Is there a cabal against free speech?

[Yeti]

This might sound like crazy talk, but has anybody actually thought of asking them about all the alleged symbolism?

"Everybody's got different things to say about 'The Big Lebowski,' " Bridges explained. "One guy came up to me with a theory. He said I've got to check this out with the brothers. It was very earnest and desperate. He said, 'Donny [Steve Buscemi] is a figment of Walter's [John Goodman] imagination. He doesn't really exist.' It gets you thinking a little bit, doesn't it? So I ran that by the brothers, and they chortled, and that was about it."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1654889/jeff-bridges-relayed-lebowski-theories-coen-brothers-on-true-grit-set.jhtml

Not specifically about symbolism, but If The Dude himself can't get answers out of them...

[DigitalBuddha]

This might sound like crazy talk, but has anybody actually thought of asking them about all the alleged symbolism?

"Everybody's got different things to say about 'The Big Lebowski,' " Bridges explained. "One guy came up to me with a theory. He said I've got to check this out with the brothers. It was very earnest and desperate. He said, 'Donny [Steve Buscemi] is a figment of Walter's [John Goodman] imagination. He doesn't really exist.' It gets you thinking a little bit, doesn't it? So I ran that by the brothers, and they chortled, and that was about it."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1654889/jeff-bridges-relayed-lebowski-theories-coen-brothers-on-true-grit-set.jhtml

Not specifically about symbolism, but If The Dude himself can't get answers out of them...

Sounds like the story behind "A Beautiful Mind."

[Stumblin Stumbleweed]

Far out.
I suppose humans instinctively look for and find patterns and meanings in all kinds of things, hence the face of Jesus on a slice of toast, the name of Allah in the seeds of an aubergine etc.

[BikerDude]

Far out.
I suppose humans instinctively look for and find patterns and meanings in all kinds of things, hence the face of Jesus on a slice of toast, the name of Allah in the seeds of an aubergine etc.

Exactly. See this video...

http://www.ted.com/talks/michael_shermer_the_pattern_behind_self_deception

[jgiffin]

This might sound like crazy talk, but has anybody actually thought of asking them about all the alleged symbolism?

"Everybody's got different things to say about 'The Big Lebowski,' " Bridges explained. "One guy came up to me with a theory. He said I've got to check this out with the brothers. It was very earnest and desperate. He said, 'Donny [Steve Buscemi] is a figment of Walter's [John Goodman] imagination. He doesn't really exist.' It gets you thinking a little bit, doesn't it? So I ran that by the brothers, and they chortled, and that was about it."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1654889/jeff-bridges-relayed-lebowski-theories-coen-brothers-on-true-grit-set.jhtml

Not specifically about symbolism, but If The Dude himself can't get answers out of them...

Sounds like the story behind "A Beautiful Mind."

I liked that theory but the Dude also interacts with Donny (exactly) one time: outside the bowling alley, after his car is stolen. Well, that and it's pert near impossible to cremate a figment of one's imagination.

I'm not saying it's a movie solely about, or even primarily about, christianity. (Hell, I'd be an atheist if I weren't already an anti-theist.) Instead, it's a product so rich in symbolism and abstraction that it is subject to deconstruction and analysis via multiple perspectives. That's why it holds up to time and multiple viewings so well.

[DigitalBuddha]

This might sound like crazy talk, but has anybody actually thought of asking them about all the alleged symbolism?

"Everybody's got different things to say about 'The Big Lebowski,' " Bridges explained. "One guy came up to me with a theory. He said I've got to check this out with the brothers. It was very earnest and desperate. He said, 'Donny [Steve Buscemi] is a figment of Walter's [John Goodman] imagination. He doesn't really exist.' It gets you thinking a little bit, doesn't it? So I ran that by the brothers, and they chortled, and that was about it."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1654889/jeff-bridges-relayed-lebowski-theories-coen-brothers-on-true-grit-set.jhtml

Not specifically about symbolism, but If The Dude himself can't get answers out of them...

Sounds like the story behind "A Beautiful Mind."

I liked that theory but the Dude also interacts with Donny (exactly) one time: outside the bowling alley, after his car is stolen. Well, that and it's pert near impossible to cremate a figment of one's imagination.

