These The Big Lebowski tropes are just like... uh... your opinion, man.
- Alternate Aesop Interpretation: Many have argued that the movie is a commentary on the masculine identity. The Big Lebowski and Walter project "classical" images of masculinity (the former as a Self-Made Man, the latter as a war hero) yet are revealed to be frauds dependent on the women in their lives for any kind of actual success or validation. The Dude meanwhile forgoes conventional masculinity by being a lazy, long-haired, and ambitionless hippy (his Trademark Favorite Drink of a White Russian was also generally seen as a "women's drink" before he popularized it) but ultimately proves to be the most masculine of the three emotionally by choosing to live by his own values and convictions even in the face of others criticizing him for them. The recurring motif of castration (a literal form of emasculation) and the Stranger (a cowboy; a symbol of American masculinity) having great respect for the Dude both support this.
- Alternative Character Interpretation:
- Depending on how you see Donny, he's either a figment of Walter's imagination, since The Dude only talks to him twice, a figment of both the Dude and Walter's imagination, since nobody else ever talks to him, or —to put it simply— a real person who gets ignored, since figments of imagination don't leave cremated remains.
- Let's not forget Walter himself. He's either a gun-nut who's never been to the 'Nam, or his behavior is because his friends died there. Or perhaps, it was because of his divorce. Or that his divorce exacerbated his already problematic trauma.
- A film about autistics: The Dude being more high-functioning while Walter a bit Asperger's (Black-and-White Morality, etc.)
- Walter was right about the other Lebowski not being handicapped. He was just really dedicated to the role when Walter threw him off his chair.
- Whether or not is Dude a good example to follow. Depending on who you ask, he's either a lazy, pathetic underachiever, or a calm, reliable person who found true happiness in simple everyday pleasures (latter interpretation laid the foundation for "dudeism"
philosophy). - A common interpretation is that everyone is acting as goofy as they are because they all know they are in a movie, and they believe they are the star of it... except they don't believe they're all in the same movie: Walter believes he is in Rambo, Donny believes he's in a nerd comedy, the Narrator in a Western, etc. etc... Ironically, the only one who does not believe he's the star of the movie is the Dude, because he's quite content with his lot, despite his rug getting peed on.
- Aluminum Christmas Trees: Branded (1965) was a very real show in the 1960s, but nowhere near as long-lived as Walter makes it out to be.
- Award Snub: Sure, it's far from the typical awards fare, but given the sheer beloved nature of the movie, and that it only got a few notices at smaller organizations, it applies.
- Oscar darling Jeff Bridges' signature role wasn't enough to receive Academy Award recognition.
- This can be chalked up as just another classic John Goodman performance that failed to be recognized by awards bodies.
- The film contains some of the greatest cinematography of Roger Deakins' already insanely impressive resume, yet it it went unrecognized.
- Awesome Music:
- The Gipsy Kings' cover of "Hotel California," among other gems.
- Kenny Rogers and the First Edition's "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)" is another crisp single.
- CCR's "Lookin' Out My Back Door" is the Dude's song.
- Captain Beefheart’s “Her Eyes Are a Blue Million Miles”, Bob Dylan’s “The Man in Me”, Townes Van Zandt’s cover of “Dead Flowers”... really a fantastic soundtrack all around.
- Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The "Gutterballs" Scene, and the introduction to Maude's friend, Knox Harrington "the video artist". Even the Dude is confused himself ("What the fuck is with this guy?")
- Crazy Is Cool: Walter, a man who pulls a gun over a bowling foul which probably only occurred in his head.
- Crosses the Line Twice:
- Jesus. No, not that Jesus.
- The scattering of Donny's ashes.
- Julianne Moore says this is her idea of Maude, only replace "horror" with "pretentiousness." She is so pretentious, she stops coming off as annoying and starts being funny.
- Cult Classic: The movie's reception upon release was mixed, with a solid budget return for the film's relatively small budget (only $15 million!). Today, however, it's regarded as one of the Coen's masterpieces and regularly referenced in pop culture. It's so far one of the only cult films to have helped to create an actual cult.
- Drinking Game: The Lebowski Challenge: Every time the Dude drinks a White Russian, you drink a White Russian. Every time the Dude does a J, you do a J. And if you're truly insane, every time The Dude does a substance, you do that substance. This is similar to the first game listed, except you also have to roofie yourself two-thirds of the way through the movie.
- Ensemble Dark Horse: Jesus "The Jesus" Quintana is a minor character who has no real affect on the plot. But John Turturro's completely ridiculous performance, he's become one of the most iconic elements of the movie.
- Fountain of Memes: Both The Dude and Walter are insanely quotable. Everything that comes out of Jesus's mouth is a meme.
