Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE

A BIDING B Y T HE C HURCH O F T HE L ATTER -D AY D UDE

BY JUSTIN PYRON

RLST 20100 ~ RACHEL WAGNER ~ SECTION 02 DECEMBER 16, 2011

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 2 Abiding by the Church of the Latter-Day Dude

Unlike your younger cult resembling fan bases of Twilight and Harry

Potter, upon release The Big Lebowski was not record shatteringly successful. As
the twentieth century came to a close, the Coen brothers seemed to follow up their Oscar winning Fargo with a disappointment of a film. The same film will have its ninth annual national festival held in its honor in November. Little could the filmmakers have known the extent of impact that The Big Lebowski would eventually have on audiences, even years after release. This film can be considered accomplishing vast religious works as it provides ways of being a human person in a human place (Chidester, vii). As a religious entity, Dudeism the slowest growing religion in the world emerging expresses the spiritual influence The Big

Lebowski has and will have for generations to come.

The story revolves around the central character, Jeffery Lebowski or as everyone refers to him, the Dude and his interactions with an array of archetypes. After being mistaken for another Lebowski, the Dude gets himself involved in a ransom drop gone horribly wrong. From the botched drop, things get worse for the Dude as he faces various trials through the course of the film. It concludes with the Dude having gained only insight, but still takin er easy for all us sinners. . . . (The Big Lebowski). The film alone is rich with religious devices and moral triumphs, yet sprung from a delightful period piece about a jobless stoner is a whole community of

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 3 devout fanatics. Thus in relativity to the theories of Mircea Eliade, the film acts as the hierophany, or the place of sacred appearance of value, direction and purpose for the practitioners of Dudeism (Pals 201). The mythology conveyed through the movie receives a ritual blessing that establishes it as the center point of a world when followers repeatedly view to glimpse the sacred (Pals 201). These fanatics are the ones taking the religious work where the film left off, and thus are the main focus of this analysis. Specifically, the examination will consider the virtual Church of Latter-Day Dude and its ability to function religiously by using evidence from the film, experiences with the church, and the works of religious scholars. According to Clifford Geertz religion is, a system of symbols which acts to establish powerful, pervasive, and long lasting moods and motivations in men by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and clothing these conceptions with such an aura of factuality that the moods and motivations seem uniquely realistic (Pals 270). Using Geertzs definition as a frame of analysis, this paper will explore the religious work being done by the Church of the Latter-Day Dude through examinations of symbols, text and images, morals, ordering society, and indoctrination. Before an in depth understanding of the church, an analysis of the religious imagery used in the movie reveals the strength of its function as the hierophany for this community. This film is ripe with religious allusions and symbols that embody modern cultural critiques. The first of these occurs as the narrator establishes the central character not as a hero, cause whats a hero? But sometimes theres a

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 4 man. And Im talkin about the Dude heresometimes theres a man who, well, hes the man for his time and place, he fits right in there (The Big Lebowski). From the very beginning of the film, the Dude correlates to a supernatural being, as the narrator described in short his certain quality of an individual personality by virtue of which he is set apart from ordinary men and treated as endowed with supernatural, superhuman and at least specifically exceptional powers and qualities (Chidester 15). Eliade would attribute this to the function of symbols in the sacred space. In the instant that the film is established as the hierophany the Dude takes on a dualism where, in one sense they remain what they always were, they also become something new, something other than themselves (Pals 204). In the profane realm, the Dude is simply a fictional character from a film, but from the moment that a sense of connection is established with the spiritually satisfying through the film he takes on the form of a messiah. This initial establishment of the Dudes superiority, the religion presents its new messiah to fulfill where all before have fallen short: enlightening the world to the ways of takin it easy (The Big Lebowski). The second religious aspect clearly displayed comes with the introduction of the character Jesus. Despite the Hispanic background of the character, he pronounces his name proudly as Jesus [gEE-Zus] rather than Jesus [Hey-Zues]. He sports a beard and very long hair with undeniable eccentricity in his royal purple jumpsuit. Jesus in the film is a reflection of modern cultural critique on 21st century Christianity. More specifically, he is a representation of built-up resentment

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 5 against a church drowned in controversy. This is expressed almost explicitly in the dialog between the Dude and Walter: The Dude: Fuckin' [Jesus] Quintana... that creep can roll, man. Walter Sobchak: Yeah, but he's a pervert, Dude. The Dude: Yeah. Walter Sobchak: No, he's a sex offender. With a record. He served 6 months in Chino for exposing himself to an eight year old. The Dude: Oh! Walter Sobchak: When he moved to Hollywood he had to go door to door to tell everyone he was a pederast. - The Big Lebowski This scene represents the struggle between a controversial church and the new messiah, the Dude. Jesus, like many exposed modern clergymen, is shamed by his immoral actions. Despite this, both the character and the traditional religion exude confidence and strength as though nothing is wrong. Jesus insults and threatens the Dude and Walter, to which the Dude is seen turning the other cheek: Jesus Quintana: You ready to be fucked, man? I see you rolled your way into the semis. Dios mio, man. Liam and me, we're gonna fuck you up. The Dude: Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, your opinion, man. Jesus Quintana: Let me tell you something, pendejo. You pull any of your crazy shit with us, you flash a piece out on the lanes, I'll take it away from you, stick it up your ass and pull the fucking trigger 'til it goes "click." The Dude: Jesus. Jesus Quintana: You said it, man. Nobody fucks with the Jesus. - The Big Lebowski

