Okay last one for real this time...

So I guess we're supposed to write 5 blogs. Woops. Hah. Anyway, on with my REAL last blog...

I'd like to make this blog about my experience in this class and what it has done for me. David was joking today about how we wouldn't really need any of the knowledge we've attained from this glass (in terms of the film itself) but I think the film and our thorough examination of it has been extremely helpful and will continue to prove helpful. I've always thought that one is perceived as intelligent according to, not only how much knowledge you possess on academic topics but also how informed you are as far as pop culture goes. I think The Big Lebowski is a movie that most certainly defined a generation of men and women. The movie continues to inspire and spur a good atmosphere among friends with its comedic qualities as well as the fact that its a buddy film where friends can gather around, watch the film and quote away. Because of this class, the film has become a favorite and I make it a point to show all of my friends who have not had the pleasure of seeing it or taking this class. I think the movie is hilarious and I think everyone should see it. It's not what I expected and this course is certainly not what I expected it to be. I'm very happy with my performance in the class and have enjoyed writing papers on The Dude as a Rug, Failed masculinity in the film and Sarsaparilla. All of these topics are things I could have never explored if I had not seen the film or taken this class and I think I am more intellectual because of it all.

That rant ^ was extremely incoherent and probably hard to read but I really do stand by everything I've written on this blog and in this particular entry. I've had a great time being a part of this class and look forward to bragging to my friends about how I had an english class in college entitled: The Dude Abides.

Final Blog

Yeesh, who knew it would be time for the final blog? I'm not going to lie, when I first saw the theme for this semester's class I was a little worried. I had seen the Big Lebowski once before, when I was significantly younger, and did not understand ANY of it. But, after watching it again, I found it to be extremely comical and I knew that this class would be an enjoyable one. Analyzing movies is so interesting to me because everyone has different opinions and sees things from a different perspective. I always find it astonishing that someone could pick up on a detail as little as the Dude's jelly shoes, when I completely looked passed it and didn't even think twice about them. I wish there were more classes like this one at UM that I was required to take. Not only because of our awesome professor :) but because it helps all of us open our minds and view things a little differently than we normally do. Classes such as this one gets our creative juices flowing, and allows us to thirst for a better understanding of everyday life.

Dorm Thanksgiving

Last year I ended up spending Thanksgiving in the dorms and I think that it might have been one of the single most sad events I’ve ever tried. You see everyone carry their bags out of the dorms to go to the airport. Campus is EMPTY, there is literally no one left – not even the dining hall is open. Knowing that everyone is going to see their family on one of the most cozy holidays doesn’t make it any better when your own family is too far to visit for such a short period of time.
A girl from my high school was in Miami to look at UM and went on a campus tour. Not only was it a rainy day but it was also during thanksgiving when there were NO life on campus. She hated it. I tried to tell her that it really wasn’t ever like that (I personally feel like I am on a spa resort when I walk around campus on a sunny day) but yeah… and of course she didn’t come here – they should not have campus tours during thanksgiving break.. that’s just bad business for UM. Just to not end this post as a depressed one, I DID end up going to a very nice thanksgiving dinner at my friends house and got to feel some family quality time so it ended up being all good. :) Anyways, happy thanksgiving everyone!!!!!

http://lebowskifest.com/entity/tabid/80/c-8-stickers.aspx?pagenum=2

If you were to put any of these stickers on your car, I wonder how many people would actually understand the meaning/know that it’s from The Big Lebowski… (That is, if the little “lebowskifest.com” wasn’t in the corner). Personally I’m not sure I’d get it at first – but I guess that’s also partly because having a quote from this movie is the last thing I’d think people would put on their car.
Out of all animals, I still wonder why they included a marmot in the movie. The more I think about it the funnier I think it is. Therefore, if I HAD to put one of these stickers on my car, I think I would probably put the “Nice Marmot.” one. Haha! Just because that would be the most random think to have written on your car and no one would understand it. Which one would you put??

Class at starbucks.......

