When did we annex that? Did I miss a war or something?
I liked The Full Monty, although with the same caveat that I found it nowhere near as good as the hype had led me to believe beforehand, similar to Fargo. Accentwise, TFM didn’t bother me at all. It’s a Yorkshire accent IIRC, which is (to me) quite pleasant to hear. Then again, my exposure to various British accents has been greater than to American ones, so that’s a difference right there.
I’m not sure how people from Sheffield (where it took place) judge TFM in terms of accuracy of the accent, but to this non-native speaker, it sounded pretty well done.
There was a hype to ‘Fargo’?
Nobody tells me anything. 
Well, it just seemed like one of those films all movie critics loved to death. Back in the day, you couldn’t swing a dead cat around without hitting a film critic climaxing on Fargo in some review or another.
Now, usually, this means I’ll like the movie too, or at least I’ll understand why they liked it, even if I don’t. This case? Total confusion. Whoosh. Lost on me. 
hehehehe. I don’t believe it. Maybe you ought to see it again? I know there was - is - a hype about ‘The Big Lebowski’ and I’m usually allergic to hypes, but I liked that one too.
Fargo is my all time favorite, though. I fricking dream of it. * [yeah, I know: You never know what kind of creeps post on this board, huh. And a fellow dutchie too. ] *
A documentary was made about her a couple of years ago that, based on interviews with her family and others, indicates that the Fargo connection was just a misunderstanding that came about during the conversation she had with the local sherrif (tried to have, anyway. He spoke no Japanese and she spoke almost no English). The real story, according to the documentary at least, is that she’d had an affair with a married American who’d dumped her and returned to the States. She went to America to try and get back with him, but when that failed she decided to go out to North Dakota specifically to commit suicide by walking out into the snow and freezing to death.
I haven’t seen the documentary yet, but I’d really like to.
Or rather, she went out to Minnesota to commit suicide.
Being from Northern Europe, Coldie, I’m surprised you found the accent annoying.
Its the remains of our German/Scandinavian grandfather’s speech from the “old country.”
I work with a guy in the office who is Dutch, and his accent when he speaks English sounds a lot like my grandfather, who sounded a lot like some of the character in Fargo - albeit, not nearly so exaggerated.
But I know what you mean, Blue Velvet is another one of those movies. The critics all thought it was incredible. I guess I can get past my repulsion enough to see why, but it isn’t easy.
Actually, I liked Blue Velvet.
You make an interesting point, though. I hate the stereotypical “Dutch” accent heard when a lot of my countrymen speak English. And I like to think I don’t have it. Perhaps what annoys me about the Fargo accent is that it reminds me of badly spoken Dunglish too much?
strokes chin
Hmmmm…
Oh, you betcha, that movie was great there, you know. So you complainers can just go and, uh, have not too good a day then, okay?
When Fargo was first released, I saw plenty of spots on TV where people from Minnesota/North Dakota alternately panned or praised the accuracy of the accents. One person would say something like “oh, you betcha, my cousins talk exactly like that!” And then the next person would say “I’ve lived in this part of the country my whole life and never met ANYONE who talks like that…it’s so insulting!”
Reminds me of my girlfriend from Kansas City, KA, who vehemently denied that she had ever heard anyone pronounce Missouri as “mi-ZER-uh”. Ten minutes later I heard her father say it that way quite distinctly.
Just goes to show that you can’t even trust locals to be infallible judges of their own regional accents.
Huh? The UP? I don’t even know what that is. I had a famous date? When? With who? Why am I always the last person to know these things?
I think you might have me confused with someone else. 
I don’t blame you. One of the scariest stories I ever read was H.P. Lovecraft’s “The Dunglish Horror.” Terrifying stuff.
Aw, what the Christ?! I guess I shouldn’t be too suprised, the Can You Pass Third Grade? geography test makers couldn’t even get Michigan right and Ben Stein actually pronounced Mackinac as “Mack-u-Nack.”
Well, for the OP’s edification, the accent comes from the Finnish, um, endodus (why not? Exogenous/endogenous, exothermic/endothermic, exodus/???) into the area. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan has a lot of Finnish heritage as well. In the UP you’ll find towns with names like Heinola, Wainola, Suomi, Toivola, Topelius, Lonrot, Runeberg, and Snellman*. IIRC, there is also a strong Swedish influence up there as well.
I’d kinda suspected it meant “Upper Peninsula,” but that was just a guess. Cut me a little slack, though: even if I’d never heard the term, at least I know that Michigan has an upper peninsula.
Not many other Americans know that much about Canada, after all. 
Count me among those who though Fargo was nothing special (and who likes most of the other Cohen movies), although it was nice for our state to get a little attention. But I can tell you that only a few people here in the Twin Cities speak with more than a slight “Fargo” accent. Likewise the Iron Range–in Northeastern Minnesota–which has an ethnically diverse background. In Northwestern MN–more uniformly Scandanavian–the accent type thing is fairly thick, der.
:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:
That’s funny, ‘cuz Fargo is pretty much the only Cohen brothers (is it Cohen or Coen?) movie I did like. I’ll tell ya’, I just didn’t get O Brother Where Art Thou at all. Bored the crap out of me. Just goes to show you…uh…something, I dunno…
Well hell. I firmly believe that I haven’t an obvious “Minnesota accent”. I’ve been said to draw out my Os (don’t, won’t, soda, etc.), but I don’t say “you betcha” or anything. I hope I didn’t offend your delicate ears too much, Coldfire. I had no idea I was being “annoying”. 
Fargo was okay, but I’m here to tell you that Marge was no where near Moose Lake. It’s more than just trees and dirt roads. They even have a Subway there, now!
Silver Fire, resident of Moose Lake, MN for more than a decade.
Well, you didn’t sound annoying to me when I met you, SF. Or at least not because of your accent.
I guess that goes to show the accent in Fargo was exaggerated, then.
:smack: Yeah. I had you confused with Muffin. Sorry about that. I was posting in the middle of the night–had insomnia. I posted a bunch of stupid things that night…
FWIW, I named my first kayak Marge.