# Big Lebowski question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2006, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140 "2006-02-26T03:03:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/21 "2006-02-27T04:02:27Z")
> [@outlierrn](#): > > those Coen brothers don’t they know this isn’t vietnam, there are rules, am I wrong? am I wrong! No, you’re not **wrong** , outliern, you’re just an … Never mind. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Avumede](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/avumede/32/7235_2.png) [@Avumede](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avumede)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/22 "2006-02-27T05:08:35Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > But how did Walter know it was an emergency prior to answering the phone? I always assumed the Dude was _supposed_ to be shouting into an answering machine, except that the sound people screwed up and put a ringing phone effect into the film instead. > > Am I wrong here or am I missing something? What you are missing is that it’s a joke. It’s funny because it doesn’t quite make any sense. ---
**Author:** ![Stentor\_2.5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@Stentor\_2.5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stentor_2.5)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/23 "2006-02-27T13:58:29Z")
MY guess is that after about ten rings or so most peope assume it’s important. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/24 "2006-02-27T14:13:58Z")
There is a real dude, Jeff Dowd. A friend of mine did an interview with him [here.](http://www.bullzeye.com/entertainment/interviews/the_dude.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Tentacle\_Monster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba9def/32.png) [@Tentacle\_Monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tentacle_Monster)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/25 "2006-02-27T14:28:59Z")
If I recall correctly, the telephone answering machine was invented by an Orthodox Jew in order to not miss any calls on Shabbos. And Walter runs his own business. I assume he’s got an answering machine. ---
**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/26 "2006-02-27T14:31:11Z")
Ahe cowboy character, or at least a very similar guy, shows up again in one of Ethan Coen’s short stories. His short story collection, [Gates of Eden](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385334389/104-5060020-2399953?v=glance&n=283155) is well worth a read. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/27 "2006-02-27T14:37:48Z")
> [@uglybeech](#): > > Well, “dude” is after all a cowboy term. In a way I think the movie is saying that hippie individualism, at least as exemplified by the Dude, is an inheritor of the American cowboy tradition. Absolutely. The Narrator is a great character in this movie. First of all, he sort of just balances, grounds, and slows down what is actually a complicated – but ultimately sensical – plot. The opening speech of his is classic. (“now, ‘dude’ isn’t a name one self-applies where I come from”) Then, he appears again in the middle (“is that like an eastern thing?” “Not exactly”), and again right at the end. (“The dude abides”. “Well, I don’t know about you, but that makes me feel a whole lot better, just knowing there’s a guy out there like the Dude.”) But also, I completely agree with **uglybeech** that the Coen brothers were trying to make the statement that the modern day version of our cowboy is a guy like the dude. Since we no longer can physically remove ourselves from society, you have to do it like the Dude. That is the essential nature of this character. It is what Lebowski wants him for. It’s what Maude wants him for. It’s defines his relationship to other characters, only really connecting with anyone after the coffee-can funeral. I think the money part has been cleared up by others. Essentially, Bunny took a random road trip. The Nihilists knew it (they knew her. One of them was floating in the pool), so they dreamed up the kidnap plot. When they made the demand to Lebowski, Lebowski stole the money from the foundation and gave the Dude a ringer, not caring if Bunny ever returned, while keeping the million for himself. Dude stumbles ass-backwards into actually solving it. Larry Sellers is a red herring. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/28 "2006-02-27T19:47:34Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Larry Sellers is a red herring. Like Communism! ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/29 "2006-02-27T20:30:47Z")
There never was any money! You threw out a ringer for a ringer!!! I understand that, dude, but how does that make this an emergency? ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/30 "2006-02-27T20:34:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It may not mean anything. Or it might mean that Walter decided nobody who knew him (knowing his religious beliefs) would call him unless it was an emergency. Walter’s allowed to break the Sabbath-related commandments if it’s a real emergency, and I think that’s what he and the Dude are discussing at the time. He listened to the dude ranting on his answering machine. The dude was saying pick up the phone, pick up the phone, it wasnt until he threatened to quit the bowling team that walter actually picked up the phone. It was supposed to be funny. Over explaining things like this… kinda takes some of the humour out of it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140/31 "2006-02-27T20:54:48Z")
> [@bubastis](#): > > He listened to the dude ranting on his answering machine. The dude was saying pick up the phone, pick up the phone, it wasnt until he threatened to quit the bowling team that walter actually picked up the phone. > > It was supposed to be funny. Over explaining things like this… kinda takes some of the humour out of it. See, I knew it’d been too long since I saw the movie. That’s the joke right there. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/big-lebowski-question/346140.md?page=1)