I'm not saying it's a movie solely about, or even primarily about, christianity. (Hell, I'd be an atheist if I weren't already an anti-theist.) Instead, it's a product so rich in symbolism and abstraction that it is subject to deconstruction and analysis via multiple perspectives. That's why it holds up to time and multiple viewings so well.

Plus the Dude and Walter scatter Donny's ashes. Unless both were having one hell of flashback at the water's edge, my guess is that Donny was real.

[BikerDude]

This might sound like crazy talk, but has anybody actually thought of asking them about all the alleged symbolism?

"Everybody's got different things to say about 'The Big Lebowski,' " Bridges explained. "One guy came up to me with a theory. He said I've got to check this out with the brothers. It was very earnest and desperate. He said, 'Donny [Steve Buscemi] is a figment of Walter's [John Goodman] imagination. He doesn't really exist.' It gets you thinking a little bit, doesn't it? So I ran that by the brothers, and they chortled, and that was about it."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1654889/jeff-bridges-relayed-lebowski-theories-coen-brothers-on-true-grit-set.jhtml

Not specifically about symbolism, but If The Dude himself can't get answers out of them...

Sounds like the story behind "A Beautiful Mind."

I liked that theory but the Dude also interacts with Donny (exactly) one time: outside the bowling alley, after his car is stolen. Well, that and it's pert near impossible to cremate a figment of one's imagination.

I'm not saying it's a movie solely about, or even primarily about, christianity. (Hell, I'd be an atheist if I weren't already an anti-theist.) Instead, it's a product so rich in symbolism and abstraction that it is subject to deconstruction and analysis via multiple perspectives. That's why it holds up to time and multiple viewings so well.

It might be true that there is a fair amount of symbolism, but the overt references to Christianity don't seem to be very kind.
Jesus is a pederass. I don't think that is accidental. It's clearly a reference to the catholic church.
Remember that the author is Jewish. That really does necessarily come into play when you start thinking that there is symbolism which is supposed to celebrate the Jesus. (the real one) I seriously doubt it. The overt symbolism is pretty unkind to himself. You don't just turn in your library card.
We don't want to wander into the room like a child.......

[DigitalBuddha]

This might sound like crazy talk, but has anybody actually thought of asking them about all the alleged symbolism?

"Everybody's got different things to say about 'The Big Lebowski,' " Bridges explained. "One guy came up to me with a theory. He said I've got to check this out with the brothers. It was very earnest and desperate. He said, 'Donny [Steve Buscemi] is a figment of Walter's [John Goodman] imagination. He doesn't really exist.' It gets you thinking a little bit, doesn't it? So I ran that by the brothers, and they chortled, and that was about it."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1654889/jeff-bridges-relayed-lebowski-theories-coen-brothers-on-true-grit-set.jhtml

Not specifically about symbolism, but If The Dude himself can't get answers out of them...

Sounds like the story behind "A Beautiful Mind."

I liked that theory but the Dude also interacts with Donny (exactly) one time: outside the bowling alley, after his car is stolen. Well, that and it's pert near impossible to cremate a figment of one's imagination.

I'm not saying it's a movie solely about, or even primarily about, christianity. (Hell, I'd be an atheist if I weren't already an anti-theist.) Instead, it's a product so rich in symbolism and abstraction that it is subject to deconstruction and analysis via multiple perspectives. That's why it holds up to time and multiple viewings so well.

Jesus is a pederass. I don't think that is accidental. It's clearly a reference to the catholic church.

Hmmm; good insight there, BD.

[cckeiser]

Well dudes ......we just don't know right now do we?

What can we say and what can't we say on these here pages....?

Time was when we could all gather here and have a laugh and a joke and an oat soda or two....sometimes things got serious and intellectual stuff would be said....then the resident intellects would gather round and talk Kafka and Sartre and other introheads....

Us lesser mortals would ignore that and carry on being dudes because we were too busy slacking to have that much thinking going on in our heads.

But nobody thought to ban the posts...nah...cos most of us were smart (or too dumb) enough to walk on by...ignore it and let the others ramble.

I think it's all gone a bit Pete Tong don't you Dudely Lamma?

Peace.

