I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski

This made my day.

Something I was reading recently referred to The Big Lebowski as a 'cult film', which made me do a mental double-take. I've loved The Big Lebowski since I saw it in the theatre on opening weekend (1998) while ducking out of a wedding shower my wife was holding in our apartment for one of her friends. I think it was the first time I ever went to the theatre by myself. And laughing, out loud, during the film in the theatre by myself, felt strangely wonderful.

I've seen it probably a dozen times since. Maybe more. A good friend and fellow traveler bought it for me when it came out on VHS. And I still watch it whenever I stumble across it playing on television, and although the General audience edit isn't nearly as funny, I know what the lines are anyway. And still laugh.

But cult film? Why did it surprise me to read that? Not sure. Maybe I think of cult films as hallowed vestiges of some bygone era that have been somehow rediscovered by a younger generation desperate to bring some semblance of coolness to their existence. Not something I discover for myself, by myself, in a shopping-mall movie theatre in Abbotsford. And I guess it makes sense that if I've loved this movie enough to watch it over and over again, subconsciously imprinting lines of dialogue in my grey matter that come out of my mouth unbidden in everyday conversation, others would, too.

All of this because I stumbled upon the Lebowski Fest website again this morning. I found it a few years ago... or maybe a friend sent me the link. I don't know. Can't remember. But it warmed my heart. And made me want to take the morning off - it's raining, and dark and gloomy in Vancouver - and pop in that creaky VHS tape.