How the power of religion put satire back in its box
Judy Finnigan says...
IT’S a good job Monty Python’s religious parody Life Of Brian was made when it was because it sure as heck wouldn’t get made today.
Terry Jones, who directed the film in 1979, said this week that current “religious fervour” makes poking fun at Christianity, let alone Islam, pretty much unthinkable.
“Back then religion generally seemed to be on the back burner,” he told Radio Times. “It felt like kicking a dead donkey. But it’s back with a vengeance and we’d think twice about making Life Of Brian now.”
Of course he’s right. Just look at America. There a majority now reject Darwin’s theory of evolution, preferring to believe God created the world in six days and humans once shared the planet with dinosaurs.
That would be funnier than Life Of Brian if it wasn’t so depressing.