31
votes
How Monty Python's Life of Brian moved past culture wars and censorship to become a beloved hit
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- Title
- When the Culture Wars Came for Monty Python's Life of Brian
- Authors
- Kliph Nesteroff
- Published
- Dec 8 2023
- Word count
- 1282 words
My wife and I watched Life of Brian for the first time a few years ago and, sad to say, we both found it absolutely dreadful. The famous jokes and bits that everyone quotes are still hilarious, but between it was an aimless series of sketches that were some mix of dated, unfunny, and boring.
We didn’t expect much of a plot, but we expected it to be funny. And we didn’t expect such a short movie to feel so dreadfully long.
Maybe it’s a “you had to be there” sort of thing. I’ve enjoyed other Python stuff in the past (Holy Grail, Spamalot, Flying Circus) but man Life of Brian was seriously awful on a first watch.
Comedy ages the worse among fictional genres.
I believe this.
Some genres are about timeless universal human themes.
Comedy is all about context. Without context comedy is nothing, and context is most easily lost.
Eh I'm not sure. Other British comedy (e.g. Yes Minister) has definitely aged a lot better.
This is why you only need the Naked Gun.
Yeah. Because it's low-brow, we don't appreciate how much it takes for a joke to land.
IIRC it was also the movie they hated each other the most while filming.
Personally, I prefer Meaning of Life. It's definitely one of their best wrt filmmaking.
Flying Circus isn't going to be nearly as much fun, as it was taking many contemporary jabs. It's kinda be like going through and watching old late-night talkshow intro bits from the 90s. A best-of is definitely the way to go here.
Oh I still quite enjoy it, but like, it still has that feeling of half the joke going over my head.
They were revolutionary at the time, but I have had similar Monty Python experiences.
Meh, it's still incisive and insightful. I could understand how others could have a different opinion. As someone raised in a cult that tried (unsuccessfully) to brainwash me, I find it positively delightful, but I understand that others will have different experiences.
Oftentimes people with different background traumas will experience things differently, and that's ok too.
Life of Brian had its moments, but I didn't find it that great either when I watched it for the first time some 15-odd years ago. I think Holy Grail definitely aged the best.
Complete inverse here, Holy Grail had its moments but never clicked like Life of Brian did.
Kids today are in disbelief with the fact that Friends and Seinfeld are considered funny by old fucks like me. When Monty Python Flying Circus got on Netflix I suddenly realized that all the funny bits were already on YouTube. Life of Brian is 44 years old and most comedy age like milk (literature seem to have a longer shelf life, I'm not sure why). It is a remarkable achievement, but I don't think I laughed once. Which doesn't mean it is bad, it's just 44 years old.
I'm not convinced this is the same thing as how some people are responding to Life is Brian. The "Seinfeld is unfunny" phenomenon tends to exist because so many things coming after it emulated it that it's seen as cliché/treading old ground where it once was innovative. Maybe the same thing is happening with Monty Python, but I'd wager their stuff is more of a "throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks" issue -- people remember the best parts and hype it up based on those so the rest is inevitably underwhelming for those new to the material.
I do think that there is something going on that is at least in the neighborhood of “Seinfeld is unfunny”. Back in the early 70s there was absolutely nothing else remotely like Monty Python, at least in the US. So even if individual jokes or bits might not have hit the mark, the overall tone was something special.
Perhaps but (admittedly I've only watched Holy Grail all the way through, though I've seen a few of their other popular bits on YouTube as well) ime there's still not much like it in mainstream US comedy television. Though now with the internet it's easier to see stuff outside that mainstream even as an American.
Not even during the biggus dickus scene??
he has a wife, you know