Introduction

The Debate

They didn't look like trouble. The Bishop of Southwark, the Right Reverend Mervyn Stockward in all his glorious, purple gowns and Christian broadcaster Malcolm Muggeridge in mustard jacket and tie, but like the Spanish Inquisition they came to attack and condemn the film, 'Monty Python's Life of Brian' as blatant blasphemy.

Defending themselves were Monty Python's Michael Palin and John Cleese. But by the end of the discussion the Right Reverend pointed his massive cross, like Abraham Van Helsing warding off Dracula, at the blasphemers and announced that the two sinners would "get their thirty pieces of silver".

Malcolm Muggeridge on the other hand took the stand that "There is nothing in this little squalid number that could possibly affect anybody because it's much too tenth rate for that."

This attack certainly made the wonderfully 'nice' Michael Palin show some extraordinary (for him) anger. As he recalls, "We had done our homework, thinking we were going to get into quite a tough theological argument, but it turned out to be virtually a slanging match. We were very surprised by that. I don't get angry very often, but I got incandescent with rage at their attitude and the smugness of it."

The anger came from the inability to argue against such a comment. What were Michael and John supposed to say, "it is a good film or its a great film etc, etc." How can the filmmakers themselves actually say that? But now 30 years later we do have the ammunition to deal with these scornful and derisive remarks.

In 2007 'Life of Brian' was voted, 'the funniest comedy ever' in Channel Four's '50 Greatest Comedy Films'. And then the British Film Institute declared it to be the 28th best British film of all time. And here are some of the latest comments today on a Utube clip of the debate.

Crisis123456789:- 'There's nothing in this little squalid number that could possibly affect anybody' Then why the hell are you arguing against it being shown???

Sliptodance:- When I die I hope I remember how important Monty Python has been for me.

MLennholm:- They should have told those pompous stuck up buggers "Just like the Beatles, we ARE bigger than Jesus"

Ullghoirt:- The Life of Brian is both funny and thought provoking. Well done, Monty Python!!! The God debate is still going on today, so at least we're still "All individuals and not letting anyone tell us what to do."

LienPT:- God wants us to laugh...God wants us to be happy! Why do conservative people *have* to insist speaking for a God they seem to know so poorly...?

Intermender:- This debate is still going on! Why is religion so suspiciously fragile? One of the funniest movies ever made!

MrSparky1913:- If only the Bishops were so forthcoming in Ireland to unmask the sex abusing priests. They really think they are someone! Remove that collar Bishop. It means nothing.

Mortalhellion:- Palin should? have said, "Yes, I am the messiah. Now f--k off!" Many hardcore religious simply lost their sense of humor.

Emzii92:- Bloody old, pretentious, stick up their arses men. Get a sense of humor! Cleese and Palin well done.

FandPrulethesky:- Religion is the best and worse thing sometimes. Well done Cleese and Palin.

These types of comments are being made consistently over the past 20 years, so I think we can now definitively say that Muggeridge's scathing, personalized criticism is wrong. The film is not tenth rate or infantile but funny and lasting.

Talking of personalized criticism let's get down in the gutter with them. Here is another, more personalized, comment.

Ketersimax:- What a hypocrite! That priest with the purple shirt is gay and an alcoholic.

This in fact is true, the Bishop of Southwark's obituary reads:

'His capacity for alcohol was prodigious, but it never impaired his mental facilities; the more wine he drank, the sharper his memory became.' As the bible says: 'Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs.' (Luke 12:1)

And so the gay movement did just that and ousted the Right Reverend. Here I must slap my wrists for dropping to their level of mud slinging and I want to add that being Gay does not in my mind make him a good or bad Christian, in fact I know Mervyn Stockwood did some very good work in his Diocese. And in a later section about the identity of Jesus I will investigate the groups who believed that Jesus himself was involved in homosexual activities.

But let us tackle the main thrust of the Right Reverend's argument. Was the film 'Life of Brian' blasphemous?

Many considered it was. 'Life of Brian' received its world premiere in New York on 17th August 1979, the same week as Apocalypse Now and The Muppet Movie. In the USA, freedom of speech and religious choice are enshrined in the Constitution. Or so it was thought.

The opening salvo in what became a heated and often surreal war of words appeared on August 19th from Rabbi Abraham Hecht, president of the Rabbinical Alliance of America, who claimed to speak for half a million Jews. Writing in Variety Magazine, he declared, "Never have we come across such a foul, disgusting, blasphemous film before." Hecht went on to make public his view that 'Brian' "was produced in hell". After Hecht's denunciation, outraged religious leaders queued up to vent their spleen to any hack with a microphone, in stark contrast to other more liberal churchmen who defended the film's right to be shown.

The Protestant voice of protest belonged to Robert EA Lee of the Lutheran Council, whose tirade against 'Brian' "crude and rude mockery, colossal bad taste, profane parody. A disgraceful assault on religious sensitivity", was broadcast across 1,000 radio stations. Not to be outdone, the Catholic film-monitoring office rated 'Brian' 'C' for 'Condemned' and implored its flock not to visit theaters where it was playing, it being a sin to do so. With massive protests against the movie from all denominations of Christianity, and Judaism, John Cleese joked with Michael Palin:

"We've brought them all together for the first time in 2000 years!"

Naturally, the protests and marches only served to heighten Brian's media profile and so increase its box-office take. Nothing sells better than when it comes attached to the whiff of notoriety. With such free publicity, the original plan to open Brian on 200 screens nationwide snowballed to nearer 600. As John Cleese joked on an American TV show, "They have actually made me rich."

But some countries acted to prevent any success. The film was banned in Norway, and so it was marketed in Sweden as, 'The film that is so funny that it was banned in Norway!' Ireland banned the film for blasphemy and banned director, Terry Jones' next film 'Personal Services'. Terry went on to say, "I'm not sure if I have made a good film if the Irish don't ban it."

On November 8, 1979 'Life of Brian' opened in London and, in spite of hymn-singing demonstrators outside, went on to break box-office records in its first week, smashing the previous house record set by 'Jaws'. The film was backed by an advertising campaign in which each Python recruited, either a relative or friend e.g. Gilliam's mum, Michael Palin's dentist, to present their own radio spot. John Cleese's 80-year-old mother, Muriel, read an appeal to listeners, claiming that she was 102-years old and kept in a retirement home by her son, and that unless enough people see his new film and make him richer, he will throw her on to the streets where she will assuredly perish. The ad won a delighted Muriel an award for best radio entertainment commercial of 1979.

But in the rest of Britain, 'Brian' became a victim of regional censorship. There is a loophole in British law to protect the spread of disease. Local authorities have the power to close cinemas for health reasons, and...