The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski (/ləˈbaʊski/) is a 1998 crime comedy film written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Jeff Bridges as Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker and avid bowler. He is assaulted as a result of mistaken identity, then learns that a millionaire, also named Jeffrey Lebowski (David Huddleston), was the intended victim. The millionaire Lebowski's trophy wife is kidnapped, and millionaire Lebowski commissions The Dude to deliver the ransom to secure her release. The plan goes awry when the Dude's friend, Walter Sobchak (John Goodman), schemes to keep the ransom money for the Dude and himself. Sam Elliott, Julianne Moore, Steve Buscemi, John Turturro, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tara Reid, David Thewlis, Peter Stormare, Jon Polito, and Ben Gazzara also appear in supporting roles.

The film is loosely inspired by the work of Raymond Chandler. Joel Coen stated, "We wanted to do a Chandler kind of story – how it moves episodically, and deals with the characters trying to unravel a mystery, as well as having a hopelessly complex plot that's ultimately unimportant". The original score was composed by Carter Burwell, a longtime collaborator of the Coen brothers.

The Big Lebowski received mixed reviews at the time of its release. Reviews have since become largely positive, and the film has become a cult favorite, noted for its eccentric characters, comedic dream sequences, idiosyncratic dialogue, and eclectic soundtrack. In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". A spin-off, titled The Jesus Rolls, was released in 2020, with Turturro reprising his role and also serving as writer and director.

## Plot

In 1991, slacker and avid bowler Jeffrey "The Dude" Lebowski is attacked in his Los Angeles home by two enforcers for porn kingpin Jackie Treehorn, to whom a different Jeffrey Lebowski's wife owes money. One enforcer urinates on the Dude's rug before the two realize that they have the wrong man and leave.

Consulting his bowling partners, Vietnam veteran Walter Sobchak and fall guy Donny Kerabatsos, the Dude visits wealthy philanthropist Jeffrey Lebowski ("the big Lebowski"), requesting compensation for the rug. Lebowski refuses, but the Dude tricks his assistant Brandt into letting him take a similar rug from the mansion. Outside, he meets Bunny, Lebowski's trophy wife, and her German nihilist friend Uli. Soon afterwards, Bunny is apparently kidnapped, and Lebowski hires The Dude to deliver the ransom money, one million dollars. That night, another group of thugs ambush the Dude, taking his replacement rug on behalf of Lebowski's daughter Maude, who has a sentimental attachment to it.

The kidnappers arrange to collect the ransom. Convinced that the kidnap was a ruse by Bunny, Walter schemes to keep the money for the Dude and himself, substituting it with a bag of his dirty laundry. The plan fails, the kidnappers leave with Walter's bag, and he and The Dude return to the bowling alley, leaving the briefcase of money in the car trunk. While they bowl, the car is stolen. The Dude is confronted by Lebowski, who has an envelope from the kidnappers containing a severed toe, supposedly Bunny's. Maude asks the Dude to help recover the money, which her father illegally withdrew from the family's charity foundation.

The Dude receives a call from the police telling him that his car has been found and taken to an impound lot. While retrieving the car, he notices that the briefcase is missing and finds a piece of homework belonging to teenager Larry Sellers. Walter and the Dude drive to Larry's house and interrogate him, but cannot get any information out of him. To intimidate Larry, Walter smashing a sports car that he believes the teenager purchased with the stolen money. Enraged, the car's real owner destroys the Dude's car in retaliation, believing it to be Walter's.

The Dude is abducted by Jackie Treehorn's thugs and taken to see the porn kingpin, who demands to know where Bunny is and what happened to his money. The Dude says Bunny faked her kidnapping and that his money is with Larry. The Dude passes out after drinking a spiked White Russian given to him by Treehorn, and has a dream in which he envisions a Busby Berkeley-style musical sequence featuring himself and Maude. After waking up, he is arrested and taken to a police station, where its chief warns him to stay out of Malibu. On the ride home, the Dude is thrown out of his taxi after complaining about the driver's selection of music on the car radio. At that moment, Bunny drives by in her car, with all her toes shown to be intact. The severed toe actually came from the girlfriend of one of the nihilists.

Returning home, The Dude finds Maude, who has sex with him. She is trying to become pregnant by a father with whom she will not have to interact socially. Her father has no money of his own; his wealth came from her late mother.

The Dude and Walter confront Lebowski, and find that Bunny has returned, having simply gone out of town without telling anyone. Bunny's nihilist friends had taken the opportunity to blackmail Lebowski, who, in turn, had tried to embezzle money from the family charity, blaming its disappearance on the blackmailers. The Dude believes the briefcase given to him never contained any money. An enraged Walter insists that Lebowski is faking his paralysis and lifts him out of his wheelchair. However, the paralysis turns out to be real.

Walter and The Dude are bowling, when an angry Jesus Quintana interrupts them. Walter previously stated that since he is shomer Shabbos, he could not bowl on a Saturday. In a tirade, Quintana implies that he does not believe in Walter's excuses for not bowling on Saturday. Quintana threatens Walter and The Dude with violence and storms out. Outside of the bowling alley, the nihilists set fire to the Dude's car, and demand the ransom money. Walter fights them off. However, during the altercation, Donny dies from a heart attack. Walter scatters Donny's ashes from a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean, but they are blown back over himself and the Dude by an updraft. The Dude loses his temper and yells at Walter, who consoles him, and the two then go bowling.

Meanwhile, Maude is pregnant with a "little Lebowski on the way."

## Cast

## Production

### Development

The Dude is mostly inspired by Jeff Dowd, an American film producer and political activist the Coen brothers met while they were trying to find distribution for their first feature, Blood Simple. Dowd had been a member of the Seattle Seven, liked to drink White Russians, and was known as "The Dude". The Dude was also partly based on a friend of the Coen brothers, Peter Exline (now a member of the faculty at USC's School of Cinematic Arts), a Vietnam War veteran who reportedly lived in a dump of an apartment and was proud of a little rug that "tied the room together". Exline knew Barry Sonnenfeld from New York University and Sonnenfeld introduced Exline to the Coen brothers while they were trying to raise money for Blood Simple. Exline became friends with the Coens and in 1989, told them all kinds of stories from his own life, including ones about his actor-writer friend Lewis Abernathy (one of the inspirations for Walter), a fellow Vietnam vet who later became a private investigator and helped him track down and confront a high school kid who stole his car. As in the film, Exline's car was impounded by the Los Angeles Police Department and Abernathy found an 8th grader's homework under the passenger seat.

Exline also belonged to an amateur softball league but the Coens changed it to bowling in the film, because "it's a very social sport where you can sit around and drink and smoke while engaging in inane conversation". The Coens met filmmaker John Milius when they were in Los Angeles making Barton Fink and incorporated his love of guns and the military into the character of Walter. John Milius introduced the Coen Brothers to one of his best friends, Jim Ganzer, who would have been another source of inferences to create Jeff Bridges' character. Also known as the Dude, Ganzer and his gang, typical Malibu surfers, served as inspiration as well for Milius's film Big Wednesday.

Before David Huddleston was cast as "Big" Jeffrey Lebowski, the Coens considered Robert Duvall (who did not like the script), Anthony Hopkins (who wasn't interested in playing an American), Gene Hackman (who was taking a break from acting at the time), Jack Nicholson (who wasn't interested, he only wanted to portray Moses), Tommy Lee Jones (who was considered "too young"), Ned Beatty, Michael Caine, Bruce Dern, Jackie Cooper, Fred Ward, Rod Steiger, Peter Boyle, Lloyd Bridges, Paul Dooley, Pat Hingle, Jonathan Winters, Norman Mailer, George C. Scott, Jerry Falwell, Gore Vidal, Andy Griffith, William F. Buckley, and Ernest Borgnine. The Coens' top choice was Marlon Brando, but he was unable to star in the film due to health issues. Charlize Theron was considered for the role of Bunny Lebowski.

According to Julianne Moore, the character of Maude was based on artist Carolee Schneemann, "who worked naked from a swing", and on Yoko Ono. The character of Jesus Quintana, an opponent of The Dude's bowling team, was inspired in part by a performance the Coens had seen John Turturro give in 1988 at the Public Theater in a play called Mi Puta Vida in which he played a pederast-type character, "so we thought, let's make Turturro a pederast. It'll be something he can really run with," Joel said in an interview.

The film's overall structure was influenced by the detective fiction of Raymond Chandler. Ethan said, "We wanted something that would generate a certain narrative feeling – like a modern Raymond Chandler story, and that's why it had to be set in Los Angeles ... We wanted to have a narrative flow, a story that moves like a Chandler book through different parts of town and different social classes." The use of the Stranger's voice-over also came from Chandler as Joel remarked, "He is a little bit of an audience substitute. In the movie adaptation of Chandler it's the main character that speaks off-screen, but we didn't want to reproduce that though it obviously has echoes. It's as if someone was commenting on the plot from an all-seeing point of view. And at the same time rediscovering the old earthiness of a Mark Twain."

The significance of the bowling culture was, according to Joel, "important in reflecting that period at the end of the fifties and the beginning of the sixties. That suited the retro side of the movie, slightly anachronistic, which sent us back to a not-so-far-away era, but one that was well and truly gone nevertheless."

### Screenplay

The Coen Brothers wrote The Big Lebowski around the same time as Barton Fink. When the Coen brothers wanted to make it, John Goodman was filming episodes for Roseanne and Jeff Bridges was making the Walter Hill film Wild Bill. The Coens decided to make Fargo in the meantime. According to Ethan, "the movie was conceived as pivoting around that relationship between the Dude and Walter", which sprang from the scenes between Barton Fink and Charlie Meadows in Barton Fink. They also came up with the idea of setting the film in contemporary L.A., because the people who inspired the story lived in the area. When Pete Exline told them about the homework in a baggie incident, the Coens thought that that was very Raymond Chandler and decided to integrate elements of the author's fiction into their script. Joel Coen cites Robert Altman's The Long Goodbye as a primary influence on their film, in the sense that The Big Lebowski "is just kind of informed by Chandler around the edges". When they started writing the script, the Coens wrote only 40 pages and then let it sit for a while before finishing it. This is a normal writing process for them, because they often "encounter a problem at a certain stage, we pass to another project, then we come back to the first script. That way we've already accumulated pieces for several future movies." In order to liven up a scene that they thought was too heavy on exposition, they added an "effete art-world hanger-on", known as Knox Harrington, late in the screenwriting process. In the original script, the Dude's car was a Chrysler LeBaron, as Dowd had once owned, but that car was not big enough to fit John Goodman so the Coens changed it to a Ford Torino.

