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Just how far does Fargo Go?

Lack of caution, truthfulness, innocence, acceptance; all of these words are synonyms for gullibility. So is being taken for a sucker. Sometimes humans just really want to believe what they hear. In “I heard it through the Grapevine” (highly more popular than his final song ‘I heard it through the Carbine”) Marvin Gaye sings “People say believe half of what you see, Son, and none of what you hear.”

We would be well to take that advice. The information the public is being fed today on television is simply a version of what your government and the powers that be want you to hear; likewise with print media, including this column. I write what I want you to hear, however, like one of my favorite Jack Nicholson quotes, “I always give you some version of the truth.”

I watched the movie ‘Fargo’ last night and I have to admit total gullibility. The movie opens with this claimer: “This is a true story. The events depicted in this film take place in Minneapolis in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.”

“Great opening. And not a word of truth to it……the Coen Brothers had to have thought no one but the incredibly gullible (there is that word again) would fall for it.”

This was now my third viewing, and I have to admit, the movie gets better every time. My first viewing was at the local theater and I walked out of there commenting that the accents and mannerisms of the characters went way too far and depicted Minnesotans as a bunch of hicks, fools and uninformed imbeciles.

Shortly after the movie came out, I had an opportunity to discuss “Fargo’ with some of my friends from California who are in the movie industry. One of them, Miguel, does the sound for many of Mel Gibson’s movies and the other, Doug, a transplanted Iowan, created the set design for the redwood forest scene in ‘Star Wars’. They were enamored with the movie, and along with their California friends in the movie industry, soon made it a cult classic.

I just didn’t get it. I spent most of our conversation in defense of the great state of Minnesota and its nice people. I continually used the defense that the movie was simply based on an isolated incident and generally Minnesotans did not go around hiring hit men, kidnapping their wives, and sending culprits and victims alike through wood chippers as a method of body disposal. Besides, I pointed out; Fargo didn’t even belong to the state of Minnesota. The city was located in North Dakota across the border from Moorhead.

I also pointed out all of the discrepancies in the movie. It mentioned The Blue Ox Motel where the kidnappers stayed was located out on I-35 just outside of Brainerd. A couple of the Brainerd area lakes that were mentioned were none other than Moose Lake and White Bear Lake. I only caught the last discrepancy during my third viewing. The two kidnappers, turned killer, took a trip from Brainerd to the Twin Cities. They approached Minneapolis from the south by way of Bloomington, not exactly a direct route.

After finishing the movie last night, I went downstairs and began discussing the historical facts with a young friend of mine. I told him how I remembered about the disposing of the bodies in the wood chipper. I also remembered all about the high profile kidnapping and how a friend of car dealer Bill Deal was the victim of a million dollar ransom. That all came to an abrupt halt when my wife came downstairs armed with instant information from the Internet. Although the Internet is another source of information that needs to be carefully scrutinized and taken with a grain of salt, it did offer history and a review of the Coen Brothers and their movie ‘Fargo’. As I stated earlier, as far as the story goes, it was one “the Coen Brothers had to have thought no one but the incredibly gullible would fall for. Not word of truth to it.”

How many others think they remember the victims getting run through the wood chipper?

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All former employees and fiends invited. For info call Lou at 218-372-3504

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30 YEAR REUNION Aug 13 - 15

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Your reunion committee is reminding you of the reunion Friday, August 20, 3:30 p.m. Gamper’s in Moose Lake. Ordering from the menu, so don’t send money, Please RSVP to:
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Moose Lake, MN 55767 or
fabweske@yahoo.com

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