The Mike Yanagita problem
So a random Twitter exchange reminded me of “Fargo” (the movie, not the show) which reminded me of some years back when I had an argument with Some Internet Dude, in which he insisted that “Fargo” sucks and is badly written.
Why, you may ask, did I choose to engage with someone so obviously ill-informed? I guess I was feeling salty that day. I mean, I get it if “Fargo” isn’t your favorite film, or the Coens’ style isn’t your jam, or it just didn’t land with you, but to assert that it’s badly written is just objectively wrong.
His argument? “There was that whole random thing with that Asian guy that went nowhere!”
Are you referring to Mike Yanagita, one of the best and most important side characters in cinema history?
One of the things that makes “Fargo” a great movie is the Coens’ ability to ground their characters in a palpable sense of reality that’s communicated not just through dialogue and action, but through setting and detail. The way Marge’s husband brings her Arby’s for lunch, that endless Midwestern lunch buffet they go to, how Carl uses freaking toilet paper to blot the gunshot wound in his face. That famous ice-scraper scene, and Jerry’s father-in-law watching the Gophers on TV. It’s the tininess of everyday life, and it’s present in a way that you don’t notice when it’s there, but miss when it’s absent. Mike Yanagita is a huge part of this background grounding of the story.
So let’s talk, for a moment, about Mike Yanagita.
Quick recap for those of you who have not seen “Fargo” or don’t recall. The main character, Sheriff Marge Gunderson, receives a phone call at home from an old high-school classmate, Mike Yanagita, who saw her on TV talking about the crime that’s the main plot of the film and wanted to get in touch. Later, Marge visits the Twin Cities to pursue a lead and while she is there, has lunch with Mike Yanagita. The scene is a masterwork, in which Marge deftly deflects Mike’s obvious more-than-casual interest while being sympathetic to his tale of his wife, Linda, dying of leukemia. Later, Marge is on the phone with another classmate, who informs her that nothing Mike said was true - that he’s had psychological problems, lives with his parents, and that the supposedly-dead Linda is alive and well, although Mike had been borderline-stalking her for a time. Marge is stunned by this.
Now. This entire side plot has absolutely nothing to do with the main plot of the film. It lifts right out, and the main story loses nothing.
Or, looked at another way, the main story loses everything.
Of the many guiding principles of fiction-writing, one that I’ve found the most useful is that every word and scene needs to do one of two things: advance the plot, or enhance the characters. So what do these Mike Yanagita scenes do? One could argue that they serve to enhance Marge’s character, and they do - they illustrate her goodness of heart and empathy - but I’d argue that they do advance the plot. In many ways, the Mike Yanagita side plot echoes the themes of the main plot. Consider.
1. One of the thematic elements of “Fargo” is the sudden eruption of terrible violence in a sleepy, idyllic setting - the illusion of safety and stability, fractured by trauma. The movie’s white-out frozen snow-covered Minnesota setting gives it the feeling of an environment that’s static, and the violence that suddenly intrudes is both narratively and visually shocking (the deep contrast between the red of blood and the snowy landscape is a huge visual element in the film). Mike Yanagita reappears in Marge’s life with the same suddenness, like cracking the shell on top of a creme brulee. The main plot is what drew him back, but he surfaces with a single phone call. It’s no accident that Marge is asleep when his phone call first comes.
2. Another huge theme of the film is the potential for evil lurking inside the most ordinary, banal people. The film’s other main character, Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy in one of the best performances EVER), is an archetypical Ordinary Sad Loser Dude and has no fewer than THREE shady money-making schemes going (only one of which is the main plot of the film - the other two are alluded to but never neon-signed to the audience). The biggest one is arranging the kidnapping of his own wife so that his wealthy father-in-law will pay the ransom. In the pursuit of this scheme, and in protecting himself from being found out, he ends up covering up the murder of his father-in-law and fleeing (abandoning a young son in the process) to save his own ass. Mike Yanagita is on the surface a regular guy, with a good job as an engineer and a sad story about the death of a spouse. A guy just trying to make a connection. But that’s not the reality of it. This guy has – issues. No, he’s not putting anyone in a wood chipper - yet - but he clearly has problems with boundaries and has what’s implied to be stalking behavior in his past. None of this is evident (except the relatively minor boundary issues and a slight social awkwardness) when he and Marge meet for lunch.
3. Yet another thematic element of “Fargo” is that of things spiralling out of control, even for those who set them in motion. At the end of the film, the main plot is tied up. The criminals are arrested (or wood-chipped), the fugitives are located, and Norm, Marge’s husband, gets a painting accepted to be on a stamp. All is well. Or is it? The only plot thread left hanging is the Mike Yanagita side plot. Marge has learned of his deception, but that’s the last time it’s mentioned. There is an implication that Mike may have developed interest in Marge. Will she be his next stalking target? Will there be more phone calls? Is this going to become a problem for Marge, going forward? We don’t know. Such an innocent beginning - a phone call from a long-lost classmate - and it could spiral out of control into a situation that will make Marge and her family feel unsafe. And this is what’s left unresolved at the end of the film.
So no, Internet Dude, the Mike Yanagita side plot is not irrelevant, it isn’t unrelated to the rest of the film, and it IS important.
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