Why Women Hate The Big Lebowski
Hint: It’s not because “Jackie Treehorn treats objects like women, man”
From time to time my teenage son and I will go in for a little bit of Lebowski riffing.
Should my son advance into the playoffs in one high school sport or another I will say to him, à la Jesús:
“I see you roll your way into the semis. Dios mio man…”
Should I find myself, in my 50-something way, searching my mind fruitlessly for a way to emphasize an importance, my son will say, per Walter Sobchak:
“That was a valued . . . uh . . .”
Meanwhile, my son’s mother will look at us in silent exasperation. Should we dare to Lebowski in public, she will out these small exchanges to the larger group with a “there-they-go-again” eye roll and say something like, “men love that movie.” As if to say it’s a “men’s movie” not worthy of consideration as a serious piece of art that spans worlds; as if to deny the shear stickiness of its dialogue — the particular way the text has of ear-worming its way into your very soul.
There are much more misogynistic media out there that women not only accept but crave. Why, for example, are so many women drawn to the…