### Pre-production

PolyGram and Working Title Films, which had funded Fargo, backed The Big Lebowski with a budget of \$15 million. In casting the film, Joel remarked, "we tend to write both for people we know and have worked with, and some parts without knowing who's going to play the role. In The Big Lebowski we did write for John [Goodman] and Steve [Buscemi], but we didn't know who was getting the Jeff Bridges role." The Coens originally considered Mel Gibson for the role of The Dude, but he didn't take the pitch too seriously. In preparation for his role, Bridges met Dowd but actually "drew on myself a lot from back in the Sixties and Seventies. I lived in a little place like that and did drugs, although I think I was a little more creative than the Dude." The actor went into his own closet with the film's wardrobe person and picked out clothes that he had thought the Dude might wear. He wore his character's clothes home because most of them were his own. The actor also adopted the same physicality as Dowd, including the slouching and his ample belly. Originally, Goodman wanted a different kind of beard for Walter but the Coen brothers insisted on the "Gladiator" or what they called the "Chin Strap" and he thought it would go well with his flattop haircut.

For the film's look, the Coens wanted to avoid the usual retro 1960s clichés like lava lamps, Day-Glo posters, and Grateful Dead music and for it to be "consistent with the whole bowling thing, we wanted to keep the movie pretty bright and poppy", Joel said in an interview. For example, the star motif, featured predominantly throughout the film, started with the film's production designer Richard Heinrichs' design for the bowling alley. According to Joel, he "came up with the idea of just laying free-form neon stars on top of it and doing a similar free-form star thing on the interior". This carried over to the film's dream sequences. "Both dream sequences involve star patterns and are about lines radiating to a point. In the first dream sequence, the Dude gets knocked out and you see stars and they all coalesce into the overhead nightscape of L.A. The second dream sequence is an astral environment with a backdrop of stars", remembers Heinrichs. For Jackie Treehorn's Malibu beach house, he was inspired by late 1950s and early 1960s bachelor pad furniture. The Coen brothers told Heinrichs that they wanted Treehorn's beach party to be Inca-themed, with a "very Hollywood-looking party in which young, oiled-down, fairly aggressive men walk around with appetizers and drinks. So there's a very sacrificial quality to it."

Cinematographer Roger Deakins discussed the look of the film with the Coens during pre-production. They told him that they wanted some parts of the film to have a real and contemporary feeling and other parts, like the dream sequences, to have a very stylized look. Bill and Jacqui Landrum did all of the choreography for the film. For his dance sequence, Jack Kehler went through three three-hour rehearsals. The Coen brothers offered him three to four choices of classical music for him to pick from and he chose Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. At each rehearsal, he went through each phase of the piece.

### Principal photography

Actual filming took place over an eleven-week period with location shooting in and around Los Angeles, including all of the bowling sequences at the Hollywood Star Lanes (for three weeks) and the Dude's Busby Berkeley dream sequences in a converted airplane hangar. According to Joel, the only time they ever directed Bridges "was when he would come over at the beginning of each scene and ask, 'Do you think the Dude burned one on the way over?' I'd reply 'Yes' usually, so Jeff would go over in the corner and start rubbing his eyes to get them bloodshot." Julianne Moore was sent the script while working on The Lost World: Jurassic Park. She worked only two weeks on the film, early and late during the production that went from January to April 1997 while Sam Elliott was only on set for two days and did many takes of his final speech.

Joel Coen said that Jeff Bridges was upset there wasn't playback monitor so Bridges made them get a playback monitor at the end of the second week of production.

The scenes in Jackie Treehorn's house were shot in the Sheats-Goldstein Residence, designed by John Lautner and built in 1963 in the Hollywood Hills.

Deakins described the look of the fantasy scenes as being very crisp, monochromatic, and highly lit in order to afford greater depth of focus. However, with the Dude's apartment, Deakins said, "it's kind of seedy and the light's pretty nasty" with a grittier look. The visual bridge between these two different looks was how he photographed the night scenes. Instead of adopting the usual blue moonlight or blue street lamp look, he used an orange sodium-light effect. The Coen brothers shot much of the film with wide-angle lens because, according to Joel, it made it easier to hold focus for a greater depth and it made camera movements more dynamic.

To achieve the point-of-view of a rolling bowling ball the Coen brothers mounted a camera "on something like a barbecue spit", according to Ethan, and then dollied it along the lane. The challenge for them was figuring out the relative speeds of the forward motion and the rotating motion. CGI was used to create the vantage point of the thumb hole in the bowling ball.

## Soundtrack

The original score was composed by Carter Burwell, a veteran of all the Coen Brothers' films. While the Coens were writing the screenplay they had Kenny Rogers' "Just Dropped In (to See What Condition My Condition Was in)", the Gipsy Kings' cover of "Hotel California", and several Creedence Clearwater Revival songs in mind. They asked T-Bone Burnett (who would later work with the Coens on O Brother, Where Art Thou? and Inside Llewyn Davis) to pick songs for the soundtrack of the film. They knew that they wanted different genres of music from different times but, as Joel remembers, "T-Bone even came up with some far-out Henry Mancini and Yma Sumac." Burnett was able to secure songs by Kenny Rogers and the Gipsy Kings and also added tracks by Captain Beefheart, Moondog and Bob Dylan's "The Man in Me". However, he had a tough time securing the rights to Townes Van Zandt's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Dead Flowers", which plays over the film's closing credits. Former Stones manager Allen Klein owned the rights to the song and wanted \$150,000 for it. Burnett convinced Klein to watch an early cut of the film and remembers, "It got to the part where the Dude says, 'I hate the fuckin' Eagles, man!' Klein stands up and says, 'That's it, you can have the song!' That was beautiful." Burnett was going to be credited on the film as "Music Supervisor", but asked his credit to be "Music Archivist" because he "hated the notion of being a supervisor; I wouldn't want anyone to think of me as management".

For Joel, "the original music, as with other elements of the movie, had to echo the retro sounds of the Sixties and early Seventies". Music defines each character. For example, "Tumbling Tumbleweeds" by Bob Nolan was chosen for the Stranger at the time the Coens wrote the screenplay, as was "Lujon" by Henry Mancini for Jackie Treehorn. "The German nihilists are accompanied by techno-pop and Jeff Bridges by Creedence. So there's a musical signature for each of them", remarked Ethan in an interview. The character Uli Kunkel was in the German electronic band Autobahn, an homage to the band Kraftwerk. The album cover of their record Nagelbett (bed of nails) is a parody of the Kraftwerk album cover for The Man-Machine and the group name Autobahn shares the name of a Kraftwerk song and album. In the lyrics the phrase "We believe in nothing" is repeated with electronic distortion. This is a reference to Autobahn's nihilism in the film.

## Reception

### Box office

The Big Lebowski received its world premiere at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 1998, at the 1,300-capacity Eccles Theater. It was also screened at the 48th Berlin International Film Festival before opening in North America on March 6, 1998, in 1,207 theaters. It grossed \$5.5 million on its opening weekend, finishing up with a gross of \$18 million in the United States, just above its US\$15 million budget. The film's worldwide gross outside of the US was \$28.7 million, bringing its worldwide gross to \$46.7 million.

### Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 80% based on 191 reviews, with an average score of 7.40/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "The Big Lebowski's shaggy dog story won't satisfy everybody, but those who abide will be treated to a rambling succession of comic delights, with Jeff Bridges' laconic performance really tying the movie together." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, has assigned the film a score of 71 out of 100 based on reviews from 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.

Many critics and audiences have likened the film to a modern Western, while many others dispute this, or liken it to a crime novel that revolves around mistaken identity plot devices. Peter Howell, in his review for the Toronto Star, wrote: "It's hard to believe that this is the work of a team that won an Oscar last year for the original screenplay of Fargo. There's a large amount of profanity in the movie, which seems a weak attempt to paper over dialogue gaps." Howell revised his opinion in a later review, and in 2011 stated that "it may just be my favourite Coen Bros. film."

Todd McCarthy in Variety magazine wrote: "One of the film's indisputable triumphs is its soundtrack, which mixes Carter Burwell's original score with classic pop tunes and some fabulous covers." USA Today gave the film three out of four stars and felt that the Dude was "too passive a hero to sustain interest," but that there was "enough startling brilliance here to suggest that, just like the Dude, those smarty-pants Coens will abide."

In his review for The Washington Post, Desson Howe praised the Coens and "their inspired, absurdist taste for weird, peculiar Americana – but a sort of neo-Americana that is entirely invented – the Coens have defined and mastered their own bizarre subgenre. No one does it like them and, it almost goes without saying, no one does it better."

Janet Maslin praised Bridges' performance in her review for The New York Times: "Mr. Bridges finds a role so right for him that he seems never to have been anywhere else. Watch this performance to see shambling executed with nonchalant grace and a seemingly out-to-lunch character played with fine comic flair." Andrew Sarris, in his review for the New York Observer, wrote: "The result is a lot of laughs and a feeling of awe toward the craftsmanship involved. I doubt that there'll be anything else like it the rest of this year." In a five star review for Empire Magazine, Ian Nathan wrote: "For those who delight in the Coens' divinely abstract take on reality, this is pure nirvana" and "in a perfect world all movies would be made by the Coen brothers." Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three stars out of four, describing it as "weirdly engaging." In a 2010 review, he raised his original score to four stars out of four and added the film to his "Great Movies" list.

However, Jonathan Rosenbaum wrote in the Chicago Reader: "To be sure, The Big Lebowski is packed with show-offy filmmaking and as a result is pretty entertaining. But insofar as it represents a moral position—and the Coens' relative styling of their figures invariably does—it's an elitist one, elevating salt-of-the-earth types like Bridges and Goodman ... over everyone else in the movie." Dave Kehr, in his review for the Daily News, criticized the film's premise as a "tired idea, and it produces an episodic, unstrung film." The Guardian criticized the film as "a bunch of ideas shoveled into a bag and allowed to spill out at random. The film is infuriating, and will win no prizes. But it does have some terrific jokes."

