Life of Brian

       I chose to see the movie Monty Python’s Life of Brian for my cultural event because I had never seen it before and had always heard of it.  The comedy was originally released in 1979 and was written and performed by the Monty Python comedy team.  The movie revolves around a boy named Brian who was born at the same time and similar location as Jesus Christ.  Brian is initially taken for baby Jesus by the three wise men, who soon realize their error.  Brian grows up to resent the Roman occupation of Judea, which is conflicted when he learns his biological father was a Roman Centurion.  Brian joins the People’s Front of Judea, a group devoted to resenting the Roman occupation.  Brian participates in a failed kidnapping plot orchestrated by the group and s forced to flee.  When he poses as a street prophet to elude the Romans he existentially becomes the Messiah and gains a following.  The Romans finally catch Brian and schedule him in with a mass crucifixion, when he is eventually pardoned the Romans release the wrong person and the movie draws to a close with a musical number at the crucifixion scene.
       This movie was very funny and contemporary given its release date.  It was originally shunned by the church for its parody of religion and associations drawn from stereotypes and negative connotations.  I am of no religious affiliation and found the movie quite humorous.  If I were devoted to a denomination, I think I would have still found it amusing, however, I can understand why people would be offended.  I don’t think that it is necessarily the religious affiliation itself that is the target of comical scrutiny.   All is fair in comedy, if it were politically correct, it would lose a great deal of appeal.   Saturday Night Live encounters the same scrutiny for its efforts.  When you put out comedy to the public, there will always be someone who finds it distasteful and offensive.  As Brian says in the movie “We are all individuals, you’ve got to think for yourselves.”  To me, the movie made more of a statement on human nature.  The jokes were of a religious nature, but they made a greater note of how people react and handle social situations.  Mob mentality comes into play just as often as religious material is discussed.  The movie draws parallels to our celebrity obsessed culture of today, not only the world of all things religion related.  I believe the message of the movie is not meant to be of a religious origin, but more of a statement about how we must think for ourselves.