What the new Dude in No10 can learn from his cult movie forerunner
The Dude. His Dudeness. El Duderino, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing”: not just the nicknames of Jeff Bridges’ laid-back protagonist in the Coen Brothers’ 1998 cult movie The Big Lebowski but, since his victory speech, the latest sobriquet of our incoming prime minister.
No10’s new resident anointed himself as the acronymic “D.U.D.E” who would “Deliver Brexit, Unite the UK, Defeat Corbyn and Energise the country”. So what does Boris “The Dude” Johnson have in common with Jeffrey “The Dude” Lebowski? And what can he learn from his cinematic forerunner?
Well, they’re both big-boned, middle-aged, American-born geezers. They both have trademark unkempt locks – sorry, Boris, but that campaign trail haircut is fooling nobody – a slight slouch and a mischievous eye for the ladies. What The Dude was to tenpin bowling, Boris is to cycling.
Let’s just hope he doesn’t start teaming tribal-print Pendleton cardigans with pyjama bottoms, Vuarnet sunglasses and jelly sandals, as the Dude did. Although that would
sure be a strong look at the next G7 summit.
The film’s aficionados founded a tongue-in-cheek religion called “Dudeism”, also known as “The Church of the Latter-day Dude”, devoted to spreading their hero’s philosophy. The cult of Boris is equally devoted. Judging by the margin of victory, it has at least 92,153 members within the Conservative party.
The Dude’s favourite band was Woodstock blues-rockers Creedence Clearwater Revival. It’s not known if Boris is a fan but he picked The Beatles’ Here Comes the Sun and The Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up while guesting on Desert Island Discs back in 2005, so Creedence could well appear in his record collection too.
As for the film’s Kenny Rogers anthem? Well, one can easily imagine Boris asking pollsters for his latest approval rating by stating that he Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In).
White Russians, of course, were The Dude’s beverage of choice: a cocktail of vodka, Kahlúa and cream, served over ice in a tumbler and occasionally called “The Caucasian” by The Dude.
They’re kind to neither one’s waistline nor one’s intellectual faculties, so we wouldn’t recommend Boris partakes as habitually as The Dude, but the occasional tipple won’t do any harm. Besides, Boris was named after a Soviet émigré his parents once met – a white Russian, if you will.
The Big Lebowski’s labyrinthine plot found its unlikely hero prevailing over protection racketeers, porn barons, cantankerous millionaires, corrupt cops, kidnappers, car thieves and German nihilists. Now Boris has seen off all-comers, plotters and backstabbers to claim the top job.
As the man himself puts it: “The Dude abides.”