funny movies

TD would probably consider this a litmus test. Did you like The Big Lebowski? Was it important to you? When did you see it?

I was in college when it was released, but did not see it until I was in law school. I thought it was funny, but I am not one of those people who memorized lines from it and repeated them in public. Maybe that is a dude thing.

There are certain emblematic comedies that operate as pop cultural milestones, ignorance of which would have branded me as a tool and may have caused TD to smack his forehead in exasperation and maybe love me a little less. E.g., Encino Man, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, Office Space, Zoolander, the Big Lebowski, and Swingers. I have seen all these movies, but never when they were released, never in theaters, and I only saw Zoolander last month or so. I think these movies are fairly amusing, but I did not love them, have never remembered any lines from them (although apparently I am supposed to laugh at make "TPS report" jokes and not roll my eyes when doing so), and have this thesis that funny movies are historically contingent. They are funny in a time vacuum. I may have thought that Bill and Ted were hilarious when I was in junior high or whatever, but I may not laugh at it now, and the pop culture references may have not aged well.

At any rate, I will see The Big Lebowski again this Friday for the first time in years, when we go to a Lebowski festival. We shall see how I respond, and whether my laughter is uproarious.