The Age of Fake Nice: How America Perfected the Art of Empty Politeness

It was 1996 when most Americans first met Marge Gunderson, the plucky, relentlessly polite police chief at the center of the Coen brothers’ Fargo. With her exaggerated Midwestern accent and cheery small talk—delivered even as she investigated grisly murders—Marge embodied what the world came to know as “Minnesota Nice.” The film, a black comedy about deception, desperation, and small-town criminality, introduced a broader audience to something that Midwesterners already understood: sometimes, niceness is just a veneer.

In 2025, fake nice isn’t just a Midwestern quirk. It’s everywhere.