## Legacy

Since its original release, The Big Lebowski has become a cult classic. Ardent fans of the film call themselves "achievers". Steve Palopoli wrote about the film's emerging cult status in July 2002. He first realized that the film had a cult following when he attended a midnight screening in 2000 at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles and witnessed people quoting dialogue from the film to each other. Soon after the article appeared, the programmer for a local midnight film series in Santa Cruz decided to screen The Big Lebowski and on the first weekend they had to turn away several hundred people. The theater held the film over for six weeks, which had never happened before.

An annual festival, Lebowski Fest, began in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, in 2002 with 150 fans showing up, and has since expanded to several other cities. The festival's main event each year is a night of unlimited bowling with various contests including costume, trivia, hardest- and farthest-traveled contests. Held over a weekend, events typically include a pre-fest party with bands the night before the bowling event as well as a day-long outdoor party with bands, vendor booths and games. Various celebrities from the film have attended some of the events, including Jeff Bridges who attended the Los Angeles event. The British equivalent, inspired by Lebowski Fest, is known as The Dude Abides and is held in London.

Dudeism, a religion devoted largely to spreading the philosophy and lifestyle of the film's main character, was founded in 2005. Also known as The Church of the Latter-Day Dude (a name parody of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), the organization has ordained over 220,000 "Dudeist Priests" all over the world via its website.

"The Big Lebowski and Philosophy: Keeping Your Mind Limber with Abiding Wisdom," published in 2012 by Wiley, is a collection of 18 essays by different writers analyzing the movie's philosophical themes of nihilism, war and politics, money and materialism, idealism and morality, and the Dude as the philosopher's hero who struggles to live the good life in spite of the challenges he endures.

Two species of African spider are named after the film and main character: Anelosimus biglebowski and Anelosimus dude, both described in 2006. Additionally, an extinct Permian conifer genus is named after the film in honor of its creators. The first species described within this genus in 2007 is based on 270-million-year-old plant fossils from Texas, and is called Lebowskia grandifolia.

Entertainment Weekly ranked it 8th on their Funniest Movies of the Past 25 Years list. The film was also ranked No. 34 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films" and ranked No. 15 on the magazine's "The Cult 25: The Essential Left-Field Movie Hits Since '83" list. In addition, the magazine also ranked The Dude No. 14 in their "The 100 Greatest Characters of the Last 20 Years" poll. The film was also nominated for the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association. The Big Lebowski was voted as the 10th best film set in Los Angeles in the last 25 years by a group of Los Angeles Times writers and editors with two criteria: "The movie had to communicate some inherent truth about the L.A. experience, and only one film per director was allowed on the list." Empire magazine ranked Walter Sobchak No. 49 and the Dude No. 7 in their "The 100 Greatest Movie Characters" poll. Roger Ebert added The Big Lebowski to his list of "Great Movies" in March 2010.

### Spin-off

The Coen brothers have stated that they will never make a sequel to The Big Lebowski. Nevertheless, John Turturro expressed interest in reprising his role as Jesus Quintana, and in 2014, he announced that he had requested permission to use the character. In August 2016, it was reported that Turturro would reprise his role as Jesus Quintana in The Jesus Rolls, a spin-off of The Big Lebowski, based on the 1974 French film Going Places, with Turturro starring, writing, and directing. It was released in 2020. The Coen brothers, although having granted Turturro the right to use the character, were not involved, and no other character from The Big Lebowski was featured in the film.

### Stella Artois commercial

On January 24, 2019, Jeff Bridges posted a 5-second clip on Twitter with the statement: "Can't be living in the past, man. Stay tuned" and showing Bridges as the Dude, walking through a room as a tumbleweed rolls by. The clip was a teaser trailer for an ad during Super Bowl LIII which featured Bridges reprising the role of The Dude for a Stella Artois commercial.

### Use as social and political analysis

The film has been used as a tool for analysis on a number of issues. In September 2008, Slate published an article that interpreted The Big Lebowski as a political critique. The center piece of this viewpoint was that Walter Sobchak is "a neocon," citing the film's references to then President George H. W. Bush and the first Gulf War.

A journal article by Brian Wall, published in the feminist journal Camera Obscura, uses the film to explain Karl Marx's commodity fetishism and the feminist consequences of sexual fetishism.

In That Rug Really Tied the Room Together, first published in 2001, Joseph Natoli argues that The Dude represents a counter narrative to the post-Reaganomic entrepreneurial rush for "return on investment" on display in such films as Jerry Maguire and Forrest Gump.

It has been used as a carnivalesque critique of society, as an analysis on war and ethics, as a narrative on mass communication and US militarism and other issues.

## Home media

Universal Studios Home Entertainment released a "Collector's Edition" DVD on October 18, 2005, with extra features that included an "introduction by Mortimer Young", "Jeff Bridges' Photography", "Making of The Big Lebowski", and "Production Notes". In addition, a limited-edition "Achiever's Edition Gift Set" also included The Big Lebowski Bowling Shammy Towel, four Collectible Coasters that included photographs and quotable lines from the film, and eight Exclusive Photo Cards from Jeff Bridges' personal collection.

A "10th Anniversary Edition" was released on September 9, 2008, and features all of the extras from the "Collector's Edition" and "The Dude's Life: Strikes and Gutters ... Ups and Downs ... The Dude Abides" theatrical trailer (from the first DVD release), "The Lebowski Fest: An Achiever's Story", "Flying Carpets and Bowling Pin Dreams: The Dream Sequences of the Dude", "Interactive Map", "Jeff Bridges Photo Book", and a "Photo Gallery". There are both a standard release and a Limited Edition which features "Bowling Ball Packaging" and is individually numbered.

A high-definition version of The Big Lebowski was released by Universal on HD DVD format on June 26, 2007. The film was released in Blu-ray format in Italy by Cecchi Gori.

On August 16, 2011, Universal Pictures released The Big Lebowski on Blu-ray. The limited-edition package includes a Jeff Bridges photo book, a ten-years-on retrospective, and an in-depth look at the annual Lebowski Fest. The film is also available in the Blu-ray Coen Brothers box set released in the UK; however, this version is region-free and will work in any Blu-ray player.

For the film's 20th Anniversary, Universal Pictures released a 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray version of the film, which was released on October 16, 2018.

## See also

- List of films that most frequently use the word "fuck"
- List of films featuring fictional films
- List of films featuring miniature people

1998 film by Joel and Ethan Coen

United States National Film Registry films


Swaminarayan Akshardham (Delhi)

Swaminarayan Akshardham is a Hindu temple, and spiritual-cultural campus in Delhi, India. The temple is close to the border with Noida. Also referred to as Akshardham Temple or Akshardham Delhi, the complex displays millennia of traditional and modern Hindu culture, spirituality, and architecture. Inspired by Yogiji Maharaj and created by Pramukh Swami Maharaj, it was constructed by BAPS.

The temple was officially opened on 6 November 2005 by Pramukh Swami Maharaj in the presence of A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, Manmohan Singh, L.K Advani and B.L Joshi. The temple, at the centre of the complex, was built according to the Vastu shastra and Pancharatra shastra.

In Swaminarayan Akshardham, similar to its predecessor Swaminarayan Akshardham in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, the main shrine is the focal point and maintains the central position of the entire complex. There are various exhibition halls which provide information about the life and work of Swaminarayan. The designers of the complex have adopted contemporary modes of communication and technology to create the various exhibition halls.

The complex features an abhishek mandap, Sahaj Anand water show, a thematic garden, and three exhibitions namely Sahajanand Darshan (Hall of Values), Neelkanth Darshan (an IMAX film on the early life of Swaminarayan as the teenage yogi, Neelkanth), and Sanskruti Darshan (cultural boat ride). According to Swaminarayan Hinduism, the word Akshardham means the abode of Swaminarayan and believed by followers as a temporal home of God on earth.

## Features

### Akshardham Mandir

The main attraction of the Swaminarayan Akshardham complex is the Akshardham Mandir. It rises 141-foot (43 m) high, spans 316-foot (96 m) wide, and extends 356-foot (109 m) long. It is intricately carved with flora, fauna, dancers, musicians, and deities.

The Akshardham Mandir was designed by BAPS Swamis and Virendra Trivedi, a member of the Sompura family. It is entirely constructed from Rajasthani pink sandstone and Italian Carrara marble. Based on traditional Hindu architectural guidelines (Shilpa shastras) on maximum temple life span, it makes no use of ferrous metal. Thus, it has no support from steel or concrete.

The mandir also consists of 234 ornately carved pillars, nine domes, and 20,000 murtis of swamis, devotees, and acharyas. The mandir also features the Gajendra Pith at its base, a plinth paying tribute to the elephant for its importance in Hindu culture and India's history. It contains 148 life sized elephants in total weighing a total of 3000 tons.

Under the temple's central dome lies the 11-foot (3.4m) high murti of Swaminarayan seated in abhayamudra to whom the temple is dedicated. Swaminarayan is surrounded by images of the faith's lineage of Gurus depicted either in a devotional posture or in a posture of service. Each murti is made of paanch dhaatu or five metals in accordance to Hindu tradition. The temple also houses the murtis of Sita Ram, Radha Krishna, Shiv Parvati, and Lakshmi Narayan.

### Exhibits

#### Sahajanand Darshan [Hall of Values]

The Hall of Values features lifelike robotics and dioramas which display incidents from Swaminarayan's life, portraying his message about the importance of peace, harmony, humility, service to others and devotion to God. Set in 18th century India, the audience experiences eternal messages gleaned from ancient Hindu culture such as non‐violence, vegetarianism, perseverance, prayers, morality, and family harmony through 15 3-dimensional dioramas which make use of state of the art robotics, fibre optics, light and sound effects, dialogues, and music. The hall also features the world's smallest animatronic robot in the form of Ghanshyam Maharaj, the child form of Swaminarayan.

#### Nilkanth Darshan [Theatre]

The theatre houses Delhi's first and only large format screen, measuring 85-foot (26 m) by 65-foot (20 m). The theatre shows a 40-minute film specially commissioned for the complex, Neelkanth Yatra, to recount a seven-year pilgrimage made by Swaminarayan made during his teenage years throughout India. Mystic India, an international version of the film produced by BAPS Charities, was released in 2005 at IMAX theatres and giant screen cinemas worldwide. A 27-foot (8.2 m) tall bronze murti of Neelkanth Varni is located outside the theatre.