- Genius Bonus:
- The Dude refers to White Russians as "Caucasians" because "Caucasian" is synonymous with both "White" and "Russian"; it can refer to someone who is ethnically European, or to someone from the Caucasus region of Eastern Europe (most of which is encompassed by present-day Russia).
- Paraquat is a very nasty poison, used for killing weeds. For a good example of its use, check out Apaches.
- Ham and Cheese: Absolutely John Goodman whenever Walter gets angry. Goodman himself has admitted that this movie was one of his favorites to be part of, he really enjoys getting into it when he gets angry. It's honestly a wonder that the sets didn't fall to pieces with how much scenery he was chewing.
- Harsher in Hindsight:
- The check the Dude writes in the opening scene is dated September 11th, and during the same scene, George H. W. Bush is giving his "this will not stand" speech in regard to the Gulf War.
- The scene of the Dude driving while drinking beer and smoking a joint comes across much less sympathetically with modern awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving and changing cultural irks that regard a DUI as much more serious.
- Hilarious in Hindsight:
- On the rich Lebowski's wall is a mirror mocked up to look like a TIME Magazine "Person of the Year" cover with the caption "Are you a Little Lebowski Urban Achiever?" In 2006, TIME Magazine's POTY was "You" and the cover was a mirror.
- "Dude, where is your car?" It's not a coincidence, though, as that film's title is actually a Shout-Out to this line.
- Ho Yay: Not hard to see between Walter and the Dude, considering how much Like an Old Married Couple squabbling they do and yet never seem to stay mad at each other for long; consider the Dude cursing Walter out on the phone and then immediately avowing he'll be at bowling practice, or succumbing to Walter's Cooldown Hug at Donny's funeral.
- I Am Not Shazam:
- For those who only know the film for its "Find a stranger in the alps" scene, some may confuse the Dude as Larry, and Big Al as "Big Al" Lebowski.
- The title refers to the millionaire (Big) Lebowski, not the Dude, as some might believe.
- For those who only know the film for its "Find a stranger in the alps
- Jerkass Woobie: Walter. He manages to be a Henpecked Husband years after his divorce, and he watched his buddies die in the mud back in 'Nam.
- Life Imitates Art: Not quite Hilarious in Hindsight, but Maude Lebowski tells the Dude that "the word ['vagina'] makes some men uncomfortable." In 2012, a Michigan state legislator was barred from speaking after using the word "vagina" during debate over an abortion bill after members of the chamber deemed it "offensive" and broke "decorum."
- Magnificent Bastard: Maude Lebowski is the daughter of the title character. When Jeff "the Dude" Lebowski gets caught in a kidnapping scheme involving her father's wife and takes a rug that is rightfully hers, she has two thugs knock him out and then tells him to come visit her. While there Maude tells him to visit a doctor, and when he eventually does, the doctor checks his virility. She later seduces him, and reveals she was simply using him to get a child from a man who would want nothing to do with her. In the meantime she even helps the Dude figure out that her father embezzled money and never intended on paying the ransom for the kidnapping. She ends the film triumphant with the narrator letting us know "a little Lebowski is on the way."
- Memetic Badass:
- Walter. He gets away with pointing a gun at a man in a bowling alley and destroying a car and let's not forget he bit a nihilist's ear off.
- Larry, an ordinary kid who stonewalls the aforementioned Walter without ever saying a word.
- Memetic Mutation: "That's just like, your opinion, man".Explanation
- One-Scene Wonder: "Nobody fucks with the Jesus".
- Retroactive Recognition: The opening has the Dude being dunked by Mark Pellegrino.
- Sequelitis: Calling it an actual sequel is a mite generous, but The Jesus Rolls is a very poor movie that calls itself a spinoff, but is really just a remake of another film that stars Jesus Quintana In Name Only to tenuously piggyback onto the success of this movie, and it has none of what gave Lebowski its enduring cult appeal.
- Strawman Has a Point: Mr. Lebowski is a jerk...however, he is technically correct that he had nothing to do with the damage to The Dude's rug, and does not owe him a new one. His wife however…
- Unpopular Popular Character: "Forget it, Donny! You're out of your element!"
- Vindicated by History: The film garnered mixed critical reception and meager box office sales in theaters; on home video, it became a comedy classic. It was also chosen in 2014 for preservation in the National Film Registry.
- Watch It Stoned: Holds the honor of being one of the few "stoner flicks" out there that is every bit as enjoyable and fun to watch when sober as it is when high.
- The Woobie:
- It's hard not to feel at least a little bad for the Dude.
"All the Dude wanted was his rug back."- Donny also qualifies. A bland but nice fella whose only real fault is not tuning in to the stuff going on around him very well. The poor guy then dies suddenly of a heart attack near the end and has his remains accidentally (if hilariously) desecrated by Walter.
