Comments on: "Look at our current situation with that camel f*cker over in Iraq. Pacifism is not something to hide behind."

"Look at our current situation with that camel f*cker over in Iraq. Pacifism is not something to hide behind."

porn in the woods — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 12:44:54 -0800

Slate takes a look at the prescient politics of The Big Lebowski.

By: srboisvert

srboisvert — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:07:44 -0800

So these Coen brothers, they have a new movie?

By: rokusan

rokusan — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:09:21 -0800

Don't fuck with the Jesus.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:19:07 -0800

This post will not stand, man.

By: panboi

panboi — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:21:27 -0800

This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass.

By: Mitrovarr

Mitrovarr — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:21:39 -0800

A lot of this stuff could be spun in exactly the opposite direction: Donnie does die of a heart attack during a climactic showdown with those German nihilists, and one might call his death a casualty of Walter's aggression and the Dude's inability to reign it in. Or, one could say that Donnie's weak heart is what kills him, despite Walter's ability to successfully defeat the nihilists without any injuries to his side. More realistically, you could just look at it as an unforeseeable consequence that nobody was really responsible for. I can see some parallels, but I think a lot of this is just reading subtext into things where it wasn't necessarily intended.

By: porn in the woods

porn in the woods — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:25:52 -0800

Saturday, Donny, is Shabbos, the Jewish day of rest. That means that I don't work, I don't get in a car, I don't fucking turn on the computer, I don't use the Internet, I don't comment on MetaFilter, and I sure as shit don't fucking front page post! Shomer shabbos!

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:34:00 -0800

Shomer fucking Shabbos!

By: nola

nola — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:36:07 -0800

Enjoyed the read.

By: Hat Maui

Hat Maui — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:36:13 -0800

we could have nipped this post in the bud if the supreme court hadn't roundly rejected prior restraint.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:38:57 -0800

"I'll suck your cock for a thousand dollars," makes the political slant pretty obvious, IMO.

By: Alvy Ampersand

Alvy Ampersand — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:40:37 -0800

Barack Obama: "He's a good man. And thorough."

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:42:14 -0800

I realize that this is quite peripheral to the topic at hand, but the world must know! In Wii Sports bowling, one of the random background Miis that populate the lanes next to your party is occasionally a presumably non-licensed ringer for The Dude. Which is awesome because it feels like you just happened to go bowling with him. The Dude abides, without question.

By: grapefruitmoon

grapefruitmoon — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:42:53 -0800

Say what you will about the tenets of National Socialism, at least it's an ethos.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 13:52:51 -0800

*fixes the cable*

By: wobh

wobh — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:02:40 -0800

Don't be fatuous, jonmc

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:11:56 -0800

you have any Kahlua, wobh?

By: ColdChef

ColdChef — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:13:00 -0800

The date on the check that the Dude writes at the Ralph's in the beginning of the movie? Sept. 11. Yep.

By: null terminated

null terminated — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:19:18 -0800

"I am the walrus!" - Sarah Palin

By: mannequito

mannequito — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:24:29 -0800

OOh, inventing conspiracy theory metaphors from cult movies is fuuuunnnn. How about ... that scene where The Dude is driving while drinking, and smoking a j, and rocking out to Creedence, and he drops the roach into his crotch and crashes? Totally an analogy of America's attempt to simultaneously take on every 'axis of evil'/terrorist nation out there.

By: RussHy

RussHy — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:26:28 -0800

So are all Republican nihilists, or just the crew in office now?

By: RussHy

RussHy — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:26:56 -0800

Republicans

By: JaredSeth

JaredSeth — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:36:08 -0800

There actually have been a couple times I wanted to shout What the FUCK has anything got to do with Vietnam?

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:38:12 -0800

I'm just gonna go find a cash machine.

By: wobh

wobh — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:40:33 -0800

What's the difference between a retcon and a neocon? Donny's Funeral = Republican Election Tactics

By: shakespeherian

shakespeherian — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:41:33 -0800

I'm staying. I'm drinkin' my coffee.

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:47:10 -0800

This post will not stand That's just, like, your opinion, man.

By: hellojed

hellojed — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 14:49:34 -0800

Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man.

By: heeeraldo

heeeraldo — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:02:36 -0800

In Wii Sports bowling, one of the random background Miis that populate the lanes next to your party is occasionally a presumably non-licensed ringer for The Dude. I hate to do this, but: the random Miis in the background of Wii Sports are either pulled from the Mii Parades of your Wii Friends, or just random combinations of the Mii parts.

By: never used baby shoes

never used baby shoes — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:09:38 -0800

The cult of Lebowski, I've begun to suspect, has more than a little nostalgia in it- Your goddamn right I'm living in the fucking past!

By: panboi

panboi — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:14:06 -0800

I think a better analogy would be No Country For Old Men in which an escalating series of bad things happen. Then in the last 20 minutes or so no one can tell what the fuck happened.

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:31:59 -0800

I think a better analogy would be No Country For Old Men in which ~~an escalating series of bad things happen. Then in the last 20 minutes or so~~ no one can tell what the fuck happened. Yeah, I noticed that little typo in there so just thought I'd help you out.

