What was all the fuss about- it's an Almighty Laugh!

Rating: 5/10 (11 January 2007)

I'm not a Python fan but I thought this film was hilarious. I am also a communicating member of the Church of Scotland and attend church fairly regularly. I might point out that I have heard a minister make mention of this film in his sermon and he was not condemning it. Even now, supporters of this film have to keep on driving home the point that this film is NOT about Jesus. Yes, Jesus does appear and is portrayed reverentially in the film (what the Pythons say about not being afraid of the blasphemy laws is a load of big talk). The laughs come thick and fast. If mishearing Jesus's words as "Blessed are the cheesemakers" is blasphemous then schoolchildren all over the world commit blasphemy when they sing "Dance then, wherever you may be. I am the Lord of the Dance Settee". If creating a fictional character whose life runs parallel to that of Jesus is blasphemous then Lew Wallace committed a blasphemy when he wrote Ben Hur. In a recent Channel 4 documentary about the film Polly Toynbee said there is a great humour vacumn at the heart of religion. It's true. The way some religious groups got so hot under their clerical collars about it takes your breath away. When the film opened in Glasgow, the late Pastor Jack Glass, well known arch enemy of Billy Connolly, presented the cinema manager with four nails. Glass told the manager this was because he was crucifying Jesus all over again. Much as he would have disliked it,Glass had a few things in common with Billy Connolly. Both came from a Glaswegian working class background, both had beards and expressed their strongly held views irrespective of what other people thought. Glass also had a bit of a knack for making people laugh although unlike Billy Connolly this was not intentional. Most of the religious nuts who opposed and continue to oppose this film have never seen it but these people aren't noted for their broad mindedness. Some have seen it and probably would have sat their scowling and not laughing as it was what they saw as their Christian duty. But frankly, it's very hard to sit through this film and not laugh. Brian's ride in the spaceship is hilarious. There are also some brilliant lines in the film. Come on, you religious fanatics. Get a life. Have a laugh. Your faith must be very flimsy if it is harmed by a film that is just meant as a joke.