The Big Lebowski: A Representation of the New West

Far too often, movies are thrown into easily provided categories known as genres and therefore are forced to follow a certain level of guidelines required of the genre. It is this quality of the genre which provides for a very static and unoriginal library of films within the genre. It is the opinion of the author that good movies should be all encompassing and therefore would not be susceptible to the generalizations of a genre. Prior to writing this I encountered this problem with a movie called The Big Lebowski written, produced, and directed by the Joel and Ethan Coen. In the video store the movie was categorized as a comedy, however, after watching it multiple times it became painfully obvious that it was so much more than just a comedy. The Big Lebowski is a movie about the modern West and the changes in the West since the Western era, and how they have changed the ideals and principles of the genre.
Genre is composed of elements of a film which collectively provides...