#### Sanskruti Vihar [Boat Ride]

The Boat Ride is a 12-minute journey through 10,000 years glorious heritage, using life size figures and robotics to depict life in Vedic India, from family life to bazaars and teaching. It also shows the contributions of Vedic Indians to various fields such as science, astronomy, arts, literature, yoga, mathematics, etc. by eminent persons like mathematician-astronomers Aryabhata and Brahmagupta, grammarian Pāṇini, contributors to the ancient art and science of Ayurveda like Sushruta and Charaka, Classical Sanskrit writer Kālidāsa, philosopher, economist and royal advisor Chanakya, among others. It shows the world's first university, Takshashila and the subjects taught there such as horse riding and warfare. It moves on to the Middle Ages to Sufi saints like Kabir and saints from the Bhakti movement such as Meera and Ramananda and then to recent times highlighting the contributions of modern Indian mathematicians such as Jagadish Chandra Bose, Srinivasa Ramanujan, C. V. Raman and Satyendra Nath Bose and philosophers like Swami Vivekananda.

#### Musical fountain

Musical fountain, also known as the Yagnapurush Kund, is India's largest step well. It features a very large series of steps down to a traditional 'yagna kund'. During the day, these steps provide rest for the visitors to the complex and at night, a musical fountain show named Sahaj Anand - Multi-Media Water Show is shown. Sahaj Anand Water Show is a 24-minute presentation which unites a variety of media to bring to life a story from the Kena Upanishad. Multi-color lasers, video projections, underwater flames, water jets and surround sound in symphony with lights and live actors produce a presentation. International experts contributed their expertise with BAPS volunteers and swamis to produce this presentation.

`The fountain is named after the founder of the Hindu organization BAPS, Shastriji Maharaj. The fountain measures 300 feet (91 m) by 300 feet (91 m) with 2,870 steps and 108 small shrines. In its centre lies an eight-petaled lotus-shaped yagna kund designed according to the Jayaakhya Samhita of the Pancharatra shastra.`

#### Garden of India

Also known as the Bharat Upavan, this garden has lush manicured lawns, trees, and shrubs. The garden is lined with bronze sculptures of contributors to India's culture and history. These sculptures include children, women, national figures, freedom fighters, and warriors of India, including notable figures such as Mahatma Gandhi.

Travel

The complex is accessible by Delhi Metro. The Akshardham Metro Station is proximate to the complex.

### Additional features

#### Yogi Hraday Kamal

A sunken gardinene, shaped like a lotus when viewed from above, features large stones engraved with quotes from world luminaries ranging from Shakespeare and Martin Luther King Jr. to Swami Vivekananda and Swaminarayan.

#### Nilkanth Abhishek

Devotees offer abhishek, a ritual of pouring water on to the murti of Nilkanth Varni, and express their reverence and prayers for spiritual upliftment and fulfilment of wishes.

#### Narayan Sarovar

The Narayan Sarovar is a lake that surrounds the main monument. The lake contains holy waters from 151 rivers and lakes that are believed to have been sanctified by Swaminarayan, including Mansarovar. Surrounding the Narayan Sarovar are 108 gaumukhs, symbolising Janmangal Namavali or the 108 names for god, from which holy water issues forth.

#### Premvati Ahargruh

The Premvati Ahargruh/the Premvati Food Court is a vegetarian restaurant modelled on the Ajanta and Ellora caves in Maharashtra, India and an Ayurvedic bazaar. The restaurant caters a variety of traditional dishes.

#### AARSH Centre

The Akshardham Centre for Applied Research in Social Harmony or the AARSH Centre is a centre within the complex that applies research of social harmony and related topics. Scholars and students may conduct practical research through AARSH. Researchers have the ability to carry out their research projects and affiliate their papers with AARSH. Studies on education, medicare, tribal and rural welfare, ecology, and culture are conducted within the centre.

## Planning and development

### Planning

The building had been planned since 1968 as a vision of Yogiji Maharaj. Yogiji Maharaj, the spiritual head of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha at the time, expressed his desire for wanting a grand temple built on the banks of the Yamuna river to two or three devotee families of Swaminarayan that resided in New Delhi at the time. Attempts were made to start the project, however little progress was made. In 1971, Yogiji Maharaj died.

In 1982, Pramukh Swami Maharaj, Yogiji Maharaj's successor as the spiritual head of BAPS, started to continue fulfilling the dream of his guru Yogiji Maharaj and prompted devotees to look into the possibility of building the temple in Delhi. A request for the plan was put forward to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), and several different places were suggested, including Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, and Faridabad. Pramukh Swami Maharaj stood firm in following the wishes of Yogiji Maharaj to build a temple on the Yamuna.

In April 2000, after 18 years, the Delhi Development Authority offered 60 acres (240,000 m2) of land, and the Uttar Pradesh Government offered 30 acres (120,000 m2) for the project. Upon receiving the land, Pramukh Swami Maharaj performed puja on the site for success in the project. Construction on the temple began on 8 November 2000 and Akshardham was officially opened on 6 November 2005, with the building being completed in two days short of five years.

### Environmental clearance

An amendment to the Government of India's Environment Impact Assessment Notification of 1994 was made in 2004, which required that environmental clearance be granted to any parcel of land that falls under the Yamuna floodplain before beginning any construction activities. Since Akshardham commenced construction activities in 2000, prior to the enactment of this amendment, it did not apply to Akshardham. However certain NGOs and activists felt that the temple was constructed without obtaining the necessary environmental clearances. In January 2005, the U.P. Employees Federation presented their case before the Supreme Court of India that the temple had not obtained necessary environmental clearances and that it would be harmful to the environment. After hearing the case, the Supreme Court observed that in the construction of Akshardham, all the Land Use Plans had been adhered to and clearance of expert bodies like the Central Water Commission and the National Environment Engineering Research Institute has been obtained. Thus, the Supreme Court ruled that the Akshardham construction was lawful and did not violate environmental norms. Despite this ruling, some activists and politicians continued to assert that the Akshardham construction was illegal and posed a threat to the Yamuna River floodplains. In a 2009 ruling on a related issue, the Supreme Court further clarified that it rejected as false the assertions that Akshardham did not have environmental permissions and was harmful to the Yamuna riverbed. It reiterated its earlier 2005 Ruling that Akshardham had received all necessary environmental permissions from Central Water Commission and NEERI, which is an autonomous body, and that the Akshardham site was not located on the Yamuna "riverbed" or "floodplain", but 1700 meters away from the Yamuna River bank.

### Development

A team of eight swamis were assigned to oversee the Akshardham project. The majority of the team had gained experience from work on the Akshardham in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Delhi Akshardham's sister complex. During development, Pramukh Swami Maharaj was consulted in many aspects of the monument's construction.

Around 1997 and 1998, the idea to start development on the temple, by beginning the stone carving, had been requested. However, Pramukh Swami Maharaj asserted that the construction should only start after the land was acquired. The initial work done on the site was on the foundation. Initially, the site wasn't considered ideal for construction. As a result, a deep foundation was imperative. To construct a stable foundation, 15-foot (4.6 m) of rocks and sand were entwined with wire mesh and topped by five feet of concrete. Five million fired bricks raised the foundation another 21.5-foot (6.6 m). These bricks were then topped by three more feet of concrete to form the main support under the monument.

On 2 July 2001, the first sculpted stone was laid. The team of eight swamis consisted of scholars in the field of the Pancharatra Shastra, a Hindu scripture on architecture and deity carving. The swamis watched over stonework as well as the research on carvings on Indian craftsmanship from between the eighth and twelfth centuries. This research was done at various sites such as Angkor Wat, as well as Jodhpur, Jagannath Puri, Konark & temples of Bhubaneswar of Odisha and other temples in South India.

Seven thousand carvers and three thousand volunteers were put to work for the construction Akshardham. With over 6,000 tons of pink sandstone coming from Rajasthan, workshop sites were set up around places within the state. Amongst the carvers were local farmers and fifteen hundred tribal women who had suffered from a drought and received economic gain due to this work. The initial stone cutting was done by machine, while the detailed carvings were done by hand. Every night, over one hundred trucks were sent to Akshardham, where four thousand workers and volunteers operated on the construction site.

### Opening ceremony

Akshardham was consecrated on 6 November 2005 by Pramukh Swami Maharaj and ceremoniously dedicated to the nation by the President of India, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, and the Leader of the Opposition in the Indian Parliament, Lal Krishna Advani, with the presence of 25,000 guests. After touring the central monument, president Kalam then gave a speech on where Akshardham fits within the society, and finished by saying,

> "Pramukh Swamiji Maharaj has inspired thousands of people across the country and abroad and brought together the best of the minds for creating a beautiful cultural complex. It has become a place of education, experience and enlightenment. It creatively blends the traditional stone art and architecture, Indian culture and civilisation, ancient values and wisdom and the best of modern media and technology. Multiple layers of this complex express the strength of the mind, willpower of the human being, indomitable spirit, flowering kindness, fusion of scientific and medical talent, myriad colors of varied cultures and ultimately the power of knowledge. In essence, it is a dynamic complex with lively images.
>
>  ... Akshardham has happened at the dawn of the 21st century with the commitment and dedication of one million volunteers. What has happened today at Akshardham inspires me and gives me the confidence that we can do it? The realisation of developed India is certainly possible before 2020 with the millions of ignited minds like you."

Prime Minister Singh followed by hoping that this would usher in religious tolerance and praised the architecture of the complex. He made note of it becoming a future landmark of India while L. K. Advani called it "the most unique monument of the world." Pramukh Swami Maharaj ended the night's speeches and expressed the wish that "In this Akshardham, may one and all find inspiration to mould their lives and may their lives become divine. Such is my prayer to God."

### Garbhagruh renovation and other events

On 13 July 2010, a newly designed garbhagruh, or inner sanctum, was inaugurated by Pramukh Swami Maharaj in the main monument within the Akshardham complex. The new garbhagruh includes a decorated, canopied sihasan, upon which the murti of Swaminarayan rests and features intricate carvings and gold-leafed designs.

Akshardham served as a featured attraction during the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in Delhi. Through the duration of the Games, hundreds of athletes, teams, and enthusiasts from around the world visited the complex. On 14 November 2010, the Swaminarayan Research Institute at Akshardham was inaugurated through an event organised by the women's faction of the organisation, highlighting the value of seva, or socially beneficial volunteer efforts, in society through mandirs, churches, mosques, and other places of worship.

## Guinness world record

On 17 December 2007, Michael Whitty, an official world record adjudicator for Guinness World Record, travelled to Ahmedabad, India to present a new world record to Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual leader of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, for the Akshardham complex.

