One time's shocking boundary-breaker is a future time's child's play. That's just the way things go. What shocks us one day will usually become common place (or at least not controversial) at some point in time. But some towns, they know how to be stubborn.According to the BBC, it seems that a little UK town called Aberystwyth really doesn't appreciate Monty Python's Life of Brian, and it's been banned for the last 29 years. But that's not the kicker -- one of the actors in the film is now the mayor. Sue Jones-Davies, who played Judith Iscariot/Brian's girlfriend, is now the mayor of the town and is on a mission to get the ban lifted.
Meanwhile, Reverend Stuart Bell is completely against the idea, claiming that every Christian he talks to in the town wants the ban upheld. He then goes on to talk about how he loves Jesus more than his wife and how he wouldn't go see a film that makes fun of his wife either. Of course, he's never seen the film (just "a small clip, that's all").
Will Mayor Sue be the town's Kevin Bacon? We'll have to wait and see.
1. I remember reading the back of the Criterion DVD. They made it sound like Life of Brian gave Christianity a total thrashing, and made some grand social comment about Christ's followers.
They obviously didn't watch the movie either.
Jesus is actually in the movie. People don't like what he's saying, so they go after Brian instead (it's much funnier in the movie). AFAIK, that's pretty close to what the Bible says. Something like "people loved the darkness more than the light."
It's a funny movie. It's more about making fun of PEOPLE than organized religion, and while it centers Christianity, anything it says is universal to any organized group.
But to come up with that requires watching it, and actually thinking about it. Something we're not so good at as human beings when we think we're being criticized or attacked by the arts.
-Pie
Posted at 12:58AM on Jul 31st 2008 by EatingPie