Greetings, and welcome to Earthling Cinema.
I am your host, Garyx Wormuloid.
This week’s artifact is The Big Lebowski, written and
directed by the prophets Joel and Ethan Coen, hallowed be their names.
The film served as the foundational scripture for a
religion called Dudeism, which was essentially just Taoism sprinkled
with weed and Kahlua. It was the philosophy of going with the flow,
"F*ck it."
or “chilling out maxing relaxing all cool and all shooting some bball
outside of the school.” Dudeism, or the Church of LatterDay
Dudes, became Earth’s primary religion in 1998.
The Book of Lebowski recounts the trials and tribulations of slovenly
Christ figure Jeffrey Lebowski
or as his disciples call him, “The Dude"
"That's your name, Dude."
Hair - check. Sandles - check. Robe - check. Sunglasses - check.
The Dude is a tumbling tumbleweed, content to spend his days bowling,
which is about 5% gameplay and 95% sitting around drinking. But when
his sacred floor covering is befouled,
"Not on the rug, man."
he sojourns to a higher power to seek reparations.
”They come, and they pee on your f*cking rug." "They pee on my rug?"
Then he gets mixed up in a whole kidnapping situation before finally getting
back to what’s really important: sports.
"Two oat sodas, Gary."
At the end of the film, there is no epiphany, no social gain, no world
saved, Class 7 or otherwise. The Dude hasn’t fallen in love or
retired to a beachfront property somewhere. He hasn’t even gotten a
new rug. So why did humans base their entire existence on this film?
If we look at the source material the film is parodying, we can begin
to unravel this strange and harrowing mystery.
"Where's the f*cking money, Lebowski?"
The Big Lebowski is, at its heart, a noir film.
"We've got to have a fall guy. Somebody they can pin those three murders on."
"All you needed was a sap to pin it on, you just met me..."
It pays homage to Raymond Chandler’s
crime novel “The Big Sleep,” even going so far as to plagiarize two
words from the title. However, instead of the hard-nosed, rough
around the edges private eye Phillip Marlowe, we get exactly the
opposite -- a laid back stoner with a penchant for home decor. Humans
could relate to such a character, as they had been unintentionally
emulating him since the ‘60s, man. One common element of noir is
characters who are haunted by their past, especially if their past
involves a no smoking sign [clips of noir detectives smoking a lot].
Many characters in this film are stuck in the past: the Dude is
stuck in the flower power movement, Walter is stuck in the Vietnam War
and his marriage, Jackie Treehorn is stuck in the glory days of Hugh
Hefner, Maude is stuck in the Fluxus art movement, and Donny is
stuck in a coffee can.
"Goodnight, sweet prince."
Likewise, most noir stories were set against
the grim background of World War II, but this film is set against
the Gulf War, a low-stakes military endeavor that ultimately
accomplished nothing.
"Nothing, Lebowski, nothing!"
The type of war that still lives in its parents’ basement.
"This is what happens when you f*ck a stranger in the *ss!"
The film taught Earthlings to
embrace their true nature and mellow the f out by deconstructing
everything they previously held sacred. For example, the generic
notion of success. The Dude is considered a failure compared to
someone like Lebowski,
"Get a job, sir!"
but it turns out Lebowski’s “life of achievement" is bogus,
"This guy's a fake."
just like the pagan religions of old.
And speaking of religion, that gets taken down a peg as well.
"Nobody f*cks with the Jesus."
Maybe even two pegs. A character named "Jesus" is portrayed as a pedophile,
"8 year olds, Dude."
which was a big no-no on Earth.
Walter claims to be a devout Jew,
"I don't roll on sabbos"
but really he’s just masquerading as a Jew to be closer to his wife.
"You're not even f*cking jewish, man."
For more information on Judaism,
please refer to the TV show Seinfeld. Then there’s the concept
of death, which to those unfamiliar, is the inexplicable
ceasing of life. When no one is looking, Donny nonchalantly dies of
a heart attack. Meanwhile, Walter’s eulogy turns into a rant about
Vietnam, the largest moon of Jupiter.
"These young men gave their lives, so did Donny."
In the end, the whole story is a farce, just like life on Earth, and later, Mars.
"What's the point?"
The Dude is still the Dude, preparing for his bowling
tournament as if nothing has changed.
"The dude abides."
Because nothing has,
give or take a best friend. If you scratch the surface looking
for meaning, you will find none. The worst thing we can do is relentlessly
overanalyze everything until we’re blue in the tentacles. As the
Dude’s teachings dictate, in a world of unchecked aggression, the
best thing you can do is to simply... imbibe.
"The Dude abides."
I mean abide.
For Earthling Cinema, I’m Garyx Wormuloid. To convert to Dudeism,
click the subscribe button. Or not, whatever. Who cares?