Doc, the Dude, and Marlowe: Changing Masculinities from The Long Goodbye to Inherent Vice

Abstract

Several reviewers and scholars of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice have noted the similarities between the novel and both Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels and the Coen brothers' film The Big Lebowski. Many of the reviewers, in particular, unreflectively comment on Doc Sportello's masculinity, criticizing Doc for not performing the hegemonic masculinity typical of detective novels and films. What has been missing is a deeper examination of hegemonic masculinity in both the novel and its likely source materials. This essay employs Judith Butler's notions of gender performativity as well as Christian Moraru's examination of postmodern rewriting to explore the fluid constructions and performances of masculinity in The Long Goodbye, The Big Lebowski, and Inherent Vice. Ultimately, this essay argues that Pynchon's characterization of Doc Sportello projects possibilities into alternatives to hegemonic masculinity.

Keywords

• Raymond Chandler
• Christian Moraru
• rewriting
• Judith Butler
• neoliberalism
• Inherent Vice