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 6 Through these religious aspects and others, the groundwork is provided for Dudeism to develop as a religious entity of its own. By establishing a figurehead, representing traditional religions as disconnected from society, and projecting morals through the story The Big Lebowski outlined justification for a new religion. Thirdly, one of the most interesting complexities of the film is the character of Maude Lebowski and her explicit foil, Bunny. Maude is a self-made, wealthy, and sexually confident eccentric that would represent to Jane Caputi a return to the strong and independent mother goddess or, generative, parthenogenetic mother-that archaic figure who gives birth to all living things (Caputi 316). Maude Lebowski: Does the female form make you uncomfortable, Mr. Lebowski? The Dude: Uh, is that what this is a picture of? Maude Lebowski: In a sense, yes. My art has been commended as being strongly vaginal which bothers some men. The word itself makes some men uncomfortable. Vagina. The Dude: Oh yeah? Maude Lebowski: Yes, they don't like hearing it and find it difficult to say whereas without batting an eye a man will refer to his dick or his rod or his Johnson. The Dude: Johnson? ~~~ Maude Lebowski: Do you like sex, Mr. Lebowski? The Dude: 'Scuse me? Maude Lebowski: Sex. The physical act of love. Coitus. Do you like it?

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 7 The Dude: I was talking about my rug. Maude Lebowski: You're not interested in sex? The Dude: You mean coitus?

-The Big Lebowski

By the end of the film, Maude is actually trying to get pregnant and insisting on being the sole provider for the child. Conversely, Maude is further perpetuated as the strong female goddess in comparison to her foil, Bunny Lebowski. Bunny, Maudes mother in law, is characterized as a gold digging nymphomaniac, or as Caputi would assert that figure is turned into a monster, a particularly sexual monster as the generative mother seen only as the abyss, the monstrous vagina(Caputi 316). Bunny is conveyed young, stupid and a blonde haired trap to men who fall victim to her sexual pull. Bunny still represents a character explicitly based in damage, availability, vulnerability, and eroticism that is all responsiveness and no desire as we watch her character become the scapegoat for the protagonists problems (Caputi 327). The dichotomy between these female characters is able to return power to the female goddess while simultaneously vindicating the female monstrously portrayed. In terms the church; Dudeisms religious works can be seen prevalently through its use of symbols, images and visual culture. According to Eliade, symbols are rooted in the principle of likeness, or analogycertain things have a quality, a shape, a character that strikes us as similar to something else (Pals 204). In this

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 8 method, Dudeism utilizes a combination of a recognized traditional symbol with allusions to the film. Like a cross for Christians or the Star of David for Jews, Dudeism is summed up into the symbol of yin and yang invaded with bowling ball holes. Both of these symbolic aspects of Dudeism are not purely private matters existing and serving functions in the religious community as well as the individual (Pals 270). We can see how this particular symbol achieves the Eliade criterion by tell[ing] of the gods, of the ancestors or heroes, and their world of the supernatural in its portrayal of a balanced earth within the supernatural realm of the films bowling alley (Pals 204). Dudeism also uses images and visual culture to connect with the community and promote religious ideals. As a virtual religion, the institution opens up to more community input than more traditional religions and thus draws its visual culture from a newer covenant of images, fan art. These fan-produced works portray the supernaturalism of the dude while providing context through corruption of traditionally sacred images, or as Stanislaw Lee pronounced When smashing monuments, save the pedestals they always come in handy (Morgan 115). Many Dude inspired artist follow Renaissance stylizations of the divine, such as framing his head in a halo. By doing this, the artist is able to fulfill the viewers desire for something valuable to be mediated in the image by emphasizing the essence of the new messiah in a traditionally sacred method (Morgan 82). Even more offensive is the iconoclastic implications that these recreated images clearly

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 9 imply. This is most obvious in the reimagining of DaVincis The Last Supper, featuring the Dude at the center of the table. This both fulfills the desires of the Dudeist viewer as well as disturbs the normal process of belief, trust, [and] fidelity that confirms ones relation with the image of the Christian viewer (Morgan 82). Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the image is the placement of

Jesus at the end of the table, rather than the sacred center. This picture explicitly portrays how Dudeism needs the other to destroy in order to construct a new tradition in which to existsand they often proceed by substituting one mode of imagery for another (Morgan 117).

