The Big Lebowski

This film is one of my all time favorites; I can’t decide if it’s because of all the quotable one-liners, from, “You’re out of your element Donny!” to “Where’s the money Lebowski!” to “Get a job sir!” (The bums lost) I think that the article in Film Monthly was pretty accurate about this film being about the struggle between generations, because you could easily see the contempt shown to “The Dude” by Lebowski Sr. and Jackie Treehorn. This was kind of ironic because neither of Lebowski Sr. or Jackie Treehorn were doing anything even close to ethical, yet they looked down upon “The Dude” as if he was scum. Just because he was a non-conformist, pacifist, hippy, they thought he was below them, even though morally and ethically he was way beyond them. He did not have a thirst for power or money; he only wanted to peacefully co-exist with his fellow bowlers.

The euphemism of bowling with life was also apparent throughout the movie, because they kept coming back to it as the one constant in “The Dude’s” life. It was the one thing that was stabilizing his and Walter’s life, and tying them together. That was another ironic part of the story, that either one of them would be hanging out together. In 98% of cases, they would be enemies simply based on their beliefs and personalities, but bowling brought them together to peacefully co-exist (as long as no one stepped over the line) That is one of my favorite parts of the movie, when Smokie steps over the line, and Walter insists that it’s a fault. This is while he’s talking to “The Dude” about how he should get a new rug from Lebowski Sr. because he owes him, and also because “it ties the room together.”