The Big Lebowski

1) Relate what was discussed in class or the text to the screening.

Making an unforgettable entrance into the indie film world in 1984, the text point out that “virtually all of the Coen brothers’ films focus on stupid people doing stupid things” (Lewis 391). This statement sums up exactly how I initially felt about the film. After watching it, I said that it was nothing but stupid people doing stupid things. Maybe it will take a second viewing of the film to really have it sink in and for me laugh harder out loud at the jokes that I only chuckled at in my head. One thing talked about in class with the slideshow presentation was how the Coen brothers always makes these very intricate storyboard for their movies and I feel that is something I do appreciate very much, so that was a fact that made me put aside my initial feelings and continue research. I am a person the pays a lot of attention to detail, so I admire how delicate the process is for them.

Lewis, Jon. American Film: A History. 1st ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008. Print.

2) Find a related article and summarize the content. 

“'The Big Lebowski’: The Decade of the Dude” by Andy Greene is the article that I chose and it is rather long. Greene begins setting the scene in 58-year-old Jeff bridges California home, establishing that the only difference between Bridges and Jeffrey “The Dude" is the black russian where Jeffrey would’ve preferred white. After losing his mind over Bridges letting him put on the infamous sweater “The Dude” wears in the film. Greene then slipped into a moment of gratitude when he acknowledged the many ways the film has touched and influenced others despite the way it failed the year that it was released.

          In 2008 the film had made 40 million in DVD sales, which is over twice as much as it did in the box office.  After finally getting the plot of the play, Greene touched on commentary from the actors in the film. While the film as a whole may not be a favorite of mine, I have to say there is one comment from screenwriter John Milius that I can say I probably connect with. He says, “Dirty Harry became a movement. And the Dude became a movement. It’s symbolic of a whole way of life” (Greene, “The Big Lebowski”). The reason why I connect with this line is because I will admit that the way “the Dude” chooses to live his life is something that people can relate to. In the film Jeffrey always seemed like a “take it as it comes” type of person, but I wonder if that was his personality or was it because he was always mellowed out by alcohol and weed?

          Starting in on the Coen brothers themselves, Greene dived into a lot about the process of writing the script for The Big Lebowski, as well as some of the inspirations for the film. Interestingly, there were a lot of memories and stories their friends told that made it into the film. Some of the ideas in the plot (like finding homework in a car stolen by a kid) were actually true events that were just written into the script. The Coens even admit to going to a friend’s house for a party and the rug the friend owned actually became a prop for the movie. One of the biggest reveals was the fact that Mel Gibson was considered for the role of “the Dude”. In closing, Greene goes into talk that was brought up about a sequel to the movie and about personal insight some of the actors had about the film, working with the Coen brothers, and even about their characters in relation to their own lives. 

***Link to article used***

Greene, Andy. "'The Big Lebowski': The Decade of the Dude." Rolling Stone. 04 Sept. 2008.

Web. 05 Apr. 2016. <http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/the-big-lebowski-the-decade-of-the-dude-20080904?page=2>.

3) Apply the article to the film screened in class.  

The article, other than being very long, did not really make me feel different about the film itself. I feel there were a few things that I would at least agree with. The article spent a lot of time honoring the movie for what it is and what it has done, as well as honing in on a lot of the behind the scenes things that help me to get to know the people behind the characters and behind the camera more. I honestly will say that I am now eager to do more research about the Coen brothers and to watch more of their films that I have not seen. Now, I feel like if there is anything related to The Big Lebowski, I will probably take my time out to be involved with it because I spent so much time beginning to learn about it, so I guess that is always a good thing. I’m trying to keep an open mind despite my first impression.

4) Write a critical analysis of the film.

Although I did not like the film that much right after watching it, the article that I find really opened my eyes and reminded me of that fact that not everyone is going to like the same thing, but somewhere out there are die hard fan for The Big Lebowski. Maybe I will soon transform from expressing the epitome of was Gene Siskel thought of the film and learn to love it and find the beauty in every part of it… I’m not certain. One aspect of the film that I really did enjoy is John Goodman’s character, Walter Sobchak. I honestly feel like Walter is one of the funniest characters in the film, but maybe that is because I am bias to him as actor already. I love his work. The heart of the matter, though, is that I don’t have to absolutely love it to appreciate it and in this moment, I am beginning to.

1) ( x ) I have not handed in this assignment for any other class.

2) ( x  ) If I reused any information from other papers I have written for other classes, I clearly explain that in the paper.

3) ( x  ) If I used any passages word for word, I put quotations around those words, or used indentation and citation within the text.

4) ( x  ) I have not padded the bibliography. I have used all sources cited in the bibliography in the text of the paper.

5) ( x  ) I have cited in the bibliography only the pages I personally read.

6) ( x ) I have used direct quotations only in cases where it could not be stated in another way. I cited the source within the paper and in the bibliography.

7) ( x  ) I did not so over-use direct quotations that the paper lacks interpretation or originality.

8) ( x  ) I checked yes on steps 1-7 and therefore have been fully transparent about the research and ideas used in my paper.