Making Life of Brian would be risky now, says Terry Jones

[progressoid]

Life of Brian would be risky now, says Terry Jones

Monty Python's Terry Jones has revealed that he would shy away from making the comedy Life Of Brian today, because of a resurgence in religious belief.

...

Opponents of the comedy, which was a worldwide box-office success, claimed it made fun of Jesus.

But Jones told the Radio Times: "I never thought it would be as controversial as it turned out, although I remember saying when we were writing it that some religious nut case may take pot shots at us, and everyone replied: 'No'."

The 69-year-old said: "I took the view it wasn't blasphemous. It was heretical because it criticised the structure of the church and the way it interpreted the Gospels. At the time religion seemed to be on the back burner and it felt like kicking a dead donkey. It has come back with a vengeance and we'd think twice about making it now."

Asked whether he would make a similarly satirical film about Muslims, he said: "Probably not – looking at Salman Rushdie (whose controversial book The Satanic Verses forced him into hiding for 10 years).

...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/oct/10/life-of-brian-terry-jones

Whadya think? :shrug:












Some things in life are bad
They can really make you mad
Other things just make you swear and curse.
When you're chewing on life's gristle
Don't grumble, give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best.

And...always look on the bright side of life...
Always look on the light side of life...

[closeupready]

1. The difference was that back then, 'counter-culture' was cool; being 'anti-establishment' was cool.

Religion being as establishment as it gets was a popular target for 70's humor. I remember a segment on Fernwood Tonight with Martin Mull that pissed off a lot of Catholics at the time (1978 or 1979). Times change, so yes, he's likely correct.

[sharp_stick]

2. I don't blame him

There are enough nutjobs out there now with the backing of a major American political party. I think someone taking a shot at him for it would be a real possibility.

Still one of the funniest damn movies of all time. I've always had a copy at home and can pretty much play along with all the parts.

I remember when The Last Temptation of Christ came out a bunch of us went to see it for the simple reason that we would be crossing fundie picket lines. Turns out we quite enjoyed the movie in addition to pissing off fundies.

[Taverner]

3. It'd never get greenlit today. And if it did, the fundies would try and prevent it.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. It only got made then because George Harrison was a huge Python fan

As Michael Palin said, when George died:

George Harrison was the man who saved Life of Brian for the simplest of reasons.

When I asked him why he stepped in with the money in 1978 to make our Monty Python spoof on the life of Christ, he said: "Well, I wanted to see the film."

It was typical of a man who was ready to ignore all the shouts of "blasphemy" at the time and make a movie because he had enjoyed the script and thought he and others might want to have a look at it.
...
George was a man who had the courage of his convictions. He actually mortgaged his house in Henley to put the money down to set up Handmade Films, the production company that backed Life of Brian. It then went on to make a series of films that put it at the forefront of British film throughout the 1980s.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/michael--palin-he-said-he-wanted-to-see-life-of-brian--so-he-handed-us-the-money-633430.html

[onager]

10. The other half of the story...

As told by Palin and Terry Gilliam in the recent Scorsese documentary George Harrison: Living In The Material World:

Life of Brian was supposed to be financed by the British entertainment conglomerate EMI (yep, The Beatles' old record label...somewhat ironically, as it turned out).

The Pythons were deep into pre-production by the time somebody at EMI finally sat down and read the script - and the holy shite hit the fan.

A horrified EMI rep called the Pythons, said the story was "blasphemous," and EMI could not be associated with it in any way. EMI pulled their funding immediately.

That's when Harrison stepped in with $4 million...raised by mortgaging his house, as noted above.

In the documentary, Palin calls it "the most expensive movie ticket in history."

[CJvR]

5. Probably very accurate.

Although I doubt christian fanatics in the US & Europe are quite that murderous - yet.
As for the religion of peace... Ask that Dutch fellow - once you dig him up, or the Danish cartoonists or the crappy Swedish artist etc...

[trotsky]

6. Well, it would seem that since today...

some folks think that blasphemy is OK to punish with death, I'd be surprised to see it made.

[Iggo]

8. +1.

[lbrtbell]

7. He's absolutely right.

The late 1970's were the beginning of the "Moral Majority" yahoos, both here and in the UK. I was an avid Python fan back then, and I recall a tense TV appearance that John Cleese and Michael Palin made on UK TV at the time. (You can find it on YouTube.)

Palin, who is normally the most easy-going guy imaginable, was visibly pissed as hell, keeping his cool with only the greatest effort. Cleese was using his verbal skills to slice and dice the "holy" man.

That was the beginning of this whole Christofascism we see today. The Pythons got smacked around by it a little, but nothing like what would happen now.

And that's a scary thought.

[NMMNG]

9. Even if it did get made today

Theaters would probably be reluctant to screen it. Who knows how many threats and violent protests would ensue?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

11. "Blasphemy" is in the eye of the beholder

I know a lot of liberal Christians who love that movie--myself included.

After it was released in the U.S., I saw an interview with Graham Chapman on one of the talk shows (Dick Cavett? Johnny Carson?) in which he explained that they were skewering religious institutions and people's attitudes, but, he said, they had tried putting in some jokes about Jesus himself, and they just weren't funny. They eventually came to the conclusion that humor directed at good people (like typical right-wing "humor"--my comment) isn't funny.

Personally, I think the people who should REALLY be offended are the Palestinians. "The Judean People's Liberation Front" and "The People's Front for the Liberation of Judea" indeed!

[Azooz]

12. something not completely different

An old interview, funny to

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=asUyK6JWt9U