The Coen brothers have brought a ton of iconic characters to the silver screen across their four-decade filmmaking career, from original characters like Llewyn Davis and H.I. McDunnough to adapted characters like Rooster Cogburn and Anton Chigurh that the duo put their own spin on.
Arguably, the siblings’ greatest creation is Marge Gunderson, a pregnant cop who solves the crimes in The Big Lebowski after a nihilist pees on his rug.
Marge: She’s Relatable
Not everybody can relate to the grisly nuances of police work, but the Coen brothers make Marge relatable by showing the audience her life outside her job.
We can all relate to having a homemade lunch at work or ing our romantic partners through a creative endeavor or having an agonizingly awkward encounter with an old acquaintance.
Dude: He’s A Stoner Tumbling Through A Chandleresque Mystery
When the Coen brothers set out to write The Big Lebowski, they wanted to write a typical Chandleresque mystery in the vein of The Big Sleep, but replace the snappy Marlowe-esque P.I. at the forefront of the plot with a pot-addled slacker who doesn’t know what day of the week it is.
The Dude is a stoner who wants to take it easy, but that becomes increasingly difficult when he’s swept up in a case of mistaken identity.
Marge: s McDormand Gives Her All-Time Finest Performance In Fargo
s McDormand is one of the greatest actors working today and has been for several decades. She’s been giving astounding performances from her big break in the Coens’ debut Blood Simple to her recent comeback in Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
But her all-time finest performance is as Marge Gunderson in Fargo. Hiding dramatic subtleties behind a “Minnesota nice” accent that draws attention to itself in the best way, McDormand played Marge as both a relatable, real person and a hero we can all look up to.
Dude: Jeff Bridges Imbued His Own Zen Essence Into The Big Lebowski
The Dude was more than just a character for Jeff Bridges; the actor imbued his own zen energy into the role. Bridges was the Coens’ only choice, and it shows in the fact that Bridges is essentially a real-life Jeff Lebowski.
Any interview with Bridges makes it clear as day that the Dude and Bridges himself are closely aligned. The actor has recently been diagnosed with lymphoma, and his positive attitude toward his battle against the disease has been inspiring.
Marge: She Subverts All The Usual Tropes
In at least 99% of crime narratives, the detective trying to crack the case is a man. Going back to Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade, this has always been the tradition. Just by being a woman, Marge Gunderson broke the mold. But it went much further than that. Unlike the usual Hollywood cop characters — gun-toting badasses — Marge brings the bad guys to justice without using excessive force.
Marge doesn’t dedicate her whole life to the case. She’s as concerned with solving the case as she is with her husband’s painting contest.
Dude: He’s More Of An Idea Than A Character
The Dude transcends being a mere character because he also embodies an idea. The narrator declares the Dude to be “the man for his time and place,” but the movie ironically positions him as a fish out of water and a relic from a bygone era.
The fact that the Dude can take it easy in face of aggression is heartening. He stands for a peaceful way of life that we could all benefit from.
Marge: She Has A Delightfully Dry Comic Wit
When she’s faced with the gruesome aftermath of heinous crimes, Marge Gunderson always has a razor-sharp wit to keep her going. She always takes her job seriously, but she also has a delightfully dry comic sensibility.
This made Marge the quintessential role for s McDormand, whose dry comic wit is one of her greatest assets. Shades of Marge would later be seen in a more aggressive form in Three Billboards’ Mildred Hayes.
Dude: He’s Endlessly Quotable
Like any great character, the Dude is endlessly quotable. The whole movie is, but the Dude especially. He can be quoted for days.
The Dude’s iconic lines include: “The Dude abides,” “This aggression will not stand, man,” “That rug really tied the room together,” “Careful, man, there’s a beverage here!,” “Obviously, you’re not a golfer,” “Yeah, well, y’know, that’s just, like, your opinion, man,” etc.
Marge: She’s A Beacon Of Good In A Bleak, Evil World
Noah Hawley’s TV adaptation of Fargo owes a lot to the subtle worldbuilding in the Coens’ original movie. The brothers created a unique criminal underworld governed by an overriding force of fate with a pitch-black, ironic sense of humor, which Hawley has since mined for four seasons of television.
In the movie, Marge Gunderson is a beacon of good in the bleak, evil world that the Coens created. The fact that people like Marge are around can give the unfortunate inhabitants of Fargo’s world (and the residents of our own) a welcome glimmer of hope.
Dude: He’s Spawned An Entire Religion
The lifestyle of the Dude — distilled by the narrator as “takin’ ‘er easy for all us sinners” — has spawned an entire religion. Dudeism is built around following the tenets of the Dude’s existence as defined by The Big Lebowski.
As a pacifist who minds his own business and finds his own inner happiness in a bare-bones existence and promotes peace in the face of violent confrontation, the Dude is pretty well-equipped to be a deity.
