The Life of Brian was a movie that I was excited to watch; Monty Python’s works have a unique sense of humor that I really love. All of the characters are made fun of rather equally, which I find admirable, and the subtle religious and social commentary is bold but not aggressive. It sounds like I am writing a full-scale review of The Life of Brian, but these elements are what I think make the work so great. It is the epitome of the extended rights of the comedian; they are able to cross red lines that the rest of us are held to, and Monty Python seems to dance upon these lines.
I will admit that the full-frontal nudity scene would have
shocked me when I was younger. I used to be pretty prudish and things like that
made me uncomfortable. I do not necessarily think that my mind has gotten
dirtier, but I am much more able to accept the normalcy of the human body and
see it as something objective rather than taboo. This change made my experience
of The Life of Brian much more enjoyable than I think it would have
otherwise been.
The one thing in this movie that did bother me was that I felt as though there was an element of sexism and even misogyny in it. I found it odd that the nude scene of Brian’s female partner was far longer and clearer than was his own. She also did not have many lines at all, and those that she did say were limited mostly to praises of Brian. Overall, I noticed that she seemed to be mostly used as an object of sexual humor, which is understandable given that it is a comedy, but which seems out of proportion to her other stage time. The only other woman who was of importance, Brian’s mother, was played by a man, and at one point a rape joke was made, which crosses some lines better left uncrossed. All things considered, I enjoyed the movie very much but it gives me something to reflect on about gender roles in Hollywood and Monty Python.