Reacting to FARGO: is it really a true story? - First Time Watching

As crawlie said above, "true story" is almost never really the case. Sure, many of those movies might be based on some historical events but usually half or more of the movie was made up by the screenwriter. There is no rule or law about using phrases like "based on a true story" or "inspired by actual events" to sell your movie. Yes, your movie may have been inspired by something, but it doesn't mean that your story is actually telling the story that inspired it. And, man, you should see the butthurt that comes out when people find out that movies like "The Patriot" or "Braveheart" were embellished for the screen, sometimes significantly. My favorite more recent one that scandalizes people when they find out that the things seen on the screen were not one-for-one with reality is "Hidden Figures". Another good example is the real life serial killer Ed Gein. Movies that got their inspiration from his horrible existence, some (not all) claiming to be "based on a true story" (or an equivalent phrase) : "Psycho", "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "The Silence of the Lambs", "House of 1000 Corpses", "The Devil's Rejects" and more. There are even a couple of actual movies based directly on Ed Gein that are mostly fictious (note, though, that the 2000 "Ed Gein" is supposedly a fairly accurate version.)

Thomas Yanez

There aren't any "true stories" really in Hollywood, it's always marketing zip. True stories tend to be a lot messier and don't wrap up neatly with a message in less than 121 mins. I agree with you that it degrades the meaning.

crawlie

Maybe I should take your advice, but again: if we stop caring about the meaning of words, what sense does it make? These fake disclaimers give false information and use the meaning of "true story" to diminish all the others that truly are

I myself tend to view all non-documentary films as if they're fictional -- even if they're based on true stories. Once you dramatize something, it all becomes fiction to an extent, IMO.

Byrd N. Hand

I don't like the idea of fake disclaimers. What is the point of it? 😞

Calm down, chica, it's just a movie. 🤨 The briefcase full of money should've been the giveaway. How could anyone possibly have known about it if the only person who knew it was buried there in the first place was killed? 🤷‍♂️ As a lifelong Minnesotan myself, I could've told you it was purely fictional from the start. It's just another example of the Coen Brothers' (who are also originally from Minnesota) wicked sense of humor. I hope you'll check out the TV series at some point. As I previously stated, the first season has a connection to this movie, and each subsequent season has a connection to a previous season, though they all tell self-contained stories... and they have the same false disclaimer at the beginning of them as well, so, you know, don't believe those. 😏

Byrd N. Hand