I am honestly out of ideas of what to write, so our dear teacher gave the idea to write about the benefits of having class at Starbucks, or in general, having class outside.
So now I’m sitting here thinking about possible benefits. To be quite honest… From a student point of view, I can only think of one reason that students would request having class outside. That reason would be that it wouldn’t feel like having real class. To me, having class outside kind of just reminds me of elementary school. In elementary school, a lot of my classes ended up taking place outside, especially science and art classes. According to Wikipedia, a person’s attention span is twenty minutes, and after that a person can choose to refocus on the same task if they wish to do so. And I can imagine elementary school children’s attention span might just be a bit shorter than that so I assume this might be a good reason as to why teachers decide to take breaks and/or have class outside. If I were ever to become a teacher, I think I’d definitely give students a five minute break after 30 min of teaching, and force them to go outside to get some fresh air and then continue the teaching after that.

The Coen Brothers

Somehow the end of the semester is already here, and it is time for the final blog. I have no idea where the time went. For this blog I would like to discuss how this class made me realize how great the Coen brothers truly are. For the last couple of weeks I have been trying to watch all of the Coen brother’s movies. So far I have seen Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, No Country for Old Men, Burn After Reading, and of course The Big Lebowski. Together the Coen brothers have made a total of 18 titles, so I still have plenty of films to watch. I do not know if any of you have done this before, but when watching many movies from the same director in quick succession, many distinct signatures of the director can easily be seen. What separates the Coen brothers apart is their attention to detail. They care just as much about the atmosphere of the film as its story. This is true for all of the films I have seen so far and I expect it to hold true in the rest of the films. This attention to detail gives the films more of an artsy feel. It makes the film more like a piece of art then just another story.

The Cruelty of Human Nature

In the first paper I wrote for the class, I discussed the relationship that is present between trust and deception in the film, and how the characters’ desire for money was the fuel for this relationship. In the revision process, I plan to take this discussion of trust and deception further by incorporating how it is in human nature to deceive. By acknowledging that it is part of human nature to take advantage of one another’s trust – in the pursuit of one’s own self interest – a new perspective can be seen in the Coen Brother’s film, The Big Lebowski. When the role that human nature is playing in the characters’ actions throughout the film is kept in mind, the movie appears to be an even bigger representation of the cruel society we live in today. We live in a world where people are quick to take advantage of the mishaps of those around them and sometimes it feels almost as though the harder we try to succeed, the more everything seems to fall apart. Most of the characters in the film displayed moments of deceit, where the sole purpose of their actions was to take advantage of another character; Mr. Lebowski and the Dude, the nihilists and Mr. Lebowski, Walter and Mr. Lebowski. In all these cases the former attempted to deceive the latter. What is ironic though, is that the Dude on his own, never really tried to deceive anybody; it was never his idea to steal the entire million. All the Dude ever wanted was his fucking rug back.

The Intricate Lebowski

In the end there is always something to be uncovered, something left to be analyzed. Just like this The Big Lebowski, what many would say was a stupid stoner movie had a lot of interesting changes that there is a lot of meaning behind certain things. Take the rug, and bowling, all of these are symbols of other things just as anal sex, and drugs. Once researched more this film becomes actually quite intriguing. This film acts like a puzzle where one piece leaves off there is always something else to fit right into place. If I can say one thing I definitely learned to appreciate the Coen Brother's style and masterpiece. It left a lot to discover and a lot to think about after the movie.

Hey, I'm exhausted... How about you?

So here I am, once again, near the end of the semester after another difficult assignment-wave-crunch (I'm still not done but I presume that the worst is over now after my archaeology paper). My condition is "just satisfied" as I am typing this in over my archaeology professor's lecture. I guess you can call what I'm feeling right now as sort of an existential moment then, eh... Maybe this is sort of how the Dude feels on a regular basis. Actually, this is how I feel quite often as well. It's more than just tired, it's like worn out and really, really, reflective, but too tired to make anything but sly remarks to an asshole police chief. I just feel glad deep inside because I survived once again off of stress that I keep trying to shave off - the same way the Dude totally "duded" his situation. Well whatever, I guess I just need some sleep, but I do feel quite healthy too - at least, that's what I say now. I honestly feel like such a Dude right now; I don't care. Give me a Caucasian, a pair of sunglasses, a rug, and let me at that nap... ZZZZZ... Bloggjammin', I'm OUT! ;-)

Thanksgiving Blog

hi! I am running out the door to catch my plane and as I was glancing at my to-do list I noticed "BLOG." Then I realized I have absolutely no idea what to talk about, except for the fact that in my way too small carry on I was somehow able to fit my English notebook (dead serious), to work on my paper this weekend! I also thought about The Dude going to an airport and how it would just seem so out of the ordinary for him to do such a normal thing. With the lovely new search procedures that airport security has put in place for Thanksgiving weekend, I can only imagine what The Dude would do. This being said... I think it is time to go. Happy Thanksgiving!

