The opening scene of "The Big Lebowski" (Coen Brothers, 1998) begins with a track shot on desert terrain, along with saloon-style credits and a non-diegetic introduction to western music (Fig 1) (Sons of Pioneers- 'Tumbling Tumble Weeds'), immediately making the viewer believe that he is being presented with a western film. This feeling is accentuated when the viewer hears a narrator (Samuel Elliot), who appears to be from the West, perhaps a cowboy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. This shot of the song continues as the sky suddenly turns night in a matter of seconds, with a shot of a weed across the landscape. This sudden transition to darkness could provide the observer with a new sense of anxiety due to an unexpected drastic change in the skyline. That's when we see the extra long shot of the city of Los Angeles. Furthermore, David-Martin Jones follows Eric Mottram's argument in Blood on the Nash Ambassador (1983) in stating that the instantaneous change from the skyline represents the image of the male, armed individualist of the nineteenth-century frontier, to the individualists motorists of the newborn America of the twentieth century." It would be plausible to think that the rumors of a Western movie that we see in the first fifty seconds of the film would be debunked by the Los Angeles skyline. However, the continued use of the weed and Western narrator means that we can only speculate that "The Big Lebowski" is not a Western, without eliminating this possibility entirely. It's also crucial to note that as the grass falls on the hill, we hear the sound of a bowling ball rolling down a bowling alley. Therefore, it can be said that this weed represents for the observer a fundamental aspect of the life of the "Dude" (Jeff Lebowski-Jeff Bridges), bowling. The scene shifts to another shot of weeds rolling onto the busy streets of Los Angeles. The grass then drifts down the middle of the road, providing the viewer with another relationship to the significant bowling aspect of the film seen earlier, as the grass moves across the center of two lanes of the road. This continued reference to bowling may also have a deeper meaning, as it is conceivable that it could represent "the guy" himself. It can be argued that this tumbleweed is its life drifting around the city of Los Angeles, without any real purpose. This lack of purpose is demonstrated by the fact that he is unemployed and lives a seemingly lackluster lifestyle with no real prospects, but seems content with this. The Dude finds solace and tranquility in bowling (even though we never see the Dude bowling in the film). At the end of the film the guy tells the cowboy that his life is "you know, strikes and slums, ups and downs", showing the viewer that bowling represents his life cycle. Strikes represent when life is good and slums are when life is not so good. This is evidenced in Donny's (Steve Buscemi) last bowl, as he was previously seen receiving strikes (Fig 2) and shortly before his heart attack he bowls a nine (Fig 3), not a strike as previously shown. seen moving across the beach towards the horizon. It can even be said that this is symbolic; the use of the frontier can represent escape and individuality through the search for oneself, as identity is a key theme of the film. The narrator touches on this during the opening narration as he comments “Sometimes, there's a man, well, he's the man for his time and place. It fits right there. And that's the guy." From this the spectator has thefeeling that this character known as "the dude" personifies the West, in line with his desire for individuality and distancing himself from the Big Lebowski. This is highlighted in a later scene (Fig. 4) where he states to the Big Lebowski in his mansion that "I'm not Mr. Lebowski, you're Mr. Lebowski, I'm 'the guy', that's what you call me." Despite the style unconventional, messy and lazy, the "guy" seems to be satisfied with his lifestyle and does not seem to want to emulate a lifestyle similar to that of the more successful Mr. Lebowski, there is an immediate reaffirmation of the idea of ​​a more modern film, further removing the idea that the film's main theme is a western Our first shot of the "guy" makes the viewer believe that this man will be the central actor of the film, especially considering the narrator's description of a character as "the guy" - and this character immediately seems to fit the name This is due to the fact that "the guy" is dressed in a robe, T-shirt, shorts and sandals, showing her lack of elegant clothing, immediately signaling to the observer a lazy figure who is comfortable with herself and her relaxed attire. This can also be said to reflect the city of Los Angeles, as Los Angeles itself is considered to be a cool and relaxed city, as shown above through the city streets. His casual walk and stance also indicate his carefree personality. As the camera slowly zooms in on "the guy," the narrator comments "there's a man... I won't say a hero, because, what's a hero?" ” This shows the narrator pondering whether “the Dude” is actually a hero or not, showing him that he somehow has hero status since he is questioning it. This would definitely catch the viewer by surprise, as it definitely challenges the hero stereotype, as he is not muscular, well-dressed, or well-groomed. The narrator may