screenplays and essays and thematical creation using the big lebowski as a reference

title  - theme
intro - main character
thesis - wants
evidence illustrations - but
close - ends when

First, note the Big Lebowski is a dialectical story type.  See Pages for reference.

a) thematic question and goal
b) opposing thesis' concerning goal
c) third thesis, synthesis

big lebowski
a) what makes a man today? and "to be a man"
b) "Take a stand." and "be a pushover, a pacifist"
c) "Take a stand, but as a woman"

this story explores, argues, and illustrates, the gender role reversal that has taken place in the U.S.A.  By asking What makes a man today?  We are hooked and wonder and are shown how what we thought makes a man today is dying or dead and a new feminine man is here.

intro - this is a man's world - cowboys, gulf war, guns and fights
thesis' - take a stand to get what you want
evidence - taking a stand fails in every scene they try to use force, feminine men, men castrating each other symbolically, powerful female characters
close - maude solves the mystery for the dude, this is a woman's world.

thematic illustration of the feminizing of the former man's world:
bowling balls taking down pins - men throwing bowling balls to take down pins (man castrating himself)

jesus flashing a kid, the way a woman might flash her breasts, and wearing tight feminine clothing

long hair on many characters

donnie - ultimate pushover, (old world behavior of women)

eastern style rugs

porn king jackie treehorn losing production quality because of amateur video, man who makes money objectifying women---losing power

maude taking rug back, having man servants, tricking and taking sperm from The
Dude, giving allowance to her father, rug handed down from mom to daughter

maude short for Matilda - matilda the intelligent girl from the kids books

smokey the long haired bowler telling someone in power instead of fighting

writer of branded being held alive by an iron lung, "man on his last legs"

the dudes landlord - asking for late rent not demanding it, and dancing moderne like a "woman"

the big lebowski not able to walk, on an allowance, being taken advantage of by his trophy wife, instead of wife he has Brandt as partner

the nihilists wearing feminine clothing, threatening castration on fellow man

dreams of castration

going through all this shit for a rug because it tied the room together  - (old world man would not give a shit about decorating like today's man)

the bowling alley has taken place of the mythical western saloon.  no guns allowed, men don't fight, men dress in feminine styles, men bowl (symbollicaly castrating themselves)

destruction of fancy red sports car and destruction of the dudes car - (destroying manly symbols)(men castrating each other symbolically)

the 60's, the loss and protest of the vietnam war - the beginning of the feminizing of men in the u.s.  the rise of feminism at this time.

walter - old world man trying to take a stand but failing like a fool over and over

the doctor playing around with the dudes testicles and the dude not questioning it even though he went in for a head wound.

the dude as "a private dick" - an old world man of strength and grit now confused, weak, being helped along by a powerful woman, maude, to understand.

walter is a bowling ball, and the dude is the bowling pin


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if i were writing this story i would keep this feminine man idea in the back of my head.
i would think okay what does the dude want to do next, how should he react, i would think okay, he wants to take a stand, he wants to be this old world man but he wants to be a pushover.  i would keep that conflict top of mind.

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message of a movie
an argument, a thesis
today's man is a man that embodies traditional feminine qualities
stated by Mr. Lebowski "What makes a man?"

The relationship of Theme and Thesis
Theme is the question: "What makes a man today?"
Thesis is the answer: "Today's man is made up of feminine qualities."

Stories do not show truths.  Stories argue a thesis, embodied by a character, but in the end after seeing the story it's still open to debate, whether you agree or not is still up to you.

Stories are opinions.

and theme questions can be stated in many ways.  for the big lebowski i chose "what makes a man today?" because Mr. Lebowski says it.  I could also say the theme is "Is a man today still the same as the mythical man of before?  is today's man still a cowboy type?  is today's hero still the shoot, fight, kick ass man of yesterday?  is today's man still ruler of the roost, the bread winning dictator of the past?
or even...
is today's woman still the pushover, ignorant, sex pot of the past?  is today's woman still the homemaker, husband helper, no nothing?



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essays and stories: contrast

in an essay, the theme is stated as the title  "Today's Man."
in a story, the theme is stated as a question "What makes a man today?"

in an essay, the thesis is stated "Today's man is made up of feminine qualities."
in a story, the thesis is shown through character traits and behavior. "meet The Dude."  The main character embodies and illustrates the thesis.  Meet Walter another thesis about man.

in an essay, the road is mapped out, first i will, then i will, and finally i will
in a story, the final point, the goal, is stated.  all of the points leading up to the goal may or may not be subtly shown

in an essay, the evidence is presented through anecdotes, statistics, first person interviews, etc.
in an story, the evidence is presented through scenes, the main character striving toward a goal while illustrating the thesis.  in this case, the goal is the opposite of the thesis. "the dude strives to be that old world man."

in an essay, the stated thesis in the intro paragraph is referenced throughout the evidence and is what leads us along and connects all of the evidence.
in a story, the main characters goal is what leads us along and connects all of the evidence.

in an essay, the last point is made and the conclusion begins.
in a story, the goal is reached, and how that goal is reached addresses the thesis. "maude solves the mystery the dude has been trying to solve, to the dude it was calculus, to maude it was simple math."  the dude reaches the goal but fails to do it in the old way.  the goal is simply a point of conclusion.  the final point of evidence

in an essay, the conclusion sums it all up, repeating the thesis.
in a story, a character sums it all up, "cowboy intros and outro's in the big lebowski and the final words from our living breathing thesis character, the dude, "the dude abides."


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still wouldn't use this essay analogy to write off the bat, later in the development process i would.

this is stuff i'd use after I'd played around, written lots of scenes, then i'd ask myself what it might be about, what the goal might be about, what thesis the main character is embodying.

it seems backwards but my take is that creation is exploration.  that i start with questions and end with answers, that i experiment and find results.  that the entertainment comes from exploration.  that starting with a thesis would lead towards obvious scenes and bore me and you.  unless i started with a question or answer, theme or thesis and admitted to myself i didnt know the other half.