If you’re a regular reader of the comic, and I hope you are, then you know that we recently went to Fanaticon. I’ve talked enough about how great it was and how much we learned, so I’ll save all that. One of my favorite things was seeing how people react to the comic. A lot of people would walk up to our table, we’d greet them, and then they’d mumble something back and continue to glance around, but some of them would see something they liked. My personal favorite was when people sorted through our buttons, found the one that reads, “Drinking, bowling, and finding new lows.” our slogan. Some people would chuckle, some would nod, but a few would outright laugh, “That’s my life!” a few people asserted. But one reaction that surprised me, that we heard from at least three people: “You guys must really like ‘The Big Lebowski’.”
On one hand; yes! I do really like ‘The Big Lebowski’ I think it’s a funny, entertaining movie that’s very well written, shot, acted, and edited. On the other hand; what does that have to do with our webcomic? Now I understand, better than most I would think, that there’s not a lot of bowling themed media out there, but that doesn’t mean that just because I decide to create more that I’m doing it as a tribute to what came before. You wouldn’t walk up to the director of ‘Angels in the Outfield’ and say, “Man, you must really like ‘A League of Their Own’.
Furthermore, I think ‘The Big Lebowski’ is as much a movie about bowling as it is a movie about white russians and weed. In fact, I’m certain that you see the dude making and drinking white russians at least three times as often as you see him bowling. Certainly the characters talk about bowling enough, it’s mentioned several times that they’re going into the semi-finals in their bowling league, and quite a bit of the movie takes place in a bowling alley, but the movie actually ends just before the semi-finals begin. All the stuff about bowling is just background to the actual plot which is not at all bowling related.
I’m not even going to try to explain the actual plot of this film, it’s a rug woven of too many threads to fit in this blog, but it really tied the room together. If you havn’t seen ‘The Big Lebowski’ then you should stop reading this now, because you should definitely watch it, and there are spoilers ahead. What I love about this movie is that the dude is really such a minor player in the things going on around him. Thinking back I’m not really sure he ever affected the plot at all, just slowly took notice to the events he is entangled in. Even in the fight with the nihilists he never actually hits any of them, he just offers up his four dollars while Walter takes them all down.
On that note, It always hurts seeing Donny die. I feel like of all the characters he’s the one I really connect with the most. He’s that guy that’s just kind of there. He’s timid, but shows several times how much he wants to appear confident and in control. The dude and Walter clearly have a strong relationship, and Donny is always trying to be involved. Every time he comes back from bowling he tries to contribute to their conversation only to be shut down and shut out by Walter and ignored by the dude. The scene where they scatter his ashes is clearly riddled with comedy, but is also very heartfelt. It’s like they’ve just realized what they’ve lost, and have to come to terms with the fact that they didn’t really know much about this person that they bowled with every week. I think it’s summed up really well in Walter’s words, “And so would Donny. Donny who loved bowling.”
The point is, yes. I really like ‘The Big Lebowski’. But I don’t like it because I like bowling and I don’t see many similarities between our comic and that movie. If you havn’t seen it, make some time and give it a watch, at the time of this writing it’s available for instant play on Netflix. “Look at me, I’m rambling again. Well I hope you folks enjoyed yourselves, catch you later on down the trail.”