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 10 Adhering to Geertzs religion definition, another aspect of establishing powerful, pervasive, and long lasting moods and motivations are the Church of Later-Day Dude texts, derived morals and order and indoctrination (Pals 270).

The Big Lebowski has inspired dozens of books based on living your life how the
dude would. The Church of Latter-Day Dude has many sacred texts available to followers including, The Abide Guide The Take it Easy Manefesto and Duderonomy (Dudeism). The texts centralize around passivism, endurance, and glorification of the lifestyle of the Dude. In studying these texts, it must be kept in mind the larger field of cultural activities in which the text is used (Nye 158). Because of the virtual context that these text dwell, they lack significant depth in exchange for short, simple (sometimes humorous) proverbs. Furthermore, the texts are completely accessible, exchangeable, and apt for discussion through the websites integration with Facebook. Because of this, the texts act more as a method of indoctrination than as one of spiritual reconfirmation to be revisited over and over again. Another significant aspect of indoctrination that the religion exudes in the virtual context is the ease of ordination. In the same first hour that I spent with the church, I became an ordained priest of the Church by following the first link on the site and typing in my name. Now the church boasts over 100,000

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 11 ordained priests through out the world, expanding their influence and membership (Dudeism). The Church provides a unique worldview through its practices and texts that emphasizes morality, common sense and recognition of chaos. The central theme is represented in Duderonomy, When confronted by unfortunate circumstances, forget about it. You can't be worrying about that shit. Life goes on (Dudeism). The Church of the Latter-Day Dude attempts to provide order to the world not by saying there is an inherent creator that gives order, but that lifes order can be summed up in three words, it goes on. Finally, Dudeism relies on a unique array of sacred spaces. A pilgrimage to a Lebowskifest is not required, but encouraged by the Church as a way to interact in person with the community of Dudeists. The festival is a central place, open equally to every worshiper, no matter what his or her local affiliation may be, where alldevout are on equal ground and therefore acts in the same way as religious relics in other traditions (Newman 47). Like any pilgrimage site, Lebowskifest finds its strengths in its social links. According to Emile Durkheim these social links are the reason of the religion in the first place. He would argue that the connection that these followers have to the film is not solely found in the moral principles it preaches, but in how it unite[s] into one moral community called a church, all those who adhere to them (Pals 96). In this sense, the division between the sacred and profane is not a moral one, but instead a division of the community as the supernatural from the

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 12 individual as the natural. Because of this, the festivals and collaborative efforts of Dudeists fulfill each believers inherent desire to be part of the group because the sum of the whole is worth more than its parts. Other the sacred spaces lie in the connections made in the augmented reality of the internet. This is accomplished through the sites various ritual opportunities and interaction through forums. The most notable of these rituals involves a prayer ceremony to the film character Maude. By providing unlimited (and often humorous) access to the sacred, Dudeism is able to fulfill its function as a legitimate religion.

The Big Lebowski has transformed from a film that failed to excite
audiences to a fully functioning religious institution. Although some reject the divinity of the Dude, plenty sincerely come to worship, fulfilling the W.I. Thomas definition of the situation if you treat something as real, it is real in its consequences (Newman 47). Through an analysis of the films religious allusions and critiques, the path to the new ideology is clear. By analyzing the formative aspects of the institution, Dudeism is able to meet Geertzs qualifications to be considered religious. As the world moves forward, the Dudes influence is inescapable as its grand cult status further makes it another cultural staple.

Running head: ABIDING BY THE CHURCH OF THE LATTER-DAY DUDE 13 Works Cited

The Big Lebowski. Prod. John Cameron, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Ethan Coen, Mary Zophres, Rick Heinrichs, Jean Black, and Daniel Curet. By Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Skip Lievsay, Tricia Cooke, Carter Burwell, T-Bone Burnett, Roger A. Deakins, Janek Sirrs, Jery Hewitt, Bill Landrum, Jacqui Landrum, Todd Kasow, Sonny Kompanek, Happy Walters, and Bob Dylan. Dir. Joel Coen. Perf. Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, Peter Stormare, David Huddleston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Elliott, John Turturro, Ben Gazzara, and David Thewlis. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, 1998. Film.
Caputi, Jane. Goddesses and Monsters: Women, Myth, Power, and Popular Culture. Madison: University of Wisconsin/Popular, 2004. Print. Chidester, David. Authentic Fakes: Religion and American Popular Culture. Berkeley, CA: University of California, 2005. Print.

Dudeism - Ordination by the Religion of The Big Lebowski. Web. 08 Oct. 2011. <http://dudeism.com>.
Morgan, David. The Sacred Gaze: Religious Visual Culture in Theory and Practice. Berkeley: University of California, 2005. Print. Newman, Roberta. "The American Church of Baseball and the National Baseball Hall of Fame." NINE: A Journal of Baseball History and Culture 10.1 (2001): 46-63. Print. Nye, Malory. Religion: the Basics. London: Routledge, 2007. Print. Pals, Daniel L. Eight Theories of Religion. New York: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.