The record was presented for Akshardham as the World's Largest Comprehensive Hindu Temple (certificate).

The certificate states,

> "BAPS Swaminarayan Akshardham in New Delhi, India, is the world's largest comprehensive Hindu temple. It measures 356 ft (109 m). long, 316 ft (96 m). wide and 141 ft (43 m). high, covering an area of 86,342 sq ft (8,021.4 m2). The grand, ancient-style, ornately hand-carved stone temple has been built without structural steel within five years by 11,000 artisans and volunteers. Pramukh Swami, revered spiritual leader of BAPS, consecrated the temple on 6 November 2005. Akshardham showcases the essence of India's ageless art, borderless culture and timeless values.

Upon presentation of the award, Michael Whitty stated, "It took us three months of research, poring over the extensive architectural plans of the Akshardham and also those of other temples of comparable size, visiting and inspecting the site, before we were convinced that Akshardham deserved the title..."

There are three temples, the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam located in Tamil Nadu, India, which claim to be larger than Akshardham. The trustees of these temples have reportedly disputed the Guinness World Record.

## See also

- Swaminarayan Akshardham (Gandhinagar)
- Swaminarayan Akshardham (New Jersey)

Spiritual and cultural Mandir dedicated to harmony

Religious buildings and structures completed in 2005


Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind or Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind () is one of the leading organizations of Islamic scholars belonging to the Deobandi school of thought in India. It was founded in November 1919 by a group of Muslim scholars including Abdul Bari Firangi Mahali, Kifayatullah Dehlawi, Muhammad Ibrahim Mir Sialkoti and Sanaullah Amritsari.

The Jamiat was an active participant in the Khilafat Movement in collaboration with the Indian National Congress. It also opposed the partition of India, taking the position of composite nationalism: that Muslims and non-Muslims form one nation. As a result, this organisation had a small break-away faction known as the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, which decided to support the Pakistan movement.

The constitution of the Jamiat was drafted by Kifayatullah Dehlawi. As of 2021, it is spread over various states of India and has established institutions and wings such as the Idara Mabahith-e-Fiqhiyyah, the Jamiat National Open School, the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind Halal Trust, the Legal Cell Institute and the Jamiat Youth Club. Arshad Madani succeeded his brother Asad Madani as the president in February 2006, however the organization split into the Arshad group and Mahmood group in March 2008. Usman Mansoorpuri became the president of the Mahmood group and continued to serve the position until his death in May 2021. Mahmood Madani succeeded him as the interim president before being appointed the president on 18 September 2021. Arshad Madani serves as the president of Arshad group.

## History

### Inception and development

On 23 November 1919, the Khilafat Committee held its first conference in Delhi which was attended by Muslim scholars from all over the India. Afterward, a group of twenty-five Muslim scholars from among them held a separate conference in the hall of Krishna Theatre, in Delhi, and formed the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind. These scholars included Abdul Bari Firangi Mahali, Ahmad Saeed Dehlavi, Kifayatullah Dihlawi, Muniruzzaman Khan, Mohammad Akram Khan, Muhammad Ibrahim Mir Sialkoti and Sanaullah Amritsari. Other scholars included Abdul Haleem Gayawi, Azad Subhani, Bakhsh Amritsari, Ibrahim Darbhangawi, Muhammad Abdullah, Muhammad Imam Sindhi, Muhammad Asadullah Sindhi, Muhammad Fakhir, Muhammad Anees, Muhammad Sadiq, Khuda Bakhsh Muzaffarpuri, Khwaja Ghulam Nizamuddin, Qadeer Bakhsh, Salamatullah, Sayyid Ismail, Sayyid Kamaluddin, Sayyid Muhammad Dawood, and Taj Muhammad.

Jamiat, also romanised as "jam'iyyat", is a term in an Islamic context referring to an assembly, league or other organisation. The word originated from the Arabic word for gathering (جمع), and is used in Urdu as a noun.

The first general meeting of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was held at Amritsar on 28 December 1919, at the request of Sanaullah Amritsari, in which Kifayatullah Dehlawi presented a draft of its constitution. Abul Muhasin Sajjad and Mazharuddin are also mentioned among the key founders. A common misconception exists that the Jamiat was founded by Mahmud Hasan Deobandi and his other colleagues including Hussain Ahmad Madani, however this is not true as they were jailed in Malta at the time the organisation was founded.

When the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was founded, Kifayatullah Dehlawi was appointed interim president and Ahmad Saeed Dehlavi was made an interim secretary. The Jamiat formed its first governing body at its first general meeting, which was held at Amritsar. The second general meeting of the Jamiat was held during November 1920 in Delhi, where Mahmud Hasan Deobandi was appointed the president and Kifayatullah Dehlawi the vice-president. Hasan died several days after (on 30 November) and Kifayatullah continued to serve as the vice-president whilst concurrently serving as interim-president, until he was permanently appointed president on 6 September 1921. The scholars of the Darul Uloom Deoband associated with the Jamiat only after Mahmud Hasan Deobandi was released, and they had no substantial role in its establishment. It is now considered a major organisation belonging to the scholars of Deoband.

### Governance

The earliest principles and constitution of the Jamiat were written by Kifayatullah Dehlawi. In the first general meeting in Amritsar it was decreed that these be published and opinions gathered from a group of scholars in attendance, and that it then be discussed again at the next meeting. The principles and constitution were ratified in the second meeting, held in Delhi and presided over by Mahmud Hasan Deobandi. There it was decided that the organisation would be called the "Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind", its headquarters located in Delhi, and its stamp state, "Al-Jamiat al-Markaziyyah li al-Ulama il-Hind" (). It aimed to defend Islam from any external or alien threat; to guide common folk in politics through the lens of Islamic precepts; and to establish an Islamic court, the Darul Qadha.

The first governing body of the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind was formed in Amritsar. Its members included Abdul Majid Badayuni, Abul Muhasin Sajjad, Ahmad Saeed Dehlavi, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Hasrat Mohani, Khuda Bakhsh, Mazharuddin, Muhammad Abdullah Sindhi, Muhammad Fakhir Allahabadi, Muniruzzaman Khan, Mohammad Akram Khan, Muhammad Ibrahim Mir Sialkoti, Muhammad Sadiq Karachivi, Ruknuddin Dāna, Salamatullah Farangimahali, Sanaullah Amritsari, Sayyid Muhammad Dawood Ghaznawi and Turab Ali Sindhi.

The first working committee was formed over the 9th and 10th of February 1922, in Delhi. It consisted of nine people; Abdul Haleem Siddiqi, Abdul Majid Qadri Badayuni, Abdul Qadir Qusoori, Ahmadullah Panipati, Hakim Ajmal Khan, Hasrat Mohani, Kifayatullah Dehlawi, Mazharuddin and Shabbir Ahmad Usmani. In March 1922 the number was increased to twelve, and Abdul Qadeer Badayuni, Azad Subhani and Ibrahim Sialkoti were added to the working body. The Jamiat elected Murtaza Hasan Chandpuri and Nisar Ahmad Kanpuri as the vice-presidents on 15 January 1925.

The Jamiat has an organisational network which is spread across India. It also has an Urdu daily newspaper, the Al-Jamiyat. The newspaper was banned by the British government of India in 1938, but was restarted on 23 December 1947 with Muhammad Miyan Deobandi appointed its editor. The Jamiat propounds a theological basis for its nationalistic philosophy, which is that Muslims and non-Muslims have entered upon a mutual contract in India, since independence, to establish a secular state. The Constitution of India represents this contract. This is known in Urdu as a mu'ahadah. Accordingly, as the Muslim community's elected representatives support and swear allegiance to this mu'ahadah, so too is it the responsibility of Indian Muslims to support the Indian Constitution. This mu'ahadah is similar to a previous similar contract signed between the Muslims and the Jews in Medina.

### Independence movement

On 8 September 1920, the Jamiat issued a religious edict, called Fatwa Tark-e-Mawalat, boycotting British goods. This was authored by Abul Muhasin Sajjad and signed by 500 scholars. During the British Raj, the Jamiat opposed British rule in India and participated in the Quit India Movement. Since its inception in 1919 it aimed for a "British-free India". It formed an institution called "Idārah Harbiyyah" () during the civil disobedience movement.

The Jamiat's scholars were arrested frequently, and its general secretary Ahmad Saeed Dehlavi spent fifteen years of his life in jail. The Jamiat secured pledges from the Muslim community that they would avoid using British cloth and enrolled about fifteen thousand volunteers to participate in the Salt March. Kifayatullah Dehlawi, the co-founder of the Jamiat, was imprisoned in Gujarat jail for six months in 1930 for participating in the civil disobedience movement. On 31 March 1932, he was arrested for leading a procession of over a hundred thousand people and imprisoned in Multan jail for eighteen months. The general secretary of the Jamiat, Muhammad Miyan Deobandi, was arrested five times and his book Ulama-e-Hind ka Shāndār Māzī (transl. The Glorious Past of Indian Scholars) was seized for discussing the struggles of Muslim scholars against the ruling people, including the British Raj. Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, another scholar of the Jamiat, was arrested multiple times for campaigning against British colonialism. He spent eight years in incarceration.

### Partition of India

Hussain Ahmad Madani, the principal of the Darul Uloom Deoband (from 1927 to 1957) and the leading Deobandi scholar of the day, held that Muslims were unquestionably part of a united India and that Hindu-Muslim unity was necessary for the country's freedom. He worked closely with the Indian National Congress until the Partition of India was carried out. In 1945, a faction emerged within Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind that supported the creation of Pakistan and the All Indian Muslim League. This faction was led by a founding member of the Jamiat, Shabbir Ahmad Usmani. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind was a member of the All India Azad Muslim Conference, which included several Islamic organisations standing for a united India.

Ishtiaq Ahmed states that, in return for their support, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind obtained a pledge from the Indian leadership that the state would not interfere with the Muslim Personal Law. The former Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru agreed with the pledge, however, he believed that Muslims should first reform these laws. Despite these concessions, during the Partition of India, there erupted riots all over the country which resulted in wholesale carnage and numerous Muslims were killed; Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind played a key role in securing the life and safety of Muslims. Syed Mehboob Rizwi says that the general secretary of the Jamiat, Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, "faced the grave conditions with unusual spirit, daring, resolution, and exerted pressure on the leaders and officials, and accomplished the great exploit of restoring peace and order, and dispelled fear and apprehension from the hearts of terror-stricken Muslims."

