OR IS MARGE GUNDERSON THE COEN BROS’ GREATEST CHARACTER?
The Coen brothers’ films are filled with phenomenal characters. From the absurd H.I. McDunnough in Raising Arizona to the neurotic Larry in A Serious Man via Burn After Reading’s delightful himbo Chad, there’s a common theme: blokes with terrible plans. And nowhere is this better represented than in 1996’s Fargo, a tragicomic modern western where a poorly conceived scheme spirals out of control. Only one woman can clear up the mess. And that woman is the Coenverse’s greatest character: Marge Gunderson.
We don’t meet Marge (Frances McDormand) until 30 minutes in, after Jerry (William H. Macy) hires two goons (Steve Buscemi, Peter
Stormare) to kidnap his ill-fated wife Jean (Kristin Rudrüd) in order to extract ransom from his wealthy father-inlaw (Harve Presnell). Three innocent bystanders are already dead; in a film full of male posturing and metaphorical emasculation, each confrontation goes as badly as it can possibly go until Marge arrives on the scene.
The Coens followed Fargo with The Big Lebowski, which minted another icon. Sure, The Dude is wonderful, but he’s also ultra-zen; things kinda happen to him, then kinda work out. Marge, on the other hand, is revolutionary. Can you think of another film where the hero is a woman who is phenomenal at her job while in a supportive relationship? Who also remains wholly feminine, avoiding the clichéd trope of a ‘strong’ woman having to be both physically and sexually aggressive? And she’s heavily pregnant throughout!
The best part of Marge’s pregnancy is that it isn’t a vulnerability, but a strength. So many people in Fargo place no value on human life; she saves the day while growing a whole new person inside her. Even when confronted with a scene of unspeakable wood-chipper horror, she keeps her cool. And as Stormare’s Gaear runs flailing into the snow, Marge calmly shoots him in the leg and carts him off to jail, lamenting in the car how all the carnage was just “for a little bit of money”. A quartercentury on, Marge remains not just the Coenverse’s best character, but also its moral compass… or is it just me?
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