By: god hates math

god hates math — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:39:30 -0800

This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass. Or, the censored-like-crazy-for-tv version, "This is what happens when you find a stranger in the alps!"

By: LilBucner

LilBucner — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:40:20 -0800

In Wii Sports bowling, one of the random background Miis that populate the lanes next to your party is occasionally a presumably non-licensed ringer for The Dude. You mean these miis?

By: XQUZYPHYR

XQUZYPHYR — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:48:49 -0800

HI I'M ON SLATE AND I CAN OVERTHINK A MOVIE

By: clearly

clearly — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:56:06 -0800

The Big Lebowski is so much more than a political commentary.

By: panboi

panboi — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 15:58:09 -0800

Or, the censored-like-crazy-for-tv version, "This is what happens when you find a stranger in the alps!" If Spielberg had made The Big Lebowski, he'd have revisited it and replaced the marmot with a flashlight.

By: Mcable

Mcable — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:05:05 -0800

This is what happens when you find a stranger in the alps! I actually think that's funnier than the original line. The Big Lebowski is so much more than a political commentary. Obviously you're not a golfer.

By: Zonker

Zonker — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:05:38 -0800

Walter's ability to successfully defeat the nihilists This scene shows that Walter he has both the courage to enter a fight and the skill to prevail in one. Each of those traits is sufficient to disqualify him from being a neocon.

By: Zonker

Zonker — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:06:53 -0800

er "that Walter has". (shut the fuck up, ~~Donny~~ me.)

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:10:20 -0800

"find a stranger in the alps"? Wow, that's bad. That makes some of the replacements in the tv broadcast version of Scarface look good... "This town is like a great big chicken, just waiting to get plucked!"

By: voltairemodern

voltairemodern — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 16:17:27 -0800

It was an interesting premise, but the conclusion of the article felt kind of empty. I mean, "We're living in a much darker world, guys, much darker. And it shows up in a movie!" Well, yeah, thanks for pointing that out. That said, the drawing out of the neocon analogy was well done.

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:04:58 -0800

"find a stranger in the alps"? Wow, that's bad. Good pickup line, though. "Hey sugar, mind helping me find my stranger in the alps?" Or: "Your daddy must have been a search & rescue guy. Because he found my stranger in the alps." Also: "Why don't we slip out of these wet clothes and...find our respective strangers in the alps?" Later: "I'm sorry honey, I tried, but I just couldn't find your stranger in the alps. Are you sure you have one? Anyway, I'm tired."

By: porn in the woods

porn in the woods — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:17:22 -0800

Your money is being held by a kid named Larry Sellers. Real fucking brat, but I'm sure your goons can get it off him. I mean, he's fifteen.... Flunking social studies.

By: theredpen

theredpen — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:33:53 -0800

I'm not sure I buy the whole argument, but heh! I would like to favorite this more than once.

By: evilcolonel

evilcolonel — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:45:36 -0800

Fuckin' a, man... I gotta rash. Fuckin' a.

By: adamdschneider

adamdschneider — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:59:01 -0800

My favorite overdub censoring was in The Hard Way. I'll never forget the intensity with which Michael J. Fox called James Woods a "slug in a ditch".

By: brundlefly

brundlefly — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:18:13 -0800

I like the censoring in Repo Man. "Flip you, you mother flipping flipper!" Also: OVER THE LINE!!!

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:27:31 -0800

I did not watch my buddies die face down in the muck to read threads like this.

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:32:44 -0800

JONMC, YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT!

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:46:40 -0800

Anti-semite.

By: jimmythefish

jimmythefish — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:50:01 -0800

Is there a Ralph's around here?

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 18:51:14 -0800

your revolution is over, turgid dahlia. Condolences. the bums lost!

By: axltea

axltea — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:12:43 -0800

Marijuana: helping people find hidden meanings in movies since 1930. *puff*puff*

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:20:48 -0800

Saxon Kane: "find a stranger in the alps"? Wow, that's bad. Rumor has it that the Coen Brothers did the rewriting for the broadcast version.

By: beerbajay

beerbajay — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:01:18 -0800

From Die Hard 2: "Yippie ki yay mother falcon"

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:15:28 -0800

I've never seen Pulp Fiction on public broadcast, but I imagine it going a lot like this: Honey Bunny: Any of you fellows move and you're in big trouble! * Vincent: You know what they put on French fries in Holland instead of ketchup? Jules: What? Vincent: Mayonnaise. Jules: Goodness! Vincent: I seen them do it, man, they like to apply copious amounts of the product. Jules: I am appalled. * Jules: That's right, that's my nice wallet.

By: adamdschneider

adamdschneider — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:21:04 -0800

Rumor has it that the Coen Brothers did the rewriting for the broadcast version. You know, this reminds me that I once saw Ghostbusters on the Disney Channel or something (actually, someone else was watching it and I walked through the room), and they had actually reshot the offensive lines, not just dubbed them. Specifically, I remember the "yes, it's true, this man has no dick" line coming out as, "yes, it's true, this man is some kind of rodent, I don't know which," and it wasn't dubbed, it was actually spoken by Bill Murray. This was many years ago. Am I just making this up or did it really happen?