### Split into JUH-A and JUH-M

In March 2008, after the death of its former president Asad Madni, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind split into two factions. The division was caused by differences between Arshad Madani and his nephew Mahmood Madani after Arshad Madani was accused of being involved in anti-Jamiat activities. A contemporaneous report by the Hindustan Times alleged that Arshad "had dissolved elected units and disintegrated its democratic structure to establish his personal rule." Consequently, on 5 March 2006, Arshad was dismissed as the president of the united Jamiat, leading him to form a new executive committee which he claimed to be the true Jamiat. The existing Jamiat was led by Mahmood Madani, and on the 5 April 2008 this faction appointed Usman Mansoorpuri as their first president. The first general secretary of the Arshad faction was Abdul Aleem Farooqi, who also served as the tenth general secretary of the united Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind from 1995 to 2001.

### Centenary

The Jamiat celebrated its centenary in November 2019. The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (F) held the centenary celebrations in Azakhel over two days starting on 7 April 2017. It was attended by Saleh bin Abdul-Aziz Al ash-Sheikh.

### Anti-terror edict

In November 2008, 6000 scholars endorsed an anti-terror edict in the 29th general body meeting of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, held at Hyderabad. The edict was issued by the Darul Uloom Deoband and signed by its Grand Mufti, Habibur Rahman Khairabadi, in May 2008. In the general meeting, Mahmood Madani said that, "it is a demonstration of the faith the Muslim scholars are reposing in the importance and timeliness of the edict. When these delegates go back to their homes they would take the signed Hyderabad Declaration that endorses the stand taken by Darul Uloom against terrorism." This meeting was attended by Ravi Sankar and Swami Agnivesh. The fatwa stated that "Islam rejects all kinds of unwarranted violence, breach of peace, bloodshed, killing and plunder and does not allow it in any form. It is the basic principle of Islam that you assist each other in pursuit of good righteous causes and do not co-operate with anyone for committing sin or oppression. It is evident in the clear cut guidelines given in the Holy Quran that the allegation of terrorism against a religion like Islam which enjoins world peace is nothing but a lie. In fact Islam was born to wipe off all kinds of terrorism and to spread the message of global peace".

### Hindu relations

In 2009, Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind said that Hindus should not be called kafirs (infidels) because, even though the term only means a "Non-Muslim," its use may cause misunderstanding between communities. The Jamiat passed a resolution in November 2009 describing Vande Mataram as an anti-Islamic song and received opposition from Muslim Rashtriya Manch national convener, Mohammed Afzal stating "Our Muslim brothers should not follow the fatwa as Vande Mataram is the national song of the country and every Indian citizen should respect and recite it."

In 1934, a few sections of the Babri Masjid mosque were vandalised and pictures of Hindu deities with Ram inscribed upon them were placed inside the mosque. The president of the Jamiat, Kifayatullah Dehlawi, visited Ayodhya and later presented a report to the Jamiat's working committee. The working committee followed the Babri Masjid case and during a February 1952 meeting, presided over by Hussain Ahmad Madani and attended by Abul Kalam Azad and Hifzur Rahman Seoharwi, it was decided that the issue should be pursued through legal channels. Subsequently, in February 1986, the district sessions judge of Faizabad, Krishna Mohan Pandey, ordered the removal of locks on the Babri Masjid gates to allow Hindus to worship. The Jamiat scholars Asad Madani and Asrarul Haq Qasmi appealed to the Indian government to take action against the judge and simultaneously raised a petition against this order. A memorandum was presented to Rajiv Gandhi on 3 March 1986, and he was asked to take a personal interest in the case and help resolve the matter. The Jamiat formed a committee on 22 February 1986 to follow-up the Babri Masjid case. It included Jalil Ahmad Seoharwi, Muhammad Matin, and advocates Zafaryab Jilani and Muhammad Raa'iq. In 2019, when the Supreme court of India ordered that the Babri Masjid be given up for the construction of the Ram Mandir and 5 acres of land be given to Muslims for the construction of a new mosque to replace it, the Jamiat described it as "the darkest spot in the history of free India." Arshad Madani said that although Muslim organisations lost the Babri Masjid, the Jamiat Ulama-e-Hind would continue fighting for the safety and protection of other places of worship.

In an interview with the Economic Times, Arshad Madani said that "We are citizens of this country and we have the rights over our places. We will continue to protect them till we die. Fate of one case is not fate of all cases. We still have faith in the judiciary of our country." The position of the Jamiat was that no alternate site was acceptable for the Babri Masjid and Muslim organisations should not accept any offered replacement land or money.

### National Register of Citizens

The Mahmood faction of the Jamiat defended the Assam Accord during May 2017 under the leadership of Usman Mansoorpuri in the Supreme Court of India. They also passed a resolution in support of the National Register of Citizens. The Arshad faction's president Arshad Madani, however, said that, "the NPR-NRC project is part of the Central government's communal agenda to transform India into a Hindu nation." He also holds that it is a "big threat to Muslims and also some other communities, including Dalits." Consequently, in December 2019, the Mahmood faction filed a challenge to the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 in the Supreme Court of India on the grounds that "the law classified immigrants without any “intelligible differentia” and ignored several religiously persecuted minorities." The faction also held Kashmir as an integral part of India.

On the 2020 Delhi riots, Arshad Madani said in October 2020 that "it is not possible to control riots in the country without making the district administration accountable." According to an October 2020 Ummid report, the Jamiat under his leadership was fighting the cases of Muslims accused in the Delhi riots and sixteen bail petitions were accepted by the Delhi High Court.

### Dowries

After a young woman named Ayesha committed suicide and her video went viral, the Pune circle of the Jamiat launched a campaign against dowry practices in March 2021. Scholars of the Jamiat said that they would use Friday prayers as a platform to make people aware of the issue.

### Implementation of population policy

JUH's Assam faction stated on 5 July 2021 that "the Jamiat will not support the [Indian government's population policy] if the government forcefully implements it". Secretary Fazlul Karim Kasimi said that "birth control policies cannot be imposed upon minorities and population policy should be applicable to the majority. There should be a law on birth control for the majority."

### COVID-19 vaccinations

In June 2021, the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind's Gujarat unit held camps to raise awareness of COVID-19 vaccines. A group of sixty scholars participated in this drive from areas such as Bhavnagar and Palanpur. A local scholar associated with the Jamiat, Imran Dheriwala, said that, "the community has a deep sense of mistrust towards the government concerning vaccines, but it is because of the faith of the people as well, that it is Allah who decides one's time of death and He protects even if one does not take a vaccine." He also said that, "we are trying to remove this misconception from people, as the teachings of Islam make it necessary for a person to go through medication in order to protect his life and thus vaccinations was necessary, and we are trying to spread this message." The president of Jamiat's Arshad faction, Arshad Madani said that, "Whatever saves human lives is permissible. We should take the vaccine and protect ourselves and everybody around us from Covid-19."

### Merger process

The Times of India reported on 22 June 2022 that the two factions of the Jamiat have begun a merger process which might be materialised very soon. The Hindu reported on 16 July 2022 that "the faction of the younger Madani is said to be agreeable to work under the senior Madani as Jamiat president." On 28 May 2022, the Jamiat's M faction had invited its rival Arshad Madani to attend its general body meeting in Deoband, which he accepted. His acceptance of the invitation has been seen as his first step towards reconciliation. In the Deoband meet, Arshad Madani expressed that "the Jamiat needs to come together so our voice can be stronger."

## Institutions

### Idara Mabahith-e-Fiqhiyyah

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind established the Idara Mabahith-e-Fiqhiyyah (Institute of Juristic Discussions) in 1970 and Muhammad Miyan Deobandi was appointed its first director. The institute organized its fifteenth juristic seminar in March 2019. The seminar discussed whether Google AdSense, Paytm cash and other things related with mobile and internet were allowed under Islamic law. It was attended by Muslim jurists including Saeed Ahmad Palanpuri and Shabbir Ahmad Qasmi.

### Jamiat Youth Club

The Jamiat Youth Club was established in July 2018. It aims to provide youth with training in different self-defense techniques to deal with community crises. It was called a "pilot project" and it was reported that the Jamiat expects to train about 1.25 million youngsters every year and about 12.5 million youth in over a hundred Indian districts are expected to join the Jamiat Youth Club by 2028. Mahmood Madani said that the club will train the youth like the Scouts and Guides, with an emphasis on physical training and different ways to strengthen their mental ability.

### Halal trust

The Jamiat has a halal-declaring agency known as the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind Halal Trust. It was set up in 2009 and was recognised by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia in 2011 as "a reliable and authoritative institution for issuing Halal Certificates to meat, meat products and slaughter houses." As of April 2020, its secretary is Niaz Ahmad Farooqi.

### Jamiat National Open School

Jamiat National Open School was established in February 2021. It is similar to the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), and provides trained staff and infrastructure to students through which they can study computers, mathematics, sciences, language and other subjects offered under the NIOS. The school was established to provide students with high quality and contemporary academic learning, in part because thousands of students graduate from Islamic madrasas every year, but often lack adequate contemporary secular education abilities and skills.

The Jamiat provides scholarships to students undertaking professional courses such as B.Tech, M.Tech, BCA, and other medical and engineering courses. Since 2012 the scholarships are offered to financially weak students through the Taleemi Imdadi Fund.

### Legal Cell Institute

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind also has the Legal Cell institute, through which it helps Muslims accused of terrorism to fight legal battles. It was set up by Arshad Madani in 2007 and, as of May 2019, has aided in 192 acquittals across India. Madani stated he started the institute when he saw that innocent people are picked up and incarcerated regularly on different charges in India and their families spend their savings and sell their assets and homes to fight the legal battle in order to prove their innocence. According to a May 2019 report of The New Indian Express, "the first three cases that the legal cell took up were the 7/11 Mumbai train blasts, the 2006 Malegaon blasts and the Aurangabad Arms haul case in September 2007." The people accused in these were represented by Shahid Azmi, who later defended Faheem Ansari and Sabauddin, both accused of the 2008 Mumbai Attacks. Azmi was however assassinated on 11 February 2010; and the Institute assisted both of them in the trial court and then in the high court. The high court upheld their acquittal, and both were freed of the conspiracy charges. The Institute defended nine Muslim youth who were accused of the 2006 Malegaon blasts; and all of them were acquitted in 2016.