The Big Lebowski and Peripheral Production

When we search about The Big Lebowski, the Dude, we can always find all kinds of exaggerated comics and dolls. Every time I see these online, I'm impressed by their vividness. Books about The Big Lebowski rarely use the Dude's photo as the cover. Instead, they always use the corresponding comics. You may often see a cartoon version Dude holding a cup of white Russian. Besides the Dude, other main characters like Walter and Donny also have their own dolls and comics. The peripheral products usually features the most obvious characteristics. The protagonists in The Big Lebowski are great for doing peripheral comics and other products cause they have apparent features. Their personalities are simple, easy to be reflected by several gestures and habits. Look at the picture on the upper right corner. The iconic sunglasses, beard and white Russian in hands, even the bathrub. These elements compose a basic image of the Dude. Readers can tell at the first glance that this is the Dude. The image in the front is dolls of the Dude and Walter. The bowling ball, Walter's body shape, and their hairstyle, all these clearly identify they two as the Dude and Walter. So, doing peripheral of these characters are interesting cause it can refine the personality of protagonists in relaxed ways. Thus, the characters can be very impressive to the viewers.

The Perfect Match

As I was trying to figure out what to write about in this blog post I just googled the Big Lebowski and began clicking on the random websites that came up. I landed on a trailer of the movie which happened to catch my attention. This trailer is unlike any one that I have ever seen. There are no actual quotes from the movie in it. The song Just Dropped In by Kenny Rogers is the only audio throughout the entire one minute and ten second preview. There are eight cubes on the outside of the trailer and one in the middle. On every surrounding cube a different scene is playing. In the middle one it gives the main information of the movie (produced by Gramercy Pictures, it's out this winter, directed by the Coen Brothers, etc...). Then it gives the actors names and a few scenes they are in. There is nothing that suggests the plot, or anything about what the movie is about. And in the end we see Jesus and his partner, shining their bowling balls, (for comedic effect). It's probably the most perfect trailer I could ever imagine for this movie. The "not trying to explain the plot" aspect makes sense because the Big Lebowski is pretty much a movie that doesn't even have one. And even if they tried to explain it, it would never make any sense and it would probably shoo away anyone from going to see it. All of the random scenes shown in one shot is symbolic the chaotic-ness of the film. And the last part where Jesus is shining his ball just shows how randomly funny the movie is going to be. Also, I think the mystery aspect of the trailer would intrigue people to go out and see it. And, the fact that the Coen Brothers directed it definitely drew audiences. They knew they would get something unique. Nevertheless the movie and its trailer are a perfect match.

Box Office Flops = Cult Film Classics

I was thinking the other day about how a film can fail at the box office, yet go on to become what is known as a "cult film." The Big Lebowski is categorized as one of these movies, but why? What about the Big Lebowski made it initially unappealing, but later a movie so loved that they have a festival to celebrate it? I believe that this movie was initially unsuccessful because it was not made for all. This movie is so obviously made for the male gender, but it goes deeper than that. Younger boys and girls would miss the subtlety of its humor and find it stupid, along with many older audience members. The syntax, characters, seemingly insignificant plot sequences, and amount of joints smoked make this movie directed mainly towards one crowd: the young adults. Also, this movie is definitely one that increases in its appeal the more times you watch it. The Coen Brother's genius allows you to enjoy something new about the movie every time you see it. Seeing it once, one may wonder "What was the point?" But, if watched again, things that seemed insignificant the first time, might jump out at you the second. This is obviously seen in how many times people analyze this film, and according to so many different aspects as well. This film is too witty for the box office, people often miss the message. Also, I feel that this film works better as a cult film. The entire movie focuses on characters that are not a part of mainstream society, so why should the movie based on them be? It is a movie for the stoners and the outcasts to enjoy with their buddies. All I know is that I am glad the movie was eventually appreciated and made popular.

