# The Dude Abides **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2013, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285 "2013-03-07T13:29:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/21 "2013-03-07T17:55:40Z")
> [@shiftless](#): > > Perhaps some Lebowski fans could explain what makes this movie so much better than other Cohen products. I can watch \*Raising Arizona \*, _O Brother, Where Art Thou?_ or even _Intolerable Cruelty_ on a continuous loop and never get tired of them. I should like _The Big Lebowski_ yet I just can’t get the love. Maybe it’s Jeff Bridges. What am I missing? Watch _The Big Sleep_ before watching _TBL_. The first is a classic noir from noir’s golden age, while the latter is an absurdist neo-noir dark comedy. To all the posters that turn up in every TBL thread to take a shit, to come in merely to post that “it’s boring, it’s unfunny, etc.” - that’s just like, your opinion, man. I think that it’s funny the amount of people that don’t “get it”. ---
**Author:** ![AnthonyElite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@AnthonyElite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnthonyElite)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/22 "2013-03-07T18:03:12Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > Watch _The Big Sleep_ before watching _TBL_. The first is a classic noir from noir’s golden age, while the latter is an absurdist neo-noir dark comedy. > > To all the posters that turn up in every TBL thread to take a shit, to come in merely to post that “it’s boring, it’s unfunny, etc.” - that’s just like, your opinion, man. I think that it’s funny the amount of people that don’t “get it”. I think that’s the disconnect there…at least for me. Every fan tells me that I just don’t “get it”. I’m sorry, I **do** get **it** , **it** just doesn’t seem worth getting for as long as they took to get… **it**. I will concede, however, that the scene inwhich the main character’s best friend enforces a minor bowling rule with a pistol was side-splitting funny. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/23 "2013-03-07T18:25:01Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > To all the posters that turn up in every TBL thread to take a shit, to come in merely to post that “it’s boring, it’s unfunny, etc.” - that’s just like, your opinion, man. I think that it’s funny the amount of people that don’t “get it”. You just have to let it roll off. I personally find TBL very amusing but have never seen the attraction of _Raising Arizona_. A lot of people like it so I won’t say it’s a bad movie but, for me, it holds zero interest after multiple viewings. ---
**Author:** ![JCorre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3da27b/32.png) [@JCorre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JCorre)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/24 "2013-03-07T18:59:25Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Hell, I can get you a toe by 3 o’clock this afternoon. …with nail polish. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/25 "2013-03-07T19:33:15Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > You just have to let it roll off. I personally find TBL very amusing but have never seen the attraction of _Raising Arizona_. A lot of people like it so I won’t say it’s a bad movie but, for me, it holds zero interest after multiple viewings. I watched it when it first came out, and sort of remember not liking it then. I tried watching again a couple of weeks ago and not only was it boring, it was annoying. I had to turn it off. “Unpainted Huffhines” still cracks me up, though. TBL, to me, is a lot like Zoolander. Terrible, terrible unfunny movie that I can’t help but watch again whenever it’s on, to see all of my favorite scenes, of which there are many. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/26 "2013-03-07T19:36:15Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Perhaps I would learn to enjoy this movie if I also learned to enjoy pot. But the likelyhood of the latter is no better than the former, so… \ Not, it’s not that. I really enjoy the film, own a copy and all, and never partake of recreation pharmaceuticals. “O Brother, Where Art Thou ?” is a tad better, however, but both are great. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/27 "2013-03-07T19:38:15Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > “O Brother, Where Art Thou ?” is a tad better, however, but both are great. O Brother has some of the best music of any movie ever made, with the possible exception of the Kill Bill movies. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/28 "2013-03-07T20:14:41Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > Watch _The Big Sleep_ before watching _TBL_. I will try that. _The Big Sleep_ is worth watching any time and I’m willing to give The Dude one more try. I never made the connection but I can see it now that you mention it. