Monty Python's Life of Brian: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 01:55, 6 March 2016

Revision as of 03:25, 10 March 2016

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==Religious satire and blasphemy accusations==

Author [[Richard Webster (British author)|Richard Webster]] comments in his ''[[A Brief History of Blasphemy]]'' (1990) that "internalised censorship played a significant role in the handling" of ''Monty Python's Life of Brian''. In his view, "As a satire on religion, this film might well be considered a rather slight production. As blasphemy it was, even in its original version, extremely mild. Yet the film was surrounded from its inception by intense anxiety, in some quarters of the Establishment, about the offence it might cause. As a result it gained a certificate for general release only after some cuts had been made. Perhaps more importantly still, the film was shunned by the BBC and ITV, who declined to show it for fear of offending Christians in the UK. Once again a blasphemy was restrained - or its circulation effectively curtailed - not by the force of law but by the internalisation of this law."<ref name="Blasphemy">{{cite book |author=Webster, Richard |title=A Brief History of Blasphemy: Liberalism, Censorship and 'The Satanic Verses' |publisher=The Orwell Press |___location=Southwold |date=1990 |page=27 |isbn=0-9515922-0-3 |oclc= |doi= |accessdate=}}</ref> On its initial release in the UK, the film was banned by several [[town council]]s – some of which had no cinemas within their boundaries, or had not even seen the film. A member of [[Harrogate (borough)|Harrogate council]], one of those that banned the film, revealed during a television interview that the council had not seen the film, and had based their opinion on what they had been told by the [[Nationwide Festival of Light]], a grouping with an evangelical Christian base, of which they knew nothing.<ref name="Channel 4" />

Some bans continued into the 21st century. In 2008, [[Torbay]] Council finally permitted the film to be shown after it won an online vote for the English Riviera International Comedy Film Festival.<ref name="TorbayBan">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/devon/7633749.stm|title=Python movie 'ban' finally lifted|date=24 September 2008|work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |accessdate=24 September 2008}}</ref> In 2009, it was announced that a thirty-year-old ban of the film in the Welsh town of [[Aberystwyth]] had finally been lifted, and the subsequent showing was attended by [[Terry Jones]] and [[Michael Palin]] alongside mayor [[Sue Jones-Davies]] (who portrayed Judith Iscariot in the film).<ref>{{cite news | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/7915623.stm | title = Town ends Python film 30-year ban |publisher=BBC News | date = 27 February 2009 | first=Carl | last=Yapp}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/7969835.stm |work=BBC News | title=Life of Brian still a huge draw | date=29 March 2009 | accessdate=5 April 2010 | first=Carl | last=Yapp}}</ref> However, before the showing, an [[Aberystwyth University]] student discovered that a ban had only been discussed by the council and in fact that it had been shown (or scheduled to be shown) at a cinema in the town in 1981.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/7919116.stm|title=Tickets sold out for Python film|date=2 March 2009|work=BBC News |publisher=BBC |accessdate=16 April 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Monty Myth-on |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/mid/sites/aberystwyth/pages/montypython.shtml |publisher=BBC |date=1 April 2009 |accessdate=16 April 2009}}</ref> In 2013, a German official in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia considered the film to be possibly offensive to Christians and hence subject to a local regulation prohibiting its public screening on [[Good Friday]], despite protests by local atheists.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-23227452 Germany: Life of Brian banned on Good Friday]</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.derwesten.de/staedte/bochum/fuer-auffuehrung-der-jesus-satire-in-bochum-am-karfreitag-droht-strafe-id8152665.html |title=Für Aufführung der Jesus-Satire in Bochum am Karfreitag droht Strafe |language=de}}</ref>