How Phoebe Bridgers’ debut album was inspired by ‘The Big Lebowski’
I wouldn’t be so bold as to say that The Big Lebowski is the greatest movie of all time, but I would certainly place it in the top one. It’s about the absurdity of life, the end of the American dream, philosophies of man, and Pomeranians, all via the medium of bowling, with its gutters, strikes, and pistols pulled on the lane. Phoebe Bridgers‘ debut might not have the same set of specifics, but it is equally encompassing.
While that might be a wildly nebulous comparison to espouse, there is one direct hint that suggests Bridgers had the Coen brothers’ classic on her mind when she was making 2017’s smash-hit Stranger in the Alps. The hint, as all the biggest Lebowski nerds will already have spotted in an instant as clearly as a fake toe, is hiding in plain sight: the title.
The beauty of The Big Lebowski is that every line and detail is curated with considered intent. This makes it all the more unexpected when, on the TV-edited version, in the scene where Walter Sobchak endures an understandable fit of rage and starts smashing up a sports car while yelling, “This is what happens when you fuck a stranger in the ass,” the line is edited to the PG but inexplicable replacement: “This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps.”
The daytime TV version subverts the notion of getting screwed over into something much more surreal. Why would an Alpine stranger be this aggressive? Is this some sort of censorship metaphor for the post-ski season slump of a vengeful slalom master? There is no reasoning for the wording beyond rhythmic flow. And it is exactly this detail that prompted Bridgers to appropriate it for her record.
“I just thought it was kind of poetic on accident,” Bridgers told Kyle Meredith regarding the title. ”I mean, maybe the person who had to edit it had that in mind, but I just thought it was such an interesting choice, like there are a lot of things that they could’ve chosen to replace that.“ No matter how surreal the editing effort may be, you’d have to say that it was a strike in retrospect because now it has been eternalised.
And if you are the venture further down the rabbit hole, you could argue that it is joyously fitting for Bridgers’ record. Much like The Big Lebowski, the philosophies and reflections of life on Stranger in the Alps are so entrenched in the specifics of Bridgers’ autobiographical tales that you have to listen a few times over before you can corroborate connections to your own life.
Lastly, it also can’t be a hindrance to your career to get a legion of loyal Lebowski fans onboard with your work from the get-go with a subtle nod to their beloved favourite.
