Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson in Fargo
I watched Fargo by The Coen Brothers last night and was simply fascinated by 1) their accents and 2) Marge Gunderson, played by Frances McDormand.
First off, I’m a big Frances McDormand fan. She’s always had this “I’m doing my own thing and don’t care what people think about me” feel to her. She has never looked like your typical female Hollywood star (I remember seeing her at the Oscars in 2006 for her Best Supporting Actress nomination in a regular suit and GLASSES!) and hardly ever “does herself up” in hair and makeup. In her movies, she never looks like she’s wearing makeup and often at times, I wonder if she’s even bothered to comb her hair. She’s quite possibly the most natural-looking woman I’ve ever seen in show business. I wish I had the guts to wake up, throw some clothes on, and walk out the door, but I care too much about how I look.
It’s also in the movies Frances does – I’ve noticed that she only does films where she gets to play a strong female character. The very first film I’ve seen of hers is Laurel Canyon (one of my all-time favorites), where she plays the dominant, free-spirited record producer having an affair with a musical client half her age. In Something’s Gotta Give, Frances has a small role as a professor of women’s studies at Columbia University and says some interesting stuff about the double standards inflicted upon women.
In Fargo, Frances plays the seven-month pregnant Marge Gunderson who ends up saving the day. I thought that role was incredibly interesting – her pregnancy reinforces the fact that she’s female, but the fact that she would go out and work “in the field” so far along is surprising, especially in her often dangerous line of work.
Marge Gunderson is also not sexualized in the movie at all. Frances has a “mom” hairstyle, barely any makeup on, wears a pregnant belly (fatsuit), and is covered head-to-toe in police gear. Despite her pleasant attitude and accent (which almost veers on comical), she is very smart and figures out the crime due to hard work and her instincts.
There are some interesting comments on the IMDb boards about Marge’s representation in Fargo -
From J_win7: Not only in her police work is she sharp, but she’s sharp and respectful with people as a whole…
She emotionally and verbally supports her husband, who obviously has the “lesser” of the two jobs, through her pregnancy.
She’s courteous with Mike when he oversteps, both on the phone and in person.
She’s straightforward and clear with Proud foot, letting him know that she knows he’s involved and also his parole history. She’s done her homework, has him right where she wants him, but still doesn’t push him. It’s like she makes him aware so he can make the right decision.
Marge isn’t out to prove anything… like she tells Jerry, she’s just doing her job. Even when she has the upper hand, she doesn’t embarrass the other party, but instead is quite civil and respectfully honest with them. She’s easily one of the most likable characters in film history for that “catch more flies with honey than vinegar” way of carrying herself.
Yes, she’s a pregnant woman from a small town, but her job is a police officer and she does her job well.
From Redisca: …Marge’s character is a parody of the traditional detective. After all, traditionally, this is one of the most hypermasculine archetypes in literature and cinema. So to have those shoes filled by a pregnant woman in her thirties simply takes it out of the cliche territory.
Check out the very first scene where we see Marge. This is about 30 minutes into the film after the story is set up. We see Marge’s interactions with her husband, her police partner, and how sharp she really is. In this clip, she comes in around the 3rd minute so feel free to skip until then.
