We all know The Dude never actually bowls. But why?

Posted by BonkedAgain@reddit | lebowski | View on Reddit | 104 comments

The bowling alley is liminal space. It’s a purgatory where characters confront their own hangups: Quintana's dark past, Walter’s rage, Donny’s mortality, Smokey's search for fairness. But The Dude? He’s already reached enlightenment. He abides. Bowling would imply effort, ambition, or even rules. And that’s not The Dude’s way.
And The Stranger?....He is the cosmic spiritual guide through all of the chaos, serenity in boots. Sipping his sarsaparilla, and gently nudging the Dude toward... well, enlightened abiding.

Now discuss among yourselves...

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boulevardofdef@reddit

I do think it's out of character that the Dude would be so into a competitive activity. Maybe he started bowling solo as a Zen thing and got roped into the league by Walter.

If you read the script (and if you're on this sub, I recommend it), both the Dude and Walter are finally seen bowling in the last scene, before the Dude meets the Stranger again. The fact that this doesn't happen in the movie is particularly notable because unlike a lot of movies, what ended up on the screen is very close to what's on the page. The Coens run a tight ship.

This tells us a couple of things. First, the fact that we never see the Dude bowling throughout the movie is an intentional artistic choice -- his bowling in the last scene was intended to be a big reveal. And second, there must have been a good reason they decided to remove this supposedly important moment. The script says that the Dude and Walter's form is elegant and graceful. My hypothesis is that Jeff Bridges just didn't look very good bowling.

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Simple_Purple_4600@reddit

yeah there's no way to have him exert effort and react--if it bowls a strike, he's some kind of jock nerd and it would be hard to make him celebrate such a trivial, mortal achievement. If he halfasses and tosses a gutterball, it kind of undermines league competition. I like the decision to avoid. Leave it in the mind of the viewer.

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Worldly-Honeydew91@reddit

I hope it was that guy shown in the last seen. Perfect form and release.

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Hungrystud101@reddit

I often wondered. Jesus and Liam O'Brian appear to be a two-man team. Was Donnie on the team with Walter and Dude or was he on another team and just hung out with those two to practice? In one scene Donnie is bowling in another lane.

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Hulab@reddit

That’s interesting, man. The idea of bowling is very Dude. Lots of sitting around, drinking beer and shooting the shit. But the act of bowling well, and presumably he’s a pretty good bowler, requires a degree of focus and coordination that would be very un-dude on the screen. Makes sense to not ever show it.

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edmechem@reddit

I feel like he's pretty focused while he's dancing & flying (on the rug, under Maudes' legs) etc., in his dream sequences. So we get a few glimpses of a (fictionalized, idealized) focused version of him.

I can imagine him doing a sort of zen, non-attached but focused, non-ego bowling action & then waiting & then being like "far out man..." like he does a few times in the movie, when the ball happens to knock down all the pins. But... just barely.

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Evil_Unicorn728@reddit

I assume he just kinda nonchalantly chucks the ball and because he’s relaxed and fairly limber, he rolls consistent 8s, with an occasional strike. He’s good enough that Walter will break Shabbas just to help him out so he won’t quit the team.

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Commercial_Set2986@reddit

Marty.

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MartyRandahl@reddit

One of the assistant editors, Alex Belth, touches on this a bit, in The Dudes Abide: The Coen Brothers and the Making of The Big Lebowski:

The Boys talked about ways to trim the shot [of Sam Elliott's closing monologue], but it was impossible. I suggested cutting away from Elliott during his speech to a montage of Bridges and Goodman bowling. We hadn’t seen the Dude or Walter bowl at all. Joel said that there was something wrong with the footage of Bridges and Goodman bowling. A printing problem, or something off with the timing in camera, I forget which. I retrieved the footage anyway and the Boys screened it but decided against using any of it. And so the images of Walter and the Dude bowling remain private.

Sounds like maybe it was more of a tech issue than Bridges not looking good bowling on camera, but that could also be Belth and/or the Coens being diplomatic.

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Dr_Middlefinger@reddit

You have certain information, man...

Fuckin A.

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Key-Contest-2879@reddit

All excellent points. The fact that the final scene never made it is telling.

I choose to believe the Dude is an adequate enough bowler that he and Walter were able to roll their way through the semi, and beat Quintana. I take a certain comfort in that.

Also, I believe the Dude was the alternate on their team, so wasn’t rolling during league play.

But that’s just my opinion, man.

Your roll.

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Aggravating_Bat3618@reddit

I used to do bowling league as a kid and so I have no frame of reference here, (like a child wandering into a bowling alley and wants to know…) but I think they allow a sub, a third man as it were. Who the hell knows who it could have been.

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Aggravating_Bat3618@reddit

Yeah in fact they had a League Pro come in an teach them (he's the tall, balding guy who throws the last strike before the final fade out) so my impression is Jeff and John (they do show him approach but not bowl) just did not look pretty good so they cut it.

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siberiandivide81@reddit

Huh

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whydontusuggestaname@reddit

What exactly is the problem?

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Busy-Ad7021@reddit

What in God's holy name are blathering about?

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ViewAskewRob@reddit

It’s like Lenin said: You look for the person who will benefit, and, uh, ya know, you’ll, well you know what I’m trying to say.

