Daily Dialogue — March 9, 2016
DONNY: Hot damn, I’m throwin’ rocks tonight. Mark it, Dude.
We are tracking in on the circular bench towards a big man nursing a large plastic cup of Bud. He has dark worried eyes and a goatee. Hairy legs emerge from his khaki shorts. He also wears a khaki army surplus shirt with the sleeves cut off over an old bowling shirt. This is Walter. He squints through the smoke from his own cigarette as he addresses the Dude at the scoring table.
The Dude, also holding a large plastic cup of Bud, wears some of its foam on his mustache.
WALTER: This was a valued rug.
He elaborately clears his throat.
WALTER: This was, uh–
DUDE:Yeah man, it really tied the room together–
WALTER: This was a valued, uh.
Donny, the strike-scoring bowler, enters and sits next Walter.
DONNY: What tied the room together, Dude?
WALTER: Were you listening to the story, Donny?
DONNY: What–
WALTER: Were you listening to the Dude’s story?
DONNY: I was bowling–
WALTER: So you have no frame of reference, Donny. You’re like a child who wanders in in the middle of a movie and wants to know–
DUDE: What’s your point, Walter?
WALTER: There’s no fucking reason–here’s my point, Dude–there’s no fucking reason–
DONNY: Yeah Walter, what’s your point?
WALTER: Huh?
DUDE: What’s the point of–we all know who was at fault, so what the fuck are you talking about?
WALTER: Huh? No! What the fuck are you talking–I’m not–we’re talking about unchecked aggression here–
DONNY: What the fuck is he talking about?
DUDE: My rug.
WALTER: Forget it, Donny. You’re out of your element.
DUDE: This Chinaman who peed on my rug, I can’t go give him a bill so what the fuck are you talking about?
WALTER: What the fuck are you talking about?! This Chinaman is not the issue! I’m talking about drawing a line in the sand, Dude. Across this line you do not, uh–and also, Dude, Chinaman is not the preferred, uh. . . Asian-
American. Please.
DUDE: Walter, this is not a guy who built the railroads, here, this is a guy who peed on my–
WALTER: What the fuck are you–
DUDE: Walter, he peed on my rug–
DONNY: He peed on the Dude’s rug–
WALTER: YOU’RE OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT! This Chinaman is not the issue, Dude.
DUDE: So who–
WALTER: Jeff Lebowski. Come on. This other Jeffrey Lebowski. The millionaire. He’s gonna be easier to find anyway
than these two, uh. these two . . . And he has the wealth, uh, the resources obviously, and there is no reason, no FUCKING reason, why his wife should go out and owe money and they pee on your rug. Am I wrong?
DUDE: No, but–
WALTER: Am I wrong!
DUDE: Yeah, but–
WALTER: Okay. That, uh.
He elaborately clears his throat.
WALTER: That rug really tied the room together, did it not?
DUDE: Fuckin’ A.
DONNY: And this guy peed on it.
WALTER: Donny! Please!
DUDE: Yeah, I could find this Lebowski guy–
DONNY: His name is Lebowski? That’s your name, Dude!
DUDE: Yeah, this is the guy, this guy should compensate me for the fucking rug. I mean his wife goes out and owes money and they pee on my rug.
WALTER: Thaaat’s right Dude; they pee on your fucking Rug.
— The Big Lebowski (1998), written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Argument. Today’s suggestion by Adam.
Trivia: The Dude is in every scene of the movie. Even in the scene where the Nihilists are ordering pancakes you can see the van in which the Dude and Walter are driving. This is in keeping with the traditional film-noir, in which the protagonist is the narrator and acts as the audience’s guide throughout the film.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by Adam: “I really love this scene. It seems so…real. Three guys who know each other well hanging out in a bowling alley and discussing something. At times the conversation is very civil — then explodes into a mini-argument — then just as quickly returns to regular banter. Thoughts are half-expressed then dropped. People are interrupted. Voices get loud then soften. There’s such great pacing and ebb and flow here. The scene is brilliantly acted, too.”