Monty Python and Religious Farce

While some films hope to add to the religious narrative of sacred text in a meaningful, impactful way, as was the case in Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), others simply want to subvert it for the flippant humor it creates. This is the case with many works by British comedy troupe Monty Python, whose films like Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) and Life of Brian (1979) take Christian tradition and sacred text and turn it into farce and satire, utilizing it for laughs. These films became notorious for their seemingly anti-religious rhetoric and their irreverent view of Christian narratives, especially Life of Brian, which focused on a Jewish man by the name Brian Cohen who is born in the manger next door to Jesus, leading to many mistaking him as the messiah. This film was banned entirely in Norway and Ireland and was protested by many religious groups. It was a critical and commercial hit in the United States though, the film in highly regarded as one of the best comedies of all time.
Looking past the initial controversy of Life of Brian, one sees the film is not inasmuch critiquing the idea of religion, but the fanatical followers of religion instead. Jesus is never presented in an irreverent way in the film, but those who carry on his message are seen as mistaking his words, misinterpreting signals, and many other mistakes that are clear critiques of modern-day Christians. In fact, members of Monty Python originally did intend to lampoon the story of Jesus, but as they delved within it found they agreed with everything he had to say. Instead, they turned their focus on those they felt had failed to replicate his message in their religious practices. Jesus and religion are not the target for this satire then, but those who misuse the name of Jesus and the Christian faith. Monty Python member Michael Palin summed it up himself well, saying “The basis of what Python comedy was all about, which is really resisting people telling you how to behave and how not to behave. It was the freedom of the individual, a very sixties thing, the independence which was part of the way Python had been formed.” Monty Python has no qualm with Jesus of Nazareth, but they do have a thing or two to say about his modern-day followers who legislate morality and pushed their religion onto others forcefully, things which they saw as running against Jesus’s teachings of peace. 

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