong, and those people would probably be from the northern/more remote parts of the state. But what do I know? I’m from Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/52 "2004-07-19T00:15:24Z")
> [@Green Bean](#): > > I’m from Jersey. Speaking of annoying accents, there’s a phrase I still can’t hear without thinking of Joe Piscopo. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/53 "2004-07-19T01:00:30Z")
I lived away form here when I first saw the movie and thought the accents and mannerisms were dead on. Now I live here again and think the accents and mannerisms are similar to those found in _How to Talk Minnesotan_; that is, the seed of an idea is there but the execution is exaggerated and, to my ear, annoying. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/54 "2004-07-19T03:09:27Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Speaking of annoying accents, there’s a phrase I still can’t hear without thinking of Joe Piscopo. Excuse me? Are you saying Jersey accents are annoying? I might just have to have my uncle Vito come over there and have a word with you… ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/55 "2004-07-19T04:29:15Z")
> [@Green Bean](#): > > Excuse me? Are you saying Jersey accents are annoying? I might just have to have my uncle Vito come over there and have a word with you… No, I’m saying Joe Piscopo is annoying. Maybe you were one of the lucky ones who never saw him on SNL (actually, judging from the ratings, there were a lot of lucky people back in '80-'84) but he had a reoccuring character who would show up at various “funny” locations (I believe the Hoover Dam was one. The Hoover Dam! Hilarious!), act like someone with too many chromosomes, and periodically shriek “I’m from Jersey!” in this grating, high-pitched squeal. Hideous. Just… hideous. Anyway, it’s clear that my reference was far too obscure, and in hindsight, I think it was probably better that way. Some things are best forgotten. Luckily, Joe Piscopo seems to be one of those things. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/56 "2004-07-19T05:28:25Z")
Hee hee! You midwesterners slay me. I knew what you were talking about. I was attempting to play the part of the confrontational Jersey girl. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/57 "2004-07-19T05:33:24Z")
> [@Green Bean](#): > > Hee hee! You midwesterners slay me. I knew what you were talking about. I was attempting to play the part of the confrontational Jersey girl. 🙂 Midwesterner? _Mid_westerner? Compared to what? Hawaii? I live the other side of the bay from San Francisco. I’m as West as you can get without getting your shoes wet. Any more of these slurs, and I’m taking you to the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/58 "2004-07-19T06:08:10Z")
I thought you lived on the UP! Doesn’t your famous date take place up there somewhere? Well, I drink for false accu, in any case. ---
**Author:** ![xvxdarkknightxvx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/34f0e0/32.png) [@xvxdarkknightxvx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xvxdarkknightxvx)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/59 "2004-07-19T06:21:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Midwesterner? _Mid_westerner? Compared to what? Hawaii? I live the other side of the bay from San Francisco. I’m as West as you can get without getting your shoes wet. > > Any more of these slurs, and I’m taking you to the Pit. You didn’t know that Atlantis is the 51st state? ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2004, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508/60 "2004-07-19T06:34:53Z")
> [@Coldfire](#): > > Subsequently, when you say that the accents were instrumental to making the movie “work”, I’ll have to take that at face value. Had the movie been entirely spoken in a more “generic” American accent, it would have been less annoying _to me_. You may well be right in assessing that the accents were vital, but someone who’s not familiar with the accent at hand may just as easily NOT appreciate that fact. Perhaps I wasn’t the target audience, then. Fair enough. It’s true you have to take my word for it that the accents make the movie, but I assure you that they do. It’s the difference between one pretty good detective story out of hundreds, and a great, one-of-a-kind film. I’m curious what you thought of _The Full Monty_. I’ve certainly never met an English person who actually talks like that, but I was willing to believe that people from that area _do_ speak that way. If they had all spoken the Queen’s English, it wouldn’t have been the same movie. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-i-just-saw-fargo/255508.md?page=4)