And Now for Something Completely Different
In light of the Catholic League’s “successful boycott” of The Golden Compass, I thought it would be worthwhile to see this parody of a controversy that arose over The Life of Brian (via Pharyngula):
For more background on the controversy over the earlier film, here’s a good excerpt from Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Robert Sellers. It includes this depressingly-revealing quote:
Gilliam noted, “In Britain, it was banned in different towns; what that meant was that people in those towns organised charabancs and went to the neighbouring town where it was showing. But in the States they banned it in the Bible Belt area and nobody went. You see, the British can’t be controlled and the Americans can… that’s what we learnt over that.”
That’s exactly what’s wrong with with this country. Americans can be controlled by small-minded self-appointed dictators.
Finally, here’s an excerpt of a documentary about The Life of Brian. The incident that is parodied above starts about two minutes in.
One of the most damning comments was this from John Cleese:
You have to remember that Christianity in America is mainly about sex. … These people are operating at a very low level of mental health.
We’re a country of pathetic, repressed, sniveling fools.
December 11th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
I agree. Some people just need to be led. Its sad. I was talking to my neo-con (Jewish) mother earlier today. (I mention Jewish because she is pro science but conservative in other ways). She was defending Bush by saying we haven’t had any attacks lately. Other than the obvious: wrong country, wrong group. There’s also a need for some to follow what they’re told. People want to believe the government is always good and looking out for us. And sometimes, they are. Many times, (and this goes for Dems and Reps) they just care about the money. I am glad I developed my sense of questioning and seeking higher knowledge but feel bad for those who haven’t or just refuse to.
December 12th, 2007 at 1:24 pm
What’s even sadder is that Life of Brian is actually a parody of religion and religious zealotry, whereas Golden Compass is merely a fantasy movie with an atheist writer. These are sad times, indeed.