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/29 "2013-03-07T20:17:46Z")
The thing about _The Big Lebowski_ is that there is really nothing to get, at least in terms of a plot; the movie is a series of more or less a string of random events centered around “The Dude” in a case of stupidly mistaken identity by a bunch of petty criminals. (“Does it look like I’m married? The toilet seat’s up, man!”) As noted by others, it is a loose satire of _The Big Sleep_, and more generally film noir (a theme that the Coens return to repeatedly in their ouerve) with a Busby Berkeley spin on it to give a sense of the bizarre, stoned-out perspective of The Dude in constrast to the typically convoluted plotting of Chandler. (The complementary satire is the intentionally overplotted _Kiss Kiss Bang Bang_ with its rigid adherence to the conventions of noir.) It probably helps to have known people who closely resemble Walter, or be attentive to the small foreshadowing (note how Donnie always throws strikes until his last roll). The film isn’t supposed to have a moral or a point, or indeed, even a definite conclusion; it’s one long shaggy dog story about idiots, told with more craft than the typical comedy. See the siimilarly polarizing _Burn After Reading_ for another example. Also, for those who appreciate cinematography, it is a fine example of Roger Deakins best work. Plus, where else would you hear the line,“Nihilists! Fuck me. Say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least its an ethos.” Stranger ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/30 "2013-03-07T20:25:18Z")
Except for Thunderbolt and Lightfoot I really wasn’t much of a Jeff Bridges fan. So the first time I ever saw Lebowski was this past year. Then I watched it again the next day. So many quotes I’ve heard over the years finally made sense; I can get you a toe, Shut the fuck up, Donny, This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass! Killer flick. I didn’t really get the Sam Elliot bits, but no matter. The Dude abides. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/31 "2013-03-07T20:26:46Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > O Brother has some of the best music of any movie ever made, with the possible exception of the Kill Bill movies. Right, which is why I give it the nod over TBL. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/32 "2013-03-07T20:28:35Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Hell, I can get you a toe by 3 o’clock this afternoon. Doc, coming from _you_, that’s a bit scary. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/33 "2013-03-07T22:00:22Z")
I watched it again just two weeks ago. Uncut, of course. (They cut Smokey from the basic cable version, among other monstrosities.) Not a (little-d) doper. Don’t see how _The Big Sleep_ would help. I think one of the key aspects of the background of the movie is that it includes cultural elements from the 60s (The Dude’s student protest heyday and Walter’s Vietnam stuff) plus stuff from the 90s (both when it was set and when it was made). If you’re not getting those references, don’t get the contrast between the two eras, or don’t see why they are important to the characters, it’s not going to be the same. I enjoy both _TBL_ and _RA_ at the same level. Gotta love both, not just one of them. Some movies just have a slew of quotable lines. I don’t think even the Dope has figured out how this happens. And _TBL_ is loaded: “I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it’s an ethos.” ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/34 "2013-03-07T22:33:06Z")
> [@AnthonyElite](#): > > First time I watched this movie I was real smoked up and had heard it was supposed to be great. > > When it finished I thought “WOW…I must be really messed up because that movie seemed like it was in slow motion.” > > Then when I was sober I realized what it was; boredom. Yuuuuuuuuuck. Over the LINE! ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/35 "2013-03-07T22:56:13Z")
Funny thing. The first time I watched this movie, I was mostly just like, “Do you have to use so many cuss words?” Didn’t get it at all. Then one day I was snowed in and had this hankering to go bowling. Or at least to watch a movie about bowling, and I knew of a movie about bowling. So I managed to find it, watched, and thought it was the greatest thing ever. I’ve been with the Dude ever since. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/36 "2013-03-07T23:18:07Z")
> [@LawMonkey](#): > > Funny thing. The first time I watched this movie, I was mostly just like, “Do you have to use so many cuss words?” … What the fuck are you taking about? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/37 "2013-03-08T00:15:10Z")
I a big fan of The Big Sleep, and recognized the plot when watching TBL. TBL has some wonderful characters, but I’d hardly say it was an all time great movie. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/38 "2013-03-08T01:30:57Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > What the fuck are you taking about? All right–have it your way, Dude. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/39 "2013-03-08T02:34:40Z")
I saw it twice in the theater. Once opening weekend by myself, and again the following weekend which I tried to drag all my friends to, telling them, “it’s the funniest movie I’ve ever seen.” It hits on all the film noir tropes, but substitutes the world’s biggest loser/burnout and a cast of Coen bros characters. Love it. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285/40 "2013-03-08T02:40:36Z")
Reviewing for my Con law final I had this thought: “Huh. The Supreme Court really _has_ roundly rejected prior restraint. I guess Walter was right about one thing.” … Calmer’n you are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-dude-abides/652285.md?page=3)