NEWS_ARTICLE.RttP{The church of Lebowski}

repost

I like the Big Lebowski because like most Super Coen Bros movies there are layers of meaning throughout the story and character development. For example, a somewhat crazy but defensible theory of mine:

In Thus Spake Zarathustra, the protagonist describes the three metamorphoses of the human spirit as a metaphor for Nietzsche's views on religion, free will, and being awesome. The camel is the first part, the part that bears the burden of life resolutely and valiantly, but who suffers for it (and doesn't see it as suffering). This is Christianity and the burden of original sin. The second part is the lion, whose big thing is rejecting what's imposed upon him; unlike the camel, the lion looks at the imposition of christianity and says "no!" This is Modernity and the death of god. The third part is the child, who ask questions, creates, and does whatever it wants. This is the postmodern superman/overman.

In The Big Lebowski, The Dude is the camel, Walter is the lion, and Donny is the child: The Dude tolerates (abiding) pretty much all kinds of insults and injuries, all the while solemnly accepting his lot in life and having a sense of humor about it; he doesn't pursue anything beyond the simple pleasures of bowling, and isn't even interested in keeping the money from the Bunny deal (all he wants is the rug).

Walter is just a prick to everyone, and wants to do things his way. He refuses to accept the world around him, which is why he aggressively opposes even one frame in a bowling match. On top of that, he's not much of a thinker. His plans are poorly thought out, and his reasoning for everything has something to do with war. Donny is actually described as child-like by Walter, and spends almost the entire movie asking questions. He is also one of the few genuinely happy characters in the movie. Finally, Jesus has a moment where he creepily looks at Donny and Donny freezes, and we know that Jesus is a pederast.

Now all this may be bullshit, but I'd like to point out that Ethan Coen has an academic background in philosophy. And the fact that this movie could inspire me to find parallels between Nietzsche and the films characters is pretty impressive in my opinion.