Abide: The Mythos of Lewbowski

 

 

Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted;

             persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished;

                persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot.  

–       Mark Twain

big-lebowski-poster

And yet every now and then there comes a film that makes people do exactly that. It is a movie that is about something but what that is exactly is up to anyone’s guess.

And that is how a “cult following” begins to take shape. But I would not describe Dudeism to really exist as one. I recently became “ordained” as a minister in The Church of the Latter Day Dude. I have the certificate and the letter to go with it. I can perform weddings, funerals, christenings and all the other fun things. I began to think of how one of my sermons should go.

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What would the “Dude” say?

I went back to the film for inspiration. Maybe in the terms of bowling. In the movie, bowling is the only sign of “ritual” portrayed.

So far all I have is….

 

In the game of life, may your balls roll deep.

 

I know. It needs some work. Maybe should throw in the ideas of “true and straight”. Try to make it sound a little more “official”.

tumbleweed

 

The opening scene where the tumbleweed is seen going through the streets of Los Angeles with a monologue by Sam Elliot (2nd place for narration after Morgan Freeman) gives it a Western feel to it. The Western is the only genre left in which the ideas of archetypes and mythology can be shown without people getting into an “overwrought outrage”. And all that is about is people who are too self-involved with themselves coupled with an inability to change the channel.

There is more to this movie that what appears on the surface. I was looking for some information on the subtext of the story. I found some hints in the book The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers by Cathleen Falsani . Ethan Coen has a degree in philosophy so I get an idea he wants to throw some it into the subtext.

I am going to paraphrase an idea put forth from this. Los Angeles is the modern day Sodom and Gomorrah where the people are materialistic, seek instant gratification and objectify others in that pursuit. What could save the place? In the Bible, Abraham pleads for it salvation  if one just person could be found. The story of nephew, Lot and so forth. It then mentions the Kabbalistic Tradition of the “Lamedvavniks” and at any time there are 36 of them in the world. The world’s fate is balanced. But here is the deal. They may know of their role as one or they may not know at all. That is why you should treat a stranger as having the potential to be an “angel”. You should show respect and compassion. In other words, “just abide”.

And the first scene where we met “The Dude” (Jeff Bridges) is where he is mistaken to be someone else. And throughout the movie he is sought out as a person who can aid in various ways all these different characters. Is he one of the “lamedvavniks”?

I am trying to figure out what the use of bowling in terms of metaphor. The closest thing I can think of it is a sport that cuts across a wider array of society in the way of who can play it.

Another thing, I noticed is that The Dude has become synonymous with bowling. Yet in the movie we never actually see him bowl a single frame.

Another subtext (or plot point) in this film is aggression. There is a lot of “overreacting” to various situations. In this is best demonstrated by Walter (John Goodman). He does this all throughout the movie. His anger is misplaced.

And I am trying to figure how and why Maude (Julianne Moore) seems to be a counterbalance to it. I just do not know how to actually explain this idea I have. I keep trying to decipher The Gutterballs sequence.

I have to say I never thought about a woman in a Viking outfit before. And I will leave it at that. Maybe for Halloween.

Finally, I think it a bit ironic that of all the people “The Nihilists” are unwilling to “shake their belief” that the Dude has the ransom money.

This movie is a mystery of trying to decipher the “forest from the trees”.

And maybe the Coen Brothers are just channeling Raymond Chandler.

Joel Coen: We wanted to do a Chandler kind of story – how it moves episodically, and deals with the characters trying to unravel a mystery. As well as having a hopelessly complex plot that’s ultimately unimportant.

Or maybe they are going for Hitchcock’s “McGuffin”

All I know that this film reveals something almost every time I see. I catch yet another detail. And still I cannot sum this movie up into a coherent explanation.

I still like this image

biglebowskidream

This entry was posted in Brain Fried, General thoughts, Life's Experiments, Movies, Prompted, The Mind Wanders, This I Believe. Bookmark the permalink.

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