104
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
I mean I wrote it, I dig seeing my name on the cover. But I just don’t think
it is that simple. Call me a receptacle, a steward, an avatar. Call me the
conduit of an important idea. […] [M]y college reunion’s coming up, and
I needed something to show for the last five years. 52
The reality is a quasi-religious, non-transgressive re-authorization. In fact,
it is recognition by the “stars” involved in The Big Lebowski as well as the
Folger Library as representatives of Shakespearean tradition that confers the
breakthrough accolade on Bertocci’s play, as this timeline on the promotional
webpage suggests: 53
Thursday, January 7
– Jeff Bridges is sent the link, reportedly reacts with amusement.
– Tweeted by the Folger Library, Michael McKean, Harry Knowles.
[…]
– Sunday, January 24
– Report arrives that John Goodman has been given the text and
“laughed his ass off.”
[…]
– Friday, March 12
– Julianne Moore made aware of the piece and the upcoming production. Laughs at the title.
The Folger Library (Shakespeare) and the actors Jeff Bridges, John
Goodman, and Julianne Moore are the key purveyors of a traditionalist
pedigree and the necessary accolades in the context of Lebowski and
Shakespeare fandom. In spite of the grassroots participatory culture
“wreader” and “prosumer” ideology, therefore, all of the authors discussed
here have deliberately sought the canonization of the franchise “church”
and basked in the approval of entertainment companies. It is these
companies who ultimately retain copyright. This can be seen in the simple
fact that more than 100 requests for the performing rights to William
Shakespeare’s Star Wars had to be turned down. Because “Lucasf ilm
52 Adam Bertocci, Two Gentlemen of Lebowski: A Most Excellent Comedie and Tragical Romance
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010), 203. Cf. also Bertocci’s self-fashioning in Zachary Ingle,
60–61.
53 “The Backstory: The Compleat History of a Viral Phenomenon (Abridged),” official website
of Adam Bertocci’s Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, accessed November 22, 2016, www.runleiarun.
com/lebowski/viral.shtml.
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
I mean I wrote it, I dig seeing my name on the cover. But I just don’t think
it is that simple. Call me a receptacle, a steward, an avatar. Call me the
conduit of an important idea. […] [M]y college reunion’s coming up, and
I needed something to show for the last five years. 52
The reality is a quasi-religious, non-transgressive re-authorization. In fact,
it is recognition by the “stars” involved in The Big Lebowski as well as the
Folger Library as representatives of Shakespearean tradition that confers the
breakthrough accolade on Bertocci’s play, as this timeline on the promotional
webpage suggests: 53
Thursday, January 7
– Jeff Bridges is sent the link, reportedly reacts with amusement.
– Tweeted by the Folger Library, Michael McKean, Harry Knowles.
[…]
– Sunday, January 24
– Report arrives that John Goodman has been given the text and
“laughed his ass off.”
[…]
– Friday, March 12
– Julianne Moore made aware of the piece and the upcoming production. Laughs at the title.
The Folger Library (Shakespeare) and the actors Jeff Bridges, John
Goodman, and Julianne Moore are the key purveyors of a traditionalist
pedigree and the necessary accolades in the context of Lebowski and
Shakespeare fandom. In spite of the grassroots participatory culture
“wreader” and “prosumer” ideology, therefore, all of the authors discussed
here have deliberately sought the canonization of the franchise “church”
and basked in the approval of entertainment companies. It is these
companies who ultimately retain copyright. This can be seen in the simple
fact that more than 100 requests for the performing rights to William
Shakespeare’s Star Wars had to be turned down. Because “Lucasf ilm
52 Adam Bertocci, Two Gentlemen of Lebowski: A Most Excellent Comedie and Tragical Romance
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010), 203. Cf. also Bertocci’s self-fashioning in Zachary Ingle,
60–61.
53 “The Backstory: The Compleat History of a Viral Phenomenon (Abridged),” official website
of Adam Bertocci’s Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, accessed November 22, 2016, www.runleiarun.
com/lebowski/viral.shtml.