Let's Talk Dress Up

In light of our most recent holiday, Halloween :), I began thinking about the concept of dressing up in costume. Why do we look so forward to a day where we get to pretend to be something we are not? This led me to Lebowskifest. Not only do these people congregate to share their love for The Big Lebowski film, but they dress up as one of the characters. I find it interesting that people look forward to dressing as a character that, for the most part, is not someone people would typically aspire to be. Walter, for example, is a common costume choice. But, why? Walter is an angry, lonely war veteran that does not do well with social interaction. He is way too opinionated and often gets in heated dilemmas with people around him. He always seems to act without thinking and it leads him and his friends to a lot of problems. And then there's the Dude. He is an unemployed, sloppy hippie in a robe who drinks a whole bunch of White Russians. But I guess that's the whole point. It is fun to dress up as something that you wouldn't be able to be in real life but you wish you could. To us in this busy, go-getter society, it must be nice to think about sitting in a robe all day drinking and thinking about bowling. And so maybe, these people love dressing in costume so much because they feel closer to these characters. They have one day where it IS okay to behave in the way of their character and no one will be disapproving. Or, they see qualities in the characters that they notice in themselves as well and like to express those on this one day of fun. I guess dressing up is a way to escape into the realm of fantasy and also escape the stresses of adulthood and revert back to a more child-like mentality of pretending.

"A bad experience with the White Russian"

"The White Russian" an alcoholic drink I could never drink again in my life its made up of 2 ounces Vodka 1 ounce Coffee Liqueur 3 ounces Light Cream, and it taste bad. There are other recipes to making this drink but they way this one tasted i don't care to have it again. this drink not only taste bad but it makes you fell intoxicated really fast with just a couple of sips. I had this drink at a local bar around my neighborhood and before I ordered I asked the bartender about this drink and how does it taste. He replied "I make the best Russian you will ever drink", so I took his word and tried it. My first sip was awful and the vodka was really strong, but the first impression sometimes is not always right so I decided to take another sip and that was even worst than the first, but i continued to drink it because i had paid for it. It took me a while to finish because i sipped really slow because i didn't like the taste. When the time came for me to leave i could barely walk straight and every time I closed my eyes I would get really dizzy. I drink every now and then and i never felt like this after drinking it was scary and I made a promise to myself that I would never drink another white Russian even if the bartender claim that their the best at mixing it.

sports & dating

Did you ever find the dating skill of male protagonists in traditional romantic movies? They teach their girls to perform sports. Usually the sports is not too strenuous so that they can be close to each other and whispering the points of the sports. The picture on the left is from Princess Diaries 2, you can judge what kind of movie it is by the title. The princess and her boyfriend are performing archery. Both of them hold a relatively serious facial expression, which means they really focus on the sports. But actually subtle changes occur just at this serious moment. They fall in love very soon. Guys always like to teach girls sports cause they can show how brisk and strong they are. So actually the male protagonists in movies do those free sports tutoring jobs intentionally, they plan to attract girls in this way. The same goes to some other older works where guys teaches girls to ride on horses. All plots like this try to generate a romantic background and thus move the viewers. Similar plot appears in Big Lebowski, as the picture on the right shows, the Dude is helping Maude bowling. But this is in the illusion of the Dude. Their behaviors are in fact different from ordinary protagonists in those traditional romantic movies. Usually in this situation, guys should be calm and perform the sports elegantly. And girls should enjoy watching his performance and enjoy his help. But the Dude appears to be anxious here, whereas Maude shows over-independence. This gender inversion is emphasized throughout the movie to show the Dude's unique personality.