Other cases where the institute has provided legal aid in defense of the accused include those in the Mulund blast case, the Gateway of India blasts case, and the 13/7 Mumbai triple blasts. The institute's support is not limited to Muslims, as they aided a Hindu man in 2012 who was given a death sentence, and he was later acquitted. In March 2019, aided by the institute, eleven Muslims who had been booked under TADA were acquitted by the Special TADA Court after spending 25 years in jail. In June 2021, two men were cleared of the UAPA charges after they spent nine years in jail, and they were seen thanking Gulzar Azmi of the Legal Cell for aiding them in the long legal battle.

The head of the Legal Cell Institute, Gulzar Azmi, maintains that "We do not have any issues if terrorists are hanged, but what hurts us is when innocent people are falsely booked in terror cases." In a more recent case, the institute has been reported to be helping two people accused of terror activities who have been arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad in July 2021. Arshad Madani was quoted as saying about this case that "the process of using terrorism as a weapon to destroy the lives of Muslim youth continues. Out legal struggle will continue till the honourable release of innocent Muslims."

### Publications division

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind also has a publications division through which it has published books such as Islam mai Imamat awr Imarat ka Tasawwur (The Concept of Leadership and Emirate in Islam), Hindustan aur Masla-e-Imarat (India and the Issue of Emirate) and Islam The Benevolent for all Constructive Programs of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.

## Administration

Kifayatullah Dehlawi was the first president of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind and Hussain Ahmad Madani became the president in 1940. Asad Madni served as the fifth president until February 2006 and was succeeded by his brother Arshad Madani on 8 February 2006. The Jamiat split into Arshad and Mahmood faction in March 2008. Mahmood Madani became the interim president of Mahmood faction on 27 May 2021 after the death of its former president Usman Mansoorpuri, and Arshad Madani serves as the president of the Arshad faction. Mahmood Madani was appointed the president of Mahmood faction on 18 September 2021.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind has a general secretary; the first was Ahmad Saeed Dehlavi and the last general secretary of the united Jamiat was Mahmood Madani, who later on became the first general secretary of its Mahmood faction. The current general secretary of the Mahmood faction is Hakeemuddin Qasmi. In December 2020, Masoom Saqib Qasmi was appointed the general secretary of the Arshad faction.

During 1920, Muhammad Sadiq Karachivi, a co-founder of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, established a state-unit of the Jamait in Karachi, and remained its president throughout his life. The Jamiat now has state units throughout India. These include Jamiat Ulama Assam, Jamiat Ulama Bihar, Jamiat Ulama Jharkhand, Jamiat Ulama Karnataka, Jamiat Ulama Madhya Pradesh, Jamiat Ulama Maharashtra, Jamiat Ulama Odisha, Jamiat Ulama Rajasthan, Jamiat Ulama Uttar Pradesh, Jamiat Ulama Uttarakhand, Jamiat Ulama Telangana, and Jamiat Ulama West Bengal. Islamic scholar and the founder of All India United Democratic Front, Badruddin Ajmal, is the state-president for the Assam unit.

## See also

- All India Muslim Personal Law Board
- Anjuman-i-Ulama-i-Bangala

Council of Indian Muslim theologians

Islamic organizations established in 1919


Brian Wilson is a genius

"Brian Wilson is a genius" is a line that became part of a media campaign spearheaded in 1966 by the Beatles' former press officer Derek Taylor, who was then employed as the Beach Boys' publicist. Although there are earlier documented expressions of the statement, Taylor frequently called Brian Wilson a "genius" as part of an effort to rebrand the Beach Boys and legitimize Wilson as a serious artist on par with the Beatles and Bob Dylan.

With the aid of numerous associates in the music industry, Taylor's promotional efforts were integral to the success of the band's 1966 album Pet Sounds in England. By the end of the year, an NME reader's poll placed Wilson as the fourth-ranked "World Music Personality"—about 1,000 votes ahead of Bob Dylan and 500 behind John Lennon. However, the hype generated for the group's next album, Smile, bore a number of unintended consequences for the band's reputation and internal dynamic. Wilson ultimately scrapped Smile and reduced his involvement with the group.

Wilson later said that the "genius" branding intensified the pressures of his career and led him to become "a victim of the recording industry". As he shied away from the industry in the years afterward, his ensuing legend originated the trope of the "reclusive genius" among studio-oriented musical artists and later inspired comparisons between other musicians such as Pink Floyd's Syd Barrett and My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields.

## Background and origins

Brian Wilson wrote the majority of the Beach Boys' hits and was one of the first recording artists allowed to act as an entrepreneurial producer, a position he attained thanks to his immediate success with the band after signing to Capitol Records in 1962. His talents inspired a number of Los Angeles music industry figures to refer to him as a genius. By early 1966, he wanted to move the group beyond their surf and hot rod aesthetic, an image that he believed was outdated and distracting the public from his talents as a producer and songwriter. In Mike Love's description, Wilson sought recognition from the countercultural tastemakers, or the "hip intelligentsia". Wilson later reflected that "legends grew about ... our music ... and I was getting fascinated with the fact that I was becoming famous and there was an interest in my style of life."

In the meantime, the Beatles' former press agent Derek Taylor had left the UK and moved to California, where he started his own public relations company. By 1966, he had quickly assimilated into what was then an expanding coterie of Wilson's worldly-minded friends, musicians, mystics, and business advisers. In the description of music journalist Nick Kent, "Derek Taylor was at that time the single most prestigious figure with whom to have one's name linked in matters of promotion. ... he knew the Beatles and had actually worked with them and Brian Epstein. There could be no more spectacular recommendation."

Van Dyke Parks, Wilson's lyricist at the time, claimed to have introduced Taylor to Wilson, while biographer David Leaf wrote that it was Bruce Johnston who "set up a meeting for Derek with Brian." The Beach Boys began employing Taylor as their publicist in March 1966, two months before the release of their album Pet Sounds, with the group paying him a salary of \$750 a month (equivalent to \$ in ). According to Carl Wilson, although the band were aware that trends and the music industry were shifting, "Capitol had a very set picture of us", and the band were unhappy with the way the label promoted them circa Pet Sounds.

According to Taylor, the "genius" promotion came from Brian discussing how "he thought he was better than most other people believed him to be". Taylor recalled one conversation with Brian and Dennis Wilson in which the brothers denied ever writing "surf music or songs about cars or that the Beach Boys had been involved in any way with the surf and drag fads ... they would not concede." In Taylor's view, the Beach Boys' clean-cut "all-American" image, instigated by former manager and the Wilsons' father Murry, had "done them a hell of a lot of damage. Brian, in particular, suffered." He said that the prevailing attitude was that "Brian Wilson was not supposed to be strange", even though that quality was seen as normal for Hollywood people.

After becoming aware of how highly regarded Wilson was to musician friends such as Parks and singer Danny Hutton, Taylor wondered why it was not the mainstream consensus, and began "putting it around, making almost a campaign out of it". To update the band's image with firsthand accounts of Wilson's latest activities, Taylor's prestige was crucial in offering a credible perspective to those outside Wilson's inner circle. He became intent on promoting Wilson as an exceptional "genius" among pop artists, a belief that he genuinely held.

## Contemporary press

### Pet Sounds and "Good Vibrations"

One of the earliest instances of Taylor announcing that Wilson was a genius was in his 1966 article titled "Brian Wilson: Whizzkid Behind the Beach Boys". More references to the "genius" rhetoric appeared in Melody Maker and New Musical Express, specifically the articles "Brian, Pop Genius!" by Don Traynor (May 21, 1966), "Brian Wilson's Puppets?" by Alan Walsh (November 12, 1966), and "Brian: Loved or Loathed Genius" by Tracy Thomas (January 28, 1967). In Taylor's writings, Wilson was presented as a pop luminary on the level of esteemed contemporaries such as John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Bob Dylan, as well as classical figures such as Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart. What follows is a typical excerpt by Taylor, identified as "'60s Hollywood reporter Jerry Fineman", and contains some exaggerated claims:

> This is Brian Wilson. He is a Beach Boy. Some say he is more. Some say he is a Beach Boy and a genius. This twenty-three-year-old powerhouse not only sings with the famous group, he writes the words and music then arranges, engineers, and produces the disc ... Even the packaging and design on the record jacket is controlled by the talented Mr. Wilson. He has often been called "genius", and it's a burden.

Pet Sounds had been widely influential and raised the band's prestige as an innovative rock group. Taylor is widely recognized as instrumental in the album's success in the UK due to his longstanding connections with the Beatles and other industry figures. This was at a contrast to its underwhelming sales in the U.S., where its promotion was no different from earlier Beach Boys offerings and relied on the group's familiar public image instead of rebranding. Although most of the influential writers who had acknowledged the cultural value of Bob Dylan's work were not prepared to devote similar attention the Beach Boys, as biographer Peter Ames Carlin writes, "many musicians [in America] understood the significance of Brian's achievement on the album, as did a few members of the small but increasingly influential band of journalists and intellectuals who had begun to apply serious analytical thought to rock music."

In May, Taylor and Bruce Johnston traveled to London and arranged listening parties for the album, inviting prestigious musicians (including Lennon and McCartney) and rock journalists. These journalists subsequently helped promulgate the idea of Wilson as a "pop genius" and of the album's forward-thinking aesthetic. Much of the British and American press also focused on the disparity between Wilson as a "studio mastermind" and the Beach Boys' stage performances. Rolling Stone founding editor Jann Wenner later reported that British fans identified the Beach Boys as "years ahead" of the Beatles and declared Wilson a "genius". Musicians who praised Wilson on record included Lennon, Eric Clapton of Cream, Rolling Stones producer Andrew Loog Oldham, Spencer Davis of the Spencer Davis Group, and Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. Clapton told Melody Maker that "Brian Wilson is without doubt a pop genius."

Throughout the summer of 1966, Wilson concentrated on finishing the group's next single, "Good Vibrations". Additional writers were brought in as witnesses to his Columbia, Gold Star, and Western recording sessions, who also accompanied him outside the studio. Among the crowd: Rich ard Goldstein from the Village Voice, Jules Siegel from The Saturday Evening Post, and Paul Williams, the 18-year-old founder and editor of Crawdaddy! Released on October 10, 1966, "Good Vibrations" was the Beach Boys' third U.S. number-one hit, reaching the top of the charts in December, and became their first number one in Britain. One headline proclaimed that the Beach Boys' British distributor EMI Records were giving the band the "biggest campaign since the Beatles".

