Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979)
It is a true and true parody of the Saviour. It starts with three wise men going to the wrong manger in Bethlehem, only to greet by a ferocious sounding whiny mother. This child is Brian. The wise men soon realise their mistakes and proceed to the real Son of God.
Brian grows under the thumb of his domineering mother to become a timid adult. The rest of the story is made up of dry British humour, centred around Brian's involvement with a resistance group out to oust the Roman occupation of Judea, called 'People's Front of Judea'. Brian is mistaken as a Messiah; long story short, he is off the Calvary for the crucifixion. The movie ends with a chirpy song, 'Always look on the bright side of life', as Brian and the others on the nearby cross whistle away to the tune.
After its release, the film got plenty of unwarranted attention from the censor boards the world over. As they say, any publicity, good or bad, is good for show business. It was even restricted screening in certain localities in the UK. All this notoriety just spiralled at the box office as cinemas promoted the film as 'too funny that it is banned in Norway'!
The initial hullabaloo was initiated by people who had not viewed the movie. Over the years, people started to accept it as artistic expression. It is even considered one of the greatest comedies of all time, grossing record ticket sales over either side of the Atlantic.
Like many of the religion-themed movies that came out after this, so much uproar surrounding their release eventually proved to be non-events. People soon went to the daytime duties, and the producers laughed all the way to the bank. Remember the controversies surrounding 'The Message' (1976) and 'The Passion of the Christ' (2004)? 'The Message' caused such a hue and cry as people thought Prophet Muhammad was depicted in the movie. In reality, he was neither seen nor heard.
But looking at the current environment and easily triggered stance upheld by most parties, a similar portrayal of the Prophet is undoubtedly not a good idea. Just for interest, the other day, I was watching an abbreviated version of Dante Algieri's 'Inferno'. (Thanks, Danny.) The makers of this animated presentation were so fearful of offending the sentiments of Muslims that they decided not to mention by name one of the occupants of the 8th circle of Hell but hinted in not so many words.