perhaps be partial in his view of "The Dude", as he praises "the Dude" for keeping the spirit of individuality alive (closely associated with the western).This reversal of the hero stereotype may just be a personal reflection of the narrating cowboy, as he is not necessarily seen as a hero by anyone else in the film, so this notion of "dude" as hero must be something to which his “randomness” (Coen Screenplay, 3). This notion of distorted perception as he “seems to genuinely appreciate the so-and-so and his posture in life” (Fosl, 2012: 68) exacerbates the idea that “the so-and-so” personifies the West and his individuality. The narrator was described by director Joel Coen as "a bit of a stand-in for the audience... It's as if someone is commenting on the plot from an all-seeing point of view." This use of an omniscient narrator is interesting as the viewer listens to him and relies on him for information about what the film will be about From the narrative, there is essentially nothing useful to extract, as the only real information we take from the narrator is that the main character is "the guy", and the occasional reference to the "I-raqis", relating to the Gulf War. "The Dude" then proceeds to open a carton of "half and half cream" and this not only shows the viewer his nature of being relaxed and carefree as he opens it before purchasing, but it is evident later in the film that he will need it to make a "White Russian" cocktail, a drink we see the main character drink nine times in the film. It can be argued that the whiteness of the cocktail van somewhat resembles a bowling pin, thus providing another reference to bowling. He then proceeds to pay at the checkout, but using the methodrather unconventional than writing a check for $0.69. This close-up can, once again, show his poor lifestyle, as he does not have such a small income. As he writes the check, his attention shifts to the television screen, where we see President George Bush talking about the current state of war between Kuwait and Iraq in the Gulf War. The key is that George Bush uses the phrase “This aggression will not stand”, a phrase that 'the guy' replies when he encounters the 'Big Lebowski' on his carpet (“this aggression will not stand, stay still, man”). With careful observation to verify (Fig. 5), we can see that it is dated "September 11". It is crucial to understand that this is not a 9/11 conspiracy, but simply that George Bush's speech about a "new world order" in which he proclaimed "this aggression will not stand" was delivered on that date in 1991. There are several references to the Gulf War seen in this film. In the scene where Walter (John Goodman) loses his temper with Smokey for crossing the line in a bowling game (Fig 6), Walter proceeds furiously with a gun pointed at Smokey. The guy's pacifism is emphasized here by telling Walter to "put the piece away (referring to the gun)." Subsequently, 'the guy' reiterates to Walter to “take it easy”, Walter responds by saying “Pacifism is not... look at our current situation with that asshole camel in Iraq. Pacifism is not something to hide behind." This is not just a reference to the Gulf War, as by crossing the line in the bowling game, “a line has been crossed, rules have been broken, and the result is violence” (Comer, 2005: 99). In particular, this scene is also associated with the Gulf War in the theme of "taking a stand". This is highlighted immediately, as the phrase "this assault won't stand" (as above) is repeated by "the guy" when he encounters Mr. Lebowski about his carpet being urinated on. Moving forward, we see 'the guy' walking towards his house. There are several aspects of this that are worth noting. First, the darkness descending on the house makes the viewer believe that something bad is about to happen, as the darkness is often associated with evil and danger. Furthermore, it has been shown that the area where the "guy" lives has dirty walls, overgrown plants and an old bicycle sticking out of a bush. This symbolizes that this neighborhood is not well maintained and there is little care about his appearance. This is certainly applicable to the "guy" looking at his house, his car and even his lifestyle. However, this also reflects his carefree nature and his ability to don't "sweat the small stuff." Furthermore, it can be argued that his walk home could be another reference to bowling. The shape of the path leading to his house is strikingly similar to the bowling ball dispensers we see in the bowling alley bowling in the movie (Fig 7), he also carries his bowling ball while walking this path. As "the guy" enters his house, there is momentarily complete darkness in his house, which again would give the observer some anxiety about what will happen when the light comes back on. When the lights come back on, you notice several things. The lifeless color of the door and walls once again reflects the "guy's" disdain for the appearance of his house, in keeping with the appearance of the neighborhood seen earlier. Additionally, we see a bowling award seemingly nailed to the wall, reiterating to the viewer the importance of bowling to "the boy's life." In conclusion, although the opening scene of "The Big Lebowski" shows obvious elements of being a Western, it is essential to understand that this is not the case. The opening scene depicts.