The People's Front of Judea

It's cliche right now to say that this or that movie couldn't be made today. There are cases where it's true, however, though it's usually more a matter of studios won't make something as opposed to can't. A lot of old Monty Python fits the bill.

At this point Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) is by far the most known, and best, of the films from the British comedy troupe. The follow-up was Life of Brian (1979). Another period piece, if we can call it that, this one takes place in the Holy Land under Roman rule. Brian, a nobody, was born one stable over from Jesus. As an adult he becomes disillusioned with the political situation and joins a small movement, accidentally becomes a cultic figure and eventually draws the ire of the Romans, who crucify him.

It's the most offensive and sacrilegious movie I've ever seen. I'm somewhat surprised this movie was even made in the 1970s tbh, and it was banned in several European countries (which they used in the marketing campaign!). The easiest microcosm of this is the ending, where a bunch of men literally hanging on crosses sing a catchy tune about seeing the positives in life. Yet I laughed quite a few times. The discomfort is the point.

The film includes more than just prodding of Jews and Christians. One of the most memorable scenes, when Brian is brought before Pontius Pilate, is purely sophomoric. I dare you to watch this and not laugh.

Then there's this. Brian's group of friends is the People's Front of Judea, a radical group (in their minds only, to be sure) that opposes Roman rule over the Jews. The larger bit poked fun at 70's fractured political organizations that couldn't work together to save their lives. (For example the 'People's Front of Judea' only hates one group more than the Romans themselves and it's the 'Judean People's Front,' confusing as that may be.) Of course, this isn't a group that's actually doing much of anything except sitting around talking and complaining to each other. During a meeting, one member, a man, muses he wants to be a woman and have children. Two of the others attempt to justify and relate to the idea and a third cannot believe his ears. The latter character, played by John Cleese, gets the final word.

Monty Python was way ahead of its time with this joke, and almost certainly could not have predicted where we are today. I'm trying to imagine the outrage if it came from something new. Interestingly, we may find out. The impetus for this post (it's been a few years since I've watched the movie) is that Cleese is currently involved with making a Life of Brian stage adaptation. He was advised to remove this joke by some of the actors and there was a story written that doing so was the plan. Cleese subsequently came out and shot down the idea.

'So here you have something there’s never been a complaint about in 40 years, that I’ve heard of, and now all of a sudden we can’t do it because it’ll offend people. What is one supposed to make of that?' (from a Deadline article last year)

Good for him. I'm very curious what comes of this.