I need your help writing a "Walter" Rant

Discussion in 'The Workshop' started by foil1212, Aug 1, 2008.

  1. foil1212

    foil1212 Jose "Mom Fan" Alvarez Staff Member Moderator

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    Have you ever seen "The Big Lebowski?" Well, it's my favorite movie, and there's this showing at a local cinema with contests for things, and a showing, and bowling and stuff. I'm gonna be Walter (since it was my halloween outfit last year, and I look most like him.) So here's the details:

    So, the most impassioned Walter rant. I need a topic, first off! A good topic that Walter would get really passionate about. Ideas?

    Thanks in advance. :D
  2. Paladin

    Paladin Overjoyed Man of Liberty

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    Okay, let's see...what does Walter rant about in the original?

    He rants about observing the Jewish sabbath, apparently out of some weird fixation he still has on his ex-wife...

    He rants about the "unchecked agression"--pausing only to rebuke the Dude for the non-PC usage of the word "chinaman"--in response to the theft of the Dude's carpet...

    He rants about the marking Smokey's frame score, promising "a world of pain" if Smokey isn't given a zero for a foot fault...

    So, the above rants can be seen as:

    1. Passionate, reasoned justifications for his own strange behavior.

    2. Over-reaction to transgressions against his friends.

    3. Over-reaction to minor transgressions against him.

    What else? He has a tendency to make alusions to Vietnam (e.g., about bowling: "This isn't Nam. There are rules."). He's very sure of himself. He can be suddenly PC. He seeks a dominant position in any argument. He seems obsessed with rules, with having some kind of ethics (he even suggests Nazis are ethically superior to nihilists because at least they have ethics!).

    So, how to make a Walter rant?

    1. Pick some minor issue, one that involves rules or norms or standards for behavior.

    2. Set up some conflict between Walter and another person on that issue; the other person should break the rule in a way that offends Walther.

    3. Allow Walter to grossly over-react to it. His arguments should be empassioned and reasonable, just over the top. Include a reference to Vietnam. He should get angrier as the rant progresses.

    4. I don't know if you will, but I think the opportunity for comedy is better if you have a Donny or Dude to play against.

    How about something like this:

    (imagine the setting is the bowling alley...)
    Walter: "Did you see that?"
    Dude: "What?"
    Walter: "That guy over by the snack bar. Did you see what he just did?"
    Dude: "The black guy? No. What?"
    Walter: "African-American, Dude. He threw an empty drink cup into the aluminum can recycling bin."
    Dude: "So?"
    Walter: "So? Stop and think a minute, Dude. Just stop and think a minute."
    Dude (sorry he's asking): "About what, Walter?"
    Walter: "That bin is for cans. Cans only. Someone's gonna have to sort that out."
    Dude: "Who cares?"
    Walter (sarcastic): "Oh, that's right, Dude. Let's all just not fucking care. Western civilization can descend into chaos all around us, anarchy can reign, and we can all just not care!"
    Donny: "I could go fish that cup outta there..."
    Walter: "Shut the fuck up, Donny! My point is this, Dude. My point is that people have stopped caring about the boundaries. They've stopped respecting them. And without boundaries, you know what people become?"
    Dude: "Uh, boundary-less?"
    Walter: "The Viet Cong, man, the Viet fucking Cong."
    Dude: "Walter..."
    Walter: "I mean it, Dude. Once you let those little ethical walls fall, you'll do anything. The human animal is capable of some depraved things. To you, that may just be the wrong garbage in the wrong bin. But that's the decline of western civilization, right there. That's hundreds of years of enlightenment going down the fucking drain!"
    Dude (sarcastic): "Well, why don't you just, you know, go kill him?"
    Walter (sputtering): "Dude---I'm gonna---" (relents) "Look, if you don't care about civilization and enlightenment, if you want to see anarchy, you just let this shit go. Just let this shit go and you'll see, Dude. I'll still fight the good fight, though."
    Dude: "Let's just bowl, huh?"
    Walter: "Fuck it. Let's bowl."
    • Agree Agree x 1
  3. foil1212

    foil1212 Jose "Mom Fan" Alvarez Staff Member Moderator

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    "I Did NOT SEE MY FRIENDS DIE FACE DOWN IN THE MUCK to have the barriers BROKEN! I have seen some FUCKED UP THINGS, DUDE!"

    That's pretty good. Yeah, I'm having my friend play The Dude, and maybe another play Donny. And Donny can't be in on the conversation. He needs to say something that would fit into the conversational bits that he heard, and walter tells him to shut the fuck up, and maybe another metaphor like the one he did with the movies. Nice, though :D