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The Big Lebowski, the Coen brothers’ 7th film, upon its release in 1998 failed miserably at the U.S. box office. Today, almost fifteen years after its release, The Big Lebowski has become a cult classic, spawning a legacy that most box office hits can only dream of: books; academic studies; its own annual festival, known as “Lebowski Fest”; an almost infinite array of paraphernalia (the film has arguably inspired the largest number of t-shirt designs in film history); a collectors’ items shop in downtown New York; and now even a religion, known as Dudeism. Yes, that’s right.
Join the Church of the Latter-Day Dude’s founder, Oliver Benjamin, as he debates the tenets of Dudeism with Tom Hodgkinson, John Naish, author of best-seller Enough, and film critic Ben Walters, and tries to convince all you skeptics out there that The Big Lebowski is much more than simply a fun movie, and really is, as he maintains, “a story about how to live your life, how to deal with conflict, and how to maintain peace of mind in a world that’s gone crazy”; that the Dude truly can be “the saviour of all mankind (or some of it, anyway)”; and that Dudeism is indeed “the religion for its time and place”.
Oliver Benjamin
An excerpt from the Dudeist manifesto:
“While Dudeism in its official form has been organized as a religion only recently, it has existed down through the ages in one form or another: Taoism, Buddhism, Christianity, Sufism, John Lennonism and Fo’-Shizzle-my-Nizzlism. The idea is this: Life is short and complicated and nobody knows what to do about it. So don’t do anything about it. Just take it easy, man. Stop worrying so much whether you’ll make it into the finals. Kick back with some friends and some oat soda and whether you roll strikes or gutters, do your best to be true to yourself and others – that is to say, abide”.
The Dude
Dudeism is an ancient philosophy that preaches non-preachiness, practices as little as possible, and above all, uh… lost my train of thought there. Anyway, if you’d like to find peace on earth and goodwill, man, Dudeism will help you get started. Right after a little nap. To find out more about the slowest-growing religion in the world and, if you dig the Church’s style, to get ordained as as a Dudeist priest, visit www.dudeism.com.
Date: Wednesday 10 August.
Time: 6pm to 9pm.
Place: The Idler Academy, 81 Westbourne Park Road, London W2 5QH.
Cost: £20. Includes free cocktail. BOOK NOW ONLINE or call us on 0207 221 5908, every day from 10am, except Mondays. We do not charge a booking fee.
