Blog Post #2 (1/17)

Hello everyone,

In the 90s crime drama/comedy Fargo, you see the story of a man named Jerry orchestrate his wife’s kidnapping. The reason why he does this is for money, but his reason for why he needs the money is unknown.

The action/rising tension of the story comes about with Jerry asking the two criminals to do the job, the criminals breaking into the house, and then escalating again to the triple homicide. This is one of two high points in the film where the tension is very high, and the story shifts dramatically.

There is another point in the story where things shift, that is when the funny-looking guy gets shot and then shoots and kills Gene’s father. The movie seems to shift to a much more nihilistic tone, as we find out shortly after that Gene has been killed by the other criminal and that Jerry is very likely to be caught and go to jail.

The rest of the film falls into the “Pity and fear” category of the tragic structure, becoming more anxiety-inducing and tragic as everything falls apart at an even greater pace than before. It’s hard to watch everything unfold while imagining Jerry’s son going through life with his mom and grandpa dead, and his father in jail for in-directly causing the deaths of them both.

If it wasn’t already obvious before, Jerry is a deeply selfish man who is never shown to really care about his wife or son. He only did it for money, and when everything falls apart his only concern is fleeing. He is never once shown genuinely caring about his son, or even asking if Gene is okay after the funny looking guy tells him that “…blood has been spilled.” The end of the film where he is shown crying and resisting the police as they arrest him put the nail in the coffin that he is a slimy, pathetic worm who only cares about himself.

– Gibson

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