A Eulogy for Donny

Donny never had it fair. I did not get to know him well, but this injustice could clearly be seen by anyone who bothered to look. Unfortunately the luck he never had ran out, and Donny randomly died at the end of the movie. Because his death was so unexpected, it only seemed right that Donny got some reflection for the final blog. Donny was not a huge part of the movie, but I would like to take this time to paint a picture of some of my fondest memories of Donny. Donny, “Phone’s ringing, Dude.”, the Dude replies, “Thank you Donny”. Donny would always help a friend in need. Donny was also never afraid to ask a question. The Dude, “Fuck sympathy! I don’t need your fuckin’ sympathy, man, I need my fucking Johnson!”, and Donny answers, “What do you need that for, Dude?” Donny was always kind to his friends, but they, aka Walter, were not so nice in return. Donny, “He peed on the Dude’s rug.”, and Walter yelled in reply, ”Donny you’re out of your element!”. This is not how friends should treat each other and Walter’s treatment towards Donny only gets worse. I’m sure most of you remember this repeated line, “Shut the fuck up, Donny.” So what did Donny do to deserve this less then fair treatment? Unfortunately, I did not know him well enough to know. However, I know Donny was a good man, and on the other side is having a much better quality of life.

The History of the Dude

What kind of student was the Dude? He must have gone to high school or at least elementary school. It is quite possible that he remained in the 6-8th grade range until he was 16, and therefore, able to drop out of school. Was the Dude a high school drop out? What about his last say 20 years, how did he get to where he is now?

Would the Dude be as relatable to slackers in his younger years? What made the Dude the unenthused, unmotivated male? Was he the boy who put himself out there, who took a risk and failed miserably? Or was he always just the Dude.

Thats another thing, when did he start being called the Dude? and who gave him that name?

All of these questions would be interesting to investigate there is only one problem. . . the Dude has no past, the Coen brother's never created it.

I guess I'll just keep on wondering...

The Deranged and Disturbed Walter

Throughout the film, Walter makes numerous references to his time spent in Vietnam during the war, and it appears that Walter can’t really seem to let go of his past. It’s as though the war never left Walter, it’s still there, lingering in the shadows of his mind and making its presence known in Walter’s out of place and obscene remarks: “I did not watch my buddies die face down in the mud so this fucking strumpet…” or “This is not ‘Nam, this is bowling. There are rules... Smokey, my friend, you’re entering a world of pain…” are just a few of the scenes in the movie that display this. One could go to the extent and argue that Walter is a bit deranged from the war, pulling a gun out in a bowling alley and threatening someone’s life over one broken rule. While it would have been okay to pull a gun on someone in Vietnam, back in the world of everyday society, it is not, and Walter doesn’t seem able to recognize this difference. While it may be that Walter in just an ignorant idiot, I think there’s a part of him that can’t let go of his past experiences in Vietnam, and he likes it better that way. He lets that be an excuse for his present behavior and perhaps, for Walter, Life’s just more entertaining that way.

What condition are you in?

I figured posting videos were just a cooler thing to do, even though it's just one picture with the song being played. Though I guess that's still counts as a video, and Youtube is full of those type of song videos. It's easier and faster to find a song and play it on Youtube anyways (and free) instead of downloading a software. Anyways, why did I post this and what does this have to do with the Dude? Well, to put it simply, this song (this version sung by Kenny Rogers) was just really stuck in my head, much like the theme song of my previous post on "True Grit." It's a really clever concept though that has everything to do with the drug culture that the Big L represents. I mean, not only that, but it's logic represents the overall disorder of the film period. "I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in" Heck, Judith Roof (or whoever) could write another dozen pages or so on that line alone. I could too if I wanted to I guess, but this is just a blog. Anyways, enjoy the song and peace out to Blogjammin'.

Huh?

Ok, so the Coen brothers are true geniuses. Their range can go for miles in their films. From "Fargo" to "No Country for Old Men," their darker story lines have a unique Coen feel. So does their more feel good cult status ones, such as ours, "The Big Lebowski." I was just surprised that their work with Jeff Bridges specifically also has range. Jeff Bridges is indeed a talented actor when I think about it. He recently finally won himself an Oscar quite recently for a movie that I don't know much of but wasn't he the villain in "Iron Man"? He's also the protagonist anti-hero in this conventional Western remake that seems pretty worth seeing. Some of these roles may be forgettable I guess, but not the Dude. How does this relate to his royal Dudeness you might ask? That's the point, I'm not sure! I was just really shocked to see the Dude being a bad ass gun-slinging cowboy in a Coen work nonetheless. The theme song is also pretty cool. This just means, I guess, how much of a true cult classic the Big L really is. I can imagine "True Grit" making a smash in the box office and then that'll be that in the years to come, but the Dude, for better of for worse, has a destiny to stay in our hearts ever so subtly for a long time.