A Los Angeles Times West Magazine piece by Tom Nolan focused on the contradictions between Wilson's unassuming "suburban" demeanor and the reputation that preceded him (noting "he doesn't look at all like the seeming leader of a potentially-revolutionary movement in pop music"). Asked about the future of pop music, Wilson responded, "White spirituals, I think that's what we're going to hear. Songs of faith." At the end of 1966, NME conducted a reader's poll that placed Wilson as the fourth-ranked "World Music Personality"—about 1,000 votes ahead of Bob Dylan and 500 behind John Lennon. The Beach Boys themselves were crowned the top vocal group, ahead of the Beatles. Ringo Starr remarked, "We're all four fans of the Beach Boys. Maybe we voted for them."

### Smile and cancellation

Wilson declared in a late 1966 interview that the Beach Boys' next album, Smile, would surpass all of their previous recording efforts. In April 1967, CBS aired the Leonard Bernstein-hosted television special Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution, where Wilson premiered the unreleased song "Surf's Up". The next month, Taylor announced that Smile had been "scrapped", and the music press subsequently amplified their romanticized depictions of Wilson.

In October, Cheetah magazine published "Goodbye Surfing, Hello God!", a memoir written by Jules Siegel. It included a tongue-in-cheek reference to the widespread "genius" rhetoric, with Siegel pondering the question of whether Wilson was "a genius, Genius, or GENIUS". Siegel covered Wilson's struggle to overcome the band's surfing image in the U.S. and credited the collapse of Smile to "an obsessive cycle of creation and destruction that threatened not only his career and his fortune but also his marriage, his friendships, his relationships with the Beach Boys and, some of his closest friends worried, his mind".

According to academic Kirk Curnett, Siegel's article was "the most instrumental in establishing Brian as mercurial in the broader senses of that term: as an eccentric and erratic artist perilously pursuing the muse instead of blithely serving the masses". Also discussing the article, professor Andrew Flory wrote:

> Siegel greatly romanticized Wilson and Smile, echoing and fostering the pervasive audience view of Wilson as a tortured genius ... Depicting Wilson in decline, with the non-release of Smile as the most obvious byproduct of mental and creative psychosis ... gave rock fans a manner in which to view Wilson as hip, helping countercultural audiences traverse the social chasm between "Fun, Fun, Fun" and "Good Vibrations." ... [The article also] venerated Smile as a relic of this hipness, intensifying audience interest in the unavailable work

## Impact on Wilson's withdrawal

Wilson later said that he had run out of ideas by 1967 "in a conventional sense" and was "about ready to die". He also expressed a dissatisfaction with being branded a genius: "Once you've been labeled as a genius, you have to continue it or your name becomes mud. I am a victim of the recording industry." Parks echoed that Taylor's line "forced Brian Wilson to have to continuously prove that he's a genius". Mike Love said that Wilson turned to drugs as a way to expand his creative conceptions and deliver on the comparisons he had received with the Beatles and Mozart.

On December 14, 1967, Jann Wenner printed an influential article in Rolling Stone that denounced the "genius" label, which he called a "promotional shuck" and a "pointless" attempt to compare Wilson with the Beatles. He wrote: "Wilson believed [that he was a genius] and felt obligated to make good of it. It left Wilson in a bind ... which meant that a year elapsed between Pet Sounds and their latest release, Smiley Smile." As a result of the article, many rock fans excluded the group from "serious consideration". In a September 1968 piece for Jazz & Pop, Gene Sculatti wrote that a rock controversy involving Wilson was brewing among "the academic 'rock as art' critic-intellectuals, the AM-tuned teenies, and all the rest of us in between. ... the California sextet is simultaneously hailed as genius incarnate and derided as the archetypical pop music copouts".

Wilson's bandmates resented that he had been singled out as a "genius". Love reflected that while Brian deserved the recognition, the press was a frustration to everyone in the group, including Carl, who was especially bothered by the misconception that the members were "nameless music components in Brian's music machine". Brian's then-wife Marilyn intimated that Brian "felt guilty that he got all the attention and ... was called a genius" and decided to reduce his involvement with the band "because he thought that they all hated him". From 1968 onward, his songwriting output declined substantially, but the public narrative of "Brian-as-leader" continued. He became increasingly known for his reclusiveness and would not attract the level of press attention he had achieved in the 1960s until a new marketing campaign, "Brian's Back!", was devised in 1976.

By the 1970s, there had formed a contingent of fans and detractors who viewed Wilson as a burned-out casualty of the psychedelic era. Some of the characterizations advanced by industry insiders included "genius musician but an amateur human being", "washed-up", "bloated", "another sad fucking case", and "a loser". In a 1971 interview, Carl commented that the Jules Siegel writings "and a lot of that stuff that went around before really turned [Brian] off." He explained that most of it was "grossly inaccurate" and characterized Brian as "a very highly evolved person" who is "very sensitive at the same time, which can be confusing," adding that Brian does not cooperate with the press "at all".

In 1975, NME published an extended three-part piece by journalist Nick Kent, "The Last Beach Movie", which depicted Wilson as an overeating, fey eccentric. According to music historian Luis Sanchez: "The article followed the bombast of Siegel's 'Genius with a capital G' line to some bizarre ends. ... the reader is left with the image of an insufferable man out of touch with reality: the leader of The Beach Boys reduced to a caricature, tormented by his own genius." Carlin wrote that Wilson's "public suffering" effectively "transformed him from a musical figure into a cultural one", while journalist Paul Lester said that Wilson, by the mid-1970s, had tied with ex-Pink Floyd member Syd Barrett as "rock's numero uno mythical casualty."

In 1978, David Leaf's biography The Beach Boys and the California Myth was published. While the "Goodbye Surfing, Hello God" article originated all the main reference points of the Wilson/Smile mythology, Sanchez references Leaf's book as the first work that "put the 'Brian Wilson is a genius' trope into perspective", especially by emphasizing a "dynamic of good guys and bad guys." Quoted in the book, music journalist Ben Edmonds cited Taylor's "'Brian Wilson Is a Genius' hype" as "one of those things that has come back to haunt Brian like a curse. ... the whole playing on the Brian Wilson mythology, whether it be for that point in time or 1976, has always been crucial to manipulating the Beach Boys."

## Retrospective criticism

A major tenet of Wilson's "genius" rests on a narrative that is familiar to the arc of a tragic artist. At the center of his legend, according to music critic Carl Wilson (no relation to the Beach Boys' Carl Wilson), is this "tragic genius". Carl wrote in 2015:

> It is to pop what the tragic genius of Vincent van Gogh is to modern art: a parable of sensitivity sacrificed to cruel indifference. ... For decades that lore has echoed through new records and retrospective box sets, countless books and essays, documentaries, TV movies, fictional accounts, ... and tribute songs. ... The word "genius" always risks estranging its subject from their cultural context. There were many influences on Wilson's signature style ... Combining clean-cut, boy-next-door appeal with aesthetic forward-thinking was what made Wilson a real anomaly in US pop-culture history. And in that myth was also the seed of his downfall, as creativity and conformity collided.

He concluded that the interest in Brian's life comes primarily from a "human-interest angle" concerned with "the popular tendency to fetishise any overlap between genius and madness" rather than a purely musical one, ultimately distorting "both Wilson's story and his significance." Music critic Barney Hoskyns described Taylor's campaign as "the birth of a pop cult" and added that the term genius "is actually a rare commodity in pop music" more likely to be reserved for artists who espouse "tragedy", "failed promise", "torment", "or the very least by major eccentricity." He located the "particular appeal" of Wilson's genius to "the fact that the Beach Boys were the very obverse of hip – the unlikeliness of these songs growing out of disposable surf pop – and in the singular naivety and ingenuousness of his personality."

Writing in The Rolling Stone Record Guide (1983), Dave Marsh bemoaned that Wilson became a "Major Artist" through the hype that continued to surround Wilson and the Smile project throughout the 1970s, calling it "an exercise in myth-mongering almost unparalleled in show business". Van Dyke Parks believed that Wilson was a highly innovative songwriter, but that it was a "mistake" to call him a genius, instead preferring the description of "a lucky guy with a tremendous amount of talent and a lot of people collaborating beautifully around him."

As a result of the mythology surrounding Wilson, Mike Love is often regarded as Wilson's lifelong antagonist. After a jury ruled that Love was owed credit to 39 songs previously credited solely to Wilson and that Wilson or his agents had engaged in promissory fraud, the potential damages were estimated to range between \$58 million and \$342 million. According to Love, fans of Wilson thought "he was beyond accountability. ... By now, the myth was too strong, the legend too great. Brian was the tormented genius who suffered to deliver us his music—the forever victim, as his lawyer said."

Record producer Don Was created a documentary about Wilson, I Just Wasn't Made for These Times (1995), reportedly to address why the phrase "Brian Wilson is a genius" had become "holy gospel" among musicians. C.W. Mahoney of The Washington Free Beacon characterized Wilson's appeal to Millennials as "a Daniel Johnston who made listenable music". He opined that Wilson's reputed genius "is evidence of our obsession with childlike innocence and the victory of boring poptimism", adding that Pet Sounds may be "great" but not as sophisticated as other 1966 works by Frank Zappa or Miles Davis.

## Wilson's response

Wilson said: "I didn't think I was a genius. I thought I had talent. But I didn't think I was a genius." In the early 1990s, he referred to the branding as a burden and as the worst thing that had happened to him: "The idea being that you're automatically categorized, and the idea is to break free ... and do a few things not based on what you think others would want to hear." Asked if he disliked being known as a "crazy guy" who writes "crazy songs", he replied: "Yeah, I do. ... I think it's exaggerated. It's going an extra 20 yards."

In a eulogy given at Taylor's funeral in 1997, Wilson praised Taylor's efforts and credited him with the success of Pet Sounds and "Good Vibrations" in Britain. He stated: "Despite what he wrote about me, it was Derek Taylor who was the genius. He was a genius writer."

## See also

- The Beach Boys Love You – album received with a sharp divide between fans and critics, some of whom saw the album as a work of "eccentric genius" whereas others "dismissed it as childish and trivial".
- Creativity and mental illness
- Honorific nicknames in popular music
- "Clapton is God"
- Astroturfing

Promotional campaign for the Beach Boys' leader