To answer your question Caesar dude.....no....we welcome free speech.
What we do not welcome is Spam and Spamming the board with products and links to products.
What you must understand is the church has turned they faith into a product...why else would they print "In God We Trust" on all our money....on force the insertion of "Under God" into our pledge of allegiance....it's spam advertizing for their product....the faith.
The word God itself is spam....it carries the stink of religion with it.
There's an office of the church in Rome who's sole purpose is to spread their faith by treating it as a Product.
Every time they can get the words God, Jesus,  bible of any other  "key work" where you can see it.....they reinforce the concept of a a god and their religion in the mind of the populus.
DigidtalBuddha posted a bible and Jesus post a few weeks ago that had my panties in a knot....if you followed the link he left it was a joke, but the subject of the post was pure christian spam.
I bet they were laughing their asses off at having One of our own spamming the board for them!!
If you think of religion as a product like Coke or Advil.....then every time they can get their product mentioned they rack up points. It's a form of subliminal advertising, and it really does not matter to them if positive or negative.....just as long as their product get mentioned....they win.
Once you know their tactics, thye are easy to spot.

[cckeiser]

Every time you get into an argument with one of them you are helping to promote their product and spam the board.
The worse thing they fear is being ignored.

[jgiffin]

This might sound like crazy talk, but has anybody actually thought of asking them about all the alleged symbolism?

"Everybody's got different things to say about 'The Big Lebowski,' " Bridges explained. "One guy came up to me with a theory. He said I've got to check this out with the brothers. It was very earnest and desperate. He said, 'Donny [Steve Buscemi] is a figment of Walter's [John Goodman] imagination. He doesn't really exist.' It gets you thinking a little bit, doesn't it? So I ran that by the brothers, and they chortled, and that was about it."

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1654889/jeff-bridges-relayed-lebowski-theories-coen-brothers-on-true-grit-set.jhtml

Not specifically about symbolism, but If The Dude himself can't get answers out of them...

Sounds like the story behind "A Beautiful Mind."

I liked that theory but the Dude also interacts with Donny (exactly) one time: outside the bowling alley, after his car is stolen. Well, that and it's pert near impossible to cremate a figment of one's imagination.

I'm not saying it's a movie solely about, or even primarily about, christianity. (Hell, I'd be an atheist if I weren't already an anti-theist.) Instead, it's a product so rich in symbolism and abstraction that it is subject to deconstruction and analysis via multiple perspectives. That's why it holds up to time and multiple viewings so well.

Jesus is a pederass. I don't think that is accidental. It's clearly a reference to the catholic church.

Hmmm; good insight there, BD.

Agreed. I'd say it's fairly hostile to Jewry, too. Walter is the only Jew and he exemplifies many of the attributes of the old testament god. He's angry, jealous, vengeful, and generally destructive. We see him break the only tenant he appears to take seriously, shomer shabbos, and I don't think you get that kind of a beer gut without indulging in some good ole' pork products.

[Stumblin Stumbleweed]

Agreed. I'd say it's fairly hostile to Jewry, too. Walter is the only Jew and he exemplifies many of the attributes of the old testament god. He's angry, jealous, vengeful, and generally destructive. We see him break the only tenant he appears to take seriously, shomer shabbos, and I don't think you get that kind of a beer gut without indulging in some good ole' pork products.

That's fucking interesting, man, but Walter's not even Jewish, he's Polish-Catholic. Although I'll grant you that he's still got his licence and library card.
Does this ambiguity surrounding Walter's Jewishness say anything to us? Given that it is one of the religions into which one has to be born (Hinduism being another, if I understand it correctly).
Well, dudes, we just don't know.
On the subject of "good ole' pork products," I could start a highly antagonistic new thread. The sheer scale of the daily slaughter is almost beyond imagination. But I won't. Life goes on, man. Unless, of course, you're destined to be a causative factor in someone's post-breakfast cardio-vascular episode. Karma, man.

[Rev. Gary (revgms)]

Well dudes ......we just don't know right now do we?

What can we say and what can't we say on these here pages....?

Time was when we could all gather here and have a laugh and a joke and an oat soda or two....sometimes things got serious and intellectual stuff would be said....then the resident intellects would gather round and talk Kafka and Sartre and other introheads....

Us lesser mortals would ignore that and carry on being dudes because we were too busy slacking to have that much thinking going on in our heads.

But nobody thought to ban the posts...nah...cos most of us were smart (or too dumb) enough to walk on by...ignore it and let the others ramble.

I think it's all gone a bit Pete Tong don't you Dudely Lamma?

