James Lileks has gotten his hands on the new DVD of Monty Python’s Life of Brian and offers a good discussion of its felicities and foibles. “Is it blasphemous? Well, no. It’s about human fallibility, and the way it infects—at the first possible opportunity—any search for transcendence. Not an original idea, and not a profound one either, but it’s done with grim brio and comic skill.”
Given the news that the Pythons are also re-releasing Life of Brian to theaters to counter The Passion of the Christ (to which the Fark editors attach the hilarious label Jesus Chainsaw Massacre), it’s worth reconsidering this comedy classic—which I love. Though this is not his point, Lileks makes a good case that Brian is another instance of true believers (in nihilism, in this case) promoting their dogma through art. The Pythons are thus unintentionally ironic in using their movie to attempt to undermine that of another faith. Just remember that the last joke is on you.
I absolutely love this movie.