the kid in the tshirt

Before Thursday's class as I was sitting on my bench outside of our lovely room in Dooley, a guy walked by me with a Big Lebowski T-shirt on. It read "Little Lebowski's Urban Achiever." At first I was shocked because until this English class I had never even heard of the movie, but then when I began to do research I realized how much paraphernalia you can purchase related to The Big Lebowski. You can buy t-shirts, sweatshirts, bowling uniforms, sunglasses, action figures and bobblehead dolls just to name a few. They have really accurate Halloween Costumes too... maybe I should've posted this yesterday.. It was crazy to me how many different products they make and continue to sell to customers even though the movie is from the 1990's. It started to remind me of the Napoleon Dynamite phase where everyone and their brother had a "Vote for Pedro" t-shirt or something of the sort. The only difference is that 12 years later people are still purchasing/ wearing The Big Lebowski garb.. There are so many websites dedicated solely to The Big Lebowski as well. You can download wallpaper, screensavers and icons all relating to TBL. Now you can all imagine what the inside of my computer looks like. It may sound sad, however this made my respect for the movie increase by just a smidgen. It started to validate in my mind that this movie is actually well-known and there is a huge following behind it.

One for the Road: Would the Dude support the Legalization of pot?

I would be remiss if I didn't interject politics into my last blog. Today is officially mid-term election day around the country and California has a proposition on the ballot to legalize marijuana. The fictional Dude lives in LA, this vote would have an immediate effect on his life. So the question I should be asking is would the Dude take a break from staring at his ceiling and go vote in support of the proposition to legalize pot? I probably wasted time asking such a slam dunk question because the dude seems to enjoy his weed. But that's not the only reason why the dude would involve himself in these efforts. The Dude might seem to allow convention to pass him by but he does not seem to ignore a call to action. He claimed to have taken up some type of role in or in consortium with ROTC during Vietnam. And throughout the film, no matter how effective or ineffective he was, the dude pursued the active role in the movie, accepting tasks and solving problems when he could have chosen not to further involve himself.

But what sucks for The Dude is that just like in the case of the "kidnapped" bunny, involving himself would make no difference. There aren't enough young people who smoke the stuff who will come out to vote to counter all the old people who will vote against it because they understands how lazy the shit makes you. So all The Dude's out there who simply abides, will have to continue abiding to everything except the law. So keep puffing, keep on illicitly puffing.

I unexpectedly ran upon this picture while surfing the website I visit the most. The article did not mention anything about, or relevant to the film The Big Lebowski. But I was surprised to see such a blatant image of The Dude posted as the cover for a web article - because that would imply that whoever put his picture there expected the character to be easily recognized for its connection to supermarkets. My surprise probably came from the fact that 'Source for popular reference' isn't a category that I had put The Big Lebowski into. But for the sake of the reference I guess it doesn't hurt that The Dude, whether a reader may know him or not, is clearly standing in a dairy aisle of what could very well be a supermarket. But nonetheless, it's The Dude, from a cult classic movie that, from what I understand, had no popular fanfare. It would almost seem unfair to people who aren't aware of Jeff Bridges' role as The Dude in that they won't be able to enjoy the picture's significance. But I'm willing to bet that the people who didn't catch the significance behind the picture, which is probably the majority of people who came across the article, ignored it and continued to read the article with no trouble.

The fourth and final post

That sounds daunting, doesn't it? It makes me think that the semester is almost over, but do not fear because we have two more papers due! Not that bad though. I've been writing about Sarsaparilla and it's relevance to Sam Elliot as the Stranger in the movie. In the Special Features of the 10th Anniversary Edition of the movie, the Coen brothers even say that they have no idea what Sam Elliot is doing in the movie. They claim that they like how low the register of his voice goes. I think that this definitely contributes to the sense of masculinity that they wanted to convey in the Stranger's character. I think it's hysterical that the directors of the film can't even say why Sam Elliot is in the movie. They also mention that the fact that Sam Elliot has a huge mustache helps in the movie because they can kind of alter his lines since you can't really see his mouth very defined.