Peace.

To answer your question Caesar dude.....no....we welcome free speech.
What we do not welcome is Spam and Spamming the board with products and links to products.
What you must understand is the church has turned they faith into a product...why else would they print "In God We Trust" on all our money....on force the insertion of "Under God" into our pledge of allegiance....it's spam advertizing for their product....the faith.
The word God itself is spam....it carries the stink of religion with it.
There's an office of the church in Rome who's sole purpose is to spread their faith by treating it as a Product.
Every time they can get the words God, Jesus,  bible of any other  "key work" where you can see it.....they reinforce the concept of a a god and their religion in the mind of the populus.
DigidtalBuddha posted a bible and Jesus post a few weeks ago that had my panties in a knot....if you followed the link he left it was a joke, but the subject of the post was pure christian spam.
I bet they were laughing their asses off at having One of our own spamming the board for them!!
If you think of religion as a product like Coke or Advil.....then every time they can get their product mentioned they rack up points. It's a form of subliminal advertising, and it really does not matter to them if positive or negative.....just as long as their product get mentioned....they win.
Once you know their tactics, thye are easy to spot.

Iz okay tho, I literally do the same to them. I spend more time lurking where there are no dudes than  i do here, because I am trying to cull their herd. Free those who have but a little dust in their eyes so to speak.

And we are selling Dudeism too, the same way some sell love and others sell hate, everyone is selling something. None of us want to be alone in our beliefs, so we try and get other to be like us. Human nature. Even Dudeists are human.

We are all not just selling, we are all shopping too, consuming what makes us feel good, what reaffirms our inclinations and security. Humans are always searching for the next thing that will alleviate some of the pain of existence.

[BikerDude]

Agreed. I'd say it's fairly hostile to Jewry, too. Walter is the only Jew and he exemplifies many of the attributes of the old testament god. He's angry, jealous, vengeful, and generally destructive. We see him break the only tenant he appears to take seriously, shomer shabbos, and I don't think you get that kind of a beer gut without indulging in some good ole' pork products.

That's fucking interesting, man, but Walter's not even Jewish, he's Polish-Catholic. Although I'll grant you that he's still got his licence and library card.
Does this ambiguity surrounding Walter's Jewishness say anything to us? Given that it is one of the religions into which one has to be born (Hinduism being another, if I understand it correctly).
Well, dudes, we just don't know.
On the subject of "good ole' pork products," I could start a highly antagonistic new thread. The sheer scale of the daily slaughter is almost beyond imagination. But I won't. Life goes on, man. Unless, of course, you're destined to be a causative factor in someone's post-breakfast cardio-vascular episode. Karma, man.

A person doesn't have to born into the Jewish religion. (Not sure about Hindus)
But a person's mother does need to be Jewish to be seen as "A Jew" that is an ethnic Jew.
A good number of Jews are not of the Jewish faith but identify as Jewish ethnically.
There is the faith and the ethnicity. 2 things.

[DigitalBuddha]

Well dudes ......we just don't know right now do we?

What can we say and what can't we say on these here pages....?

Time was when we could all gather here and have a laugh and a joke and an oat soda or two....sometimes things got serious and intellectual stuff would be said....then the resident intellects would gather round and talk Kafka and Sartre and other introheads....

Us lesser mortals would ignore that and carry on being dudes because we were too busy slacking to have that much thinking going on in our heads.

But nobody thought to ban the posts...nah...cos most of us were smart (or too dumb) enough to walk on by...ignore it and let the others ramble.

I think it's all gone a bit Pete Tong don't you Dudely Lamma?

Peace.

DigidtalBuddha posted a bible and Jesus post a few weeks ago that had my panties in a knot....if you followed the link he left it was a joke, but the subject of the post was pure christian spam.

Cc dude, if you are referring to this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EprQGmZ3Imw

It is an obvious spoof on sleazy Christian TV evangelists scamming dumb asses for money. And is in no way supportive of Christianity. It was recorded by Genesis in the 80's, which saw the rise of some of the most disgusting religious con artists in U.S. history. I doubt that anyone from the Christianity world was glad I posted it. I wouldn't call it "spam," but I would call it funny as hell, if not a commentary on religious cons...IMHO. How could a video by Genesis, in this context, be spam? No harm intended, dude.

That's just like my opinion, man.