>FWIW, I interpreted the Dude as not so much a pleasure seeking hippy rather as not a pleasure denying person. Yeah I agree, I rolled in Josch's 'too much medi

>FWIW, I interpreted the Dude as not so much a pleasure seeking hippy rather as not a pleasure denying person. Yeah I agree, I rolled in Josch's 'too much meditation is bad' sentiment into that appraisal of the Dude. The Big Lebowski is the normal world turned upside, a deconstruction of our traditional symbols. The rich guy is a fraud, the trophy wife is a whore, the bad guy doesn't believe in anything or can achieve anything. Jesus is a pedophile (disturbingly prescient :P). The good guy dies pointlessly of a heart attack in a parking lot and nothing ever gets done in the end (does he ever get his rug back?). At best it's a comedy and worst it's a post modern deconstruction of our normal state of affairs. It's fun, bad and good. I watch it just to see what condition my condition is in, if I can't laugh at it, I need to improve my life conditions :P. The Dude is just the guy to be the hero of that story, laid back and unconcerned beyond the rug keeping his room whole.