Monty Python’s Life of Brian Is More Ironic Than You Think

The educated lefties of the Monty Python troupe spoke truth to power against a conservative regime that begrudgingly allowed it. But now they can’t, and it’s an irony their own comedic skits should have predicted.

Monty Python’s Life of Brian was, for 1979 at least, an incendiary attack on Christianity that earned condemnation and outright censorship across the United Kingdom. Though the jokes go out of their way to not attack Jesus Christ or Christianity directly, those stodgy old Anglican pastors apparently saw the dogmatic religious zealots being ridiculed on screen and felt personally attacked. But having rewatched this movie yesterday, I don’t think Life of Brian’s point was religious in nature, except to be edgy and poking fun at religion is an easy way to get people upset. The main point, I think, was more political.

Pontius Pilate and his Roman legions represent the conservatism of the British Empire. As the movie itself points out, Roman/British rule isn’t actually that bad, they build aqueducts, roads and public sanitation systems, and most importantly, they bring peace to the region. The Roman authorities in the movie are quite benign and don ‘t commit senseless acts of cruelty unprovoked. But they do get quite upset about being made fun of, which is easy to do, as they’re not particularly bright or well-educated, and are a bit self conscious about it. So in this sense, the movie mirrors how its creators see themselves as a band of eloquent jesters mocking the regime and all their idiotic rules.

But it is the Judean zealots who are the most interesting characters in the movie, who imitate and parody the Woodstock leftists of the 1960s; university students who were educated (sort of) and highly idealistic, but so idealistic they sabotage their own movement with foolishness and infighting. These skits are the funniest and best-written parts of the movie, as they so accurately lampoon leftist idiocy. In one scene, a man in the group declares that he is a woman and has the right to have babies, receives the enthusiastic support of the actual woman in the group (Judith), and from that point onwards all of their manifestos are gender neutral (“parentland” instead of “fatherland” for example). Overall, leftists are depicted as well-meaning but ineffectual, and most of all, harmless. But did that actually turn out to be true?

John Cleese doesn’t seem to think so, and has spent considerable time in his twilight years complaining about how “woke” cancel culture ruined comedy. I can’t help but find that ironic. Under Roman rule, jokes were allowed, but under zealot rule, jokes are banned for being racist, sexist, transphobic, etc. Cleese really should have been able to predict this, honestly. Infamous leftist infighting is primarily caused by their total inability to tolerate views that deviate from their own. So of course when those leftists are running the show, there is an ideological crackdown, including on well-meaning left-leaning humorists who had supported the cause up to that point.

Maybe Roman rule wasn’t so bad after all, they at least brought us peace.

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