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An essay in missing the point and pre-judging a film
| | Added by Matthew Stagg (email) on 2005-12-13 12:30:54 |
Quote - I also didn't like the fact that Pontius Pilate (Michael Palin) talks with a lisp, and everyone makes fun of him.
Oh dear, oh dear.
I am afraid you just showed your colors a bit there. My guess is that you have a fairly strong and fairly fundamentalist christian belief. You don't feel comfortable with the subject matter as it forces you to look at your own irrational beliefs on which you depend to make sense of the world around you. So you're looking for a bit of moral high ground to knock the film on (it is not funny to mock the afflicted.)
Unfortunately, in your hurry to knock you didn't pay much attention to the content itself (having missed in your review the fundamental point of the film - the idiocy of blind faith and dogma.)
I know this because Pontius Pilate does not have a lisp in the film, rather he is unable to roll his Rs.
I personally find the scene funny not only becuase of the speech impediment (I know I shouldn't laugh, but it's difficult not to) but also because the guards, knowing that they must not laugh at an authority figure and trying desperately not to, are unable to contain themselves. It's all part of the subtle nuance and underlying observational comedy of the film.
I guess then that you'd better stick to watching "jokes" that involve men with turkeys on their heads and buxom girls being chased by lecherous old men.
There is no God, and if there were he wouldn't like sycophants (no-one does!)
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Re: Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
| | Added by Bill on 2005-12-13 20:17:52 |
You are completely wrong in every way.
I do not object to the notion that Pontius talks with a speech impediment, lisp or otherwise, but that the joke is another example of typical Monty Python humor. MP's fort� is to hammer the same jokes repeatedly at the audience, literally beating them to death. I may have laughed initially at Pontius, but after the third or fourth or fifth time being subjected to the same joke, I grew frustrated. I get it already, so get on with it. "MP and the Holy Grail" is a bigger offender. There are numerous jokes in that movie told over and over and over again (the credits, the coconuts, extended dialogue scenes), and each time the jokes become less funny because they become too familiar. It is a strategy that I think fails, though I realize I'm in the minority here.
With the Pontius jokes specifically, I didn't think it was funny that the movie repeats the same cycle several times. Pontius talks funny, and everyone reacts. I don't think this joke is offensive at all, and I could very well laugh at it, except that after a half-dozen times or so, the joke wears thin. By the end of the film, the joke is no longer funny, because it's been repeated too many times. I have absolutely no problem with the subject matter, and I am not knocking the film based on any moral high ground whatsoever. This is a tedious movie, but it is not offensive. Regardless of subject matter, I just don't like MP's brand of comedy. My intentions with this review might become clearer if you go to the "MP and the Holy Grail" message board on this website, where I defend my position by stating my point of view, and then providing examples.
Let me provide an analogy. I'm sure you've seen "Spaceballs." The character Dark Helmet has a large helmet that's funny on first sight. Mel Brooks doesn't expect us to laugh every time Dark Helmet shows up, because we become accustomed to the helmet. Therefore, Brooks stages a number of scenes which take advantage of the large helmet. Dark Helmet drinks coffee through it. He comments that a nurse "gives great helmet." A door slams on his helmet. He uses his helmet to hide the fact that he's sticking his tongue at President Skroob. He has trouble breathing through his helmet. Colonel Sanders steps on the helmet when climbing out of Mega Maid's nose. The point is that Mel Brooks exploits the helmet in different ways to get a laugh. This keeps the helmet gags fresh. With "Life of Brian," all we get is Pontius talking funny, and everyone laughs. That's it. Nothing inventive, nothing new, nothing different each time we see him. The joke becomes stale. That is my objection.
By the way, yes, I believe in God, and I see nothing blind about it. If you say I possess blind faith for believing, then you cannot object if I say that disbelieving also requires blind faith.
BTW, I'm not a sycophant. You came to that conclusion based on an improper interpretation of this review, and you should now take it back now that I've set things straight. My opinion of MP is not a secret on this site, and I've been attacked for it. The fact that I write negative reviews of MP films actually contradicts the definition of sychophant. I'd be a sychophant if I gave a positive review just to appease people who see these films as sophisticated comedy.
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