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Hungrystud101@reddit

I am the walrus?

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ViewAskewRob@reddit

Shut the fuck up Donny! V.I Lenin; Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov!

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AskEntire2265@reddit

I've got information man. New shit has come to light.

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2wheelsThx@reddit

Yeah, well, ya know, that's just, like, the most appropriate quote for this post, man.

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Clear_Marsupial808@reddit

That is the key to the city of Pasadena….

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swampfrewg@reddit

So like the dude is Jesus?

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Warm_Suggestion_959@reddit

Two oat sodas, Gary

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Warm_Suggestion_959@reddit

What are you a fucking park ranger man

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MonthForeign4301@reddit

He definitely does roll, there’s nothing in zen/buddhist teachings that prohibits you from engaging in competitive activities, especially one so individual as bowling.

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LumpyChapter8528@reddit

Your roll.*

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IZZO79@reddit

Deep post!

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Gotts21@reddit

No, you’re not wrong, you’re just an asshole.

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IZZO79@reddit

Calmer than you are

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Gotts21@reddit

Pilar?

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TheKeeperOfThe90s@reddit

My take is that the Dude and Walter should have been bowling the whole time, and instead Walter keeps egging the Dude on, and things keep getting worse. Donny's the only one who keeps his attention on bowling, which is part of what makes his death so tragic.

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fresh_snowstorm@reddit

Dios mio, man

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tophlove31415@reddit

In my non expert opinion, you are close. Bowling and the bowling alley in general, represent life and living, in all it's messiness and glory. The dude does bowl, or at least it's implied that he's bowling, and he also spends time in the alley. I can see that your general idea does stand though in that he is calmer and doesn't take bowling nearly as seriously as the other characters.

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edmechem@reddit

Camper Van Beethoven seemed to be onto this a bit in their song back in the 80s Take The Skinheads Bowling - bowling has always been like.. just something to do, that's a low-key escape from real life (unless you're hyper competitive, thus the irony of The Dude et al being part of a league).

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opopkl@reddit

This scene from series 3 of Fargo backs up your theory.

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Joe_Bianchino@reddit

Wonderful point of view… liminal space… wow.

The majority of the characters has a dual nature (and they’re often hypocrites) : big “successful” Lebowski’s is anything but meritocratic, the nihilists (who shouldn’t believe in anything) actually believe in money so much they would sacrifice one of their toes, Walter left his Catholic tradition to embrace Judaism and so on…

But, in fact, we don’t know much about the evil ones. The only stories we’re told are the ones of the “good ones”. Is it possible that the bowling alley represents the place good men create to escape chaos? It’s just a bowling alley, but with morally good people. On the other hand, the counterpart would be the Lebowski mansion, full of beauties but with hypocrites and greedy people.

I don’t know man… I’m just spitballing. What do you think?

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CallidoraBlack@reddit

Then what is Jesus doing there? I feel like it's the opposite, every single person in there that we know anything about is kind of a shit.

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Joe_Bianchino@reddit

Please go ahead.

And what about Smokey? Is Smokey bad,

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CallidoraBlack@reddit

We don't know anything about him. He fits into that category. All we know is what Walter thinks about him and that he doesn't like Walter acting like a psycho. So he's human. That's about it.

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Cadalui@reddit

He's a pacifist, like the dude. Smokey was a conscientious objecter..

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CallidoraBlack@reddit

You're right, but you don't have to be a warhawk to be a scumbag. Gandhi was a pacifist and he was also a creep.

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GeoHog713@reddit

I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention

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Chapaquidich@reddit

You gotta date on Wednesday.

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hornwalker@reddit

And yet his son is a fucking dunce.

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Bjables@reddit

Flunkin social studies

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SpecificMoment5242@reddit

Sad they don't teach social studies any longer.

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archetypaldream@reddit

Smokey’s search for fairness!!!!

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fergehtabodit@reddit

Yeah but he wuddnt over

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betabry@reddit

Has the whole world gone crazy?! Am I the only one who gives a shit about the rules?

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Solenya-C137@reddit

Yeah, but...

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MarcoMarti1981@reddit

He’s just a man. A man in his time. He fits right in…

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realsomedude@reddit

We had not considered that, dude.

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HVAC_instructor@reddit

New shit has come to light, Jeff Bridges is actually missing the thumb on his right hand so he could not figure out how to actually bowl.

Wink wink nod nod

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REGI_theblingkoala@reddit

Cynthia’s dog took the dude’s turns.

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TitShark@reddit

Is that some kinda eastern thing?

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infinite-valise@reddit

Far from it

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ElvisSandwich69@reddit

Nor do we see him smoke a bowl but he can definitely roll a J.

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peppermintmeow@reddit

He rolls when he drops in to see what condition his condition is in

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dispatch00@reddit

The proverbial rode

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VaguelyInteresting10@reddit

New shit has come to light!

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pearldrum1@reddit

Far fucking out, man. Far FUCKING out!

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Dennis_Laid@reddit

“Liminal” (ya been hanging out at r/BecomingTheBorg maybe?)

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brbgonnabrnit@reddit

Far out.

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Lord-Bunny@reddit

We meet The Dude during his most unDudelike period in his life as he pursues justice, compensation and actual effort, leaving the Zen-ness of bowling aside during this distraction. Or something.

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