Rarely does a film, let alone a stoner film that refuses to take itself very seriously, spawn such a cult following as The Big Lebowski. When The Big Lebowski first came out, it had its fans, but it was not until a number of years later that it would accumulate the cult following with which it is associated today. Devotees of the film were inspired by the live-and-let-live hippie consciousness of the protagonist, The Dude, in particular, and the irreverent script. As a result, dudeism arose, a tongue-in-cheek organization, framed as a religion, where devotees of the film could gather.
The website for Dudeism features an illustration of the Dude in a mock-up of Leonardo Da Vinci's Vitruvian Man. The slogan of the site reads, "Your Answer for Everything," and the online store sells everything from ordination certificates (you can "get ordained as a Dudeist priest"), patches, stickers, and shirts. There are also links to a "library, with a number of different essays on spirituality inspired by the film and an oracle that randomly generates different quotes from famous thinkers.
The "religion" was formed in 2005, and was made by Oliver Benjamin, a Californian who also lives in Thailand. He sought to create a banner under which fans of the film can gather and share their appreciation of the film, as well as an earnest forum for spiritual reflection and philosophical inquiry. In an article in The Huffington Post, Benjamin is quoted as saying, "The Dude may seem an unlikely figurehead, but in this day and age where our greatest concerns aren’t Armageddon or the afterlife, but generalized anxiety and existential engagement, the Dude helps us enlighten up to a greater quality of life."