By: turgid dahlia

turgid dahlia — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:25:04 -0800

adamschneider: A quick google using the following search string "yes, it's true, this man has no dick" +rodent seems to confirm your suspicion. And that is awesome. But what did they call him instead of "dickless"?

By: winna

winna — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:30:32 -0800

one might call his death a casualty of Walter's aggression and the Dude's inability to reign it in.

Why was such an idiotic misuse of an idiomatic expression allowed to reach the final version of the article? I had to go read it just to make sure that it was actually wrong. REIN IT IN IS ABOUT HORSES AND REINS, NOT KINGS WHO REIGN. ONE DOES NOT USE A CURB-BIT ON A HIGHNESS. Say what you will about being a stickler for correctness, at least it's an ethos.

By: brevator

brevator — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:41:52 -0800

Hey, careful man, there's a beverage here!

By: stannate

stannate — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 22:54:40 -0800

I love find a stranger in the Alps, but it's no "Flip you, melon farmer!"

By: atrazine

atrazine — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 00:52:38 -0800

ONE DOES NOT USE A CURB-BIT ON A HIGHNESS. THIS HAS NOT BEEN MY EXPERIENCE WITH HORSEY ENGLISH GIRLS

By: anthom

anthom — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:29:53 -0800

By: panboi

panboi — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 05:42:00 -0800

Strangers in the Alps, exchanging glances Wondering in the night What were the chances We'd be pissing on a rug Before the night was through. Something in your eyes Was so exciting, Offering to suck my cock, for $1,000 was so inviting, Something in my heart, Told me I must find a cash machine. Strangers in the Alps, two lonely people We were strangers in the Alps Entering a world of pain Careful man, there's a beverage here Little did we know Bowling was just a glance away, A warm embracing strike away and - Ever since that night, we've been together. Marmots at first sight, in love forever. The Dude abides For strangers in the Alps.

By: adamdschneider

adamdschneider — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 07:35:09 -0800

But what did they call him instead of "dickless"? I wish I could remember. I do, however, recall that in the scene where Peck is trying to muscle his way into the operation, Venkman says, "I'll sue your funny face for wrongful prosecution." It wasn't until the rodent line, though, that I took notice and said, "Hey, that wasn't a dub!"

By: Horace Rumpole

Horace Rumpole — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:19:02 -0800

But what did they call him instead of "dickless"? "Wally Wick", believe it or not.

By: porn in the woods

porn in the woods — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 08:49:59 -0800

Audio excerpts of SpikeTV's edited broadcast of Pulp Fiction. Because storing dead African-Americans isn't my rooty-toot-tootin' business!

By: adamdschneider

adamdschneider — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:02:38 -0800

Excellent find, Horace Rumpole!

By: mwhybark

mwhybark — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:17:58 -0800

The Mii Dude is seen here. He is definitely NOT the Dude as seen in that YouTube clip. heeraldo, I strongly doubt that he is a randomly populated Mii drawn from another user's noodling, as I have not activated the Mii online sharing stuff.

By: Saxon Kane

Saxon Kane — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 23:49:40 -0800

The best thing about the "Wally Wick" scene is just the sheer disgust with which Venkman addresses the inspector as "some sort of rodent."

By: wobh

wobh — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:38:56 -0800

I had to come back to say why I think this David Haglund guy is wrong about The Big Lebowski. Walter Sobchak isn't a neocon, he's more of an Eisenhower conservative. Jeffrey Lebowski, the other Jeffrey Lebowski is, if anything, the neocon. Think of The Dude and Walter as representing the left and right of the sixties. They spent the entire movie tripping and tripping over their "good" intentions, while someone whose motives are entirely venal gets away with the cash. The Big Lebowski sputters and bellows borrowed values but he's a vicious liar and thief who steals money intended for the poor to enrich himself. Now this here opinion I've just unfolded comes at a time when it seems like our conflicts in the middle east just keep perpetuating themselves. I'm only saying this because sometimes there's a movie, I won't say a great film, because, what is greatness in film anyway. But sometimes there's a movie, and I'm talking about The Big Lebowski, here; sometimes there's a movie, and it's The Movie for its time and place. And even if it doesn't answer any of the questions it poses, and The Big Lebowski certainly doesn't, and neither does most every movie coming out of Los Angeles. But, sometimes there's a movie ... sometimes there's a movie. Aw hell, excuse me. It's a weekday and I have to go get dressed and look for a job.

By: never used baby shoes

never used baby shoes — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:55:25 -0800

wobh, I think that comment just brings the whole room together.

By: Artw

Artw — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:02:31 -0800

Is The Big Lebowski a cultural milestone?

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:03:42 -0800

This comment by Lisa of Swansea to the article Artw linked to just capped a pretty swell day:

Repeated watchings of The Big Lebowski have just got me through a difficult four-day labour... I just hope my son will like the film as much as I do!

That boy better... he better.