orangerful (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
orangerful) wrote2015-04-29 08:26 pm
orangerful) wrote2015-04-29 08:26 pm
Entry tags:
Monty Python Live...and extremely uncomfortable
I've been a fan of Monty Python since I was a kid. We used to watch the show as a family on Saturday nights on public television. I watched Holy Grail over and over and made my friends watch it too (how my parents didn't get into trouble, I don't know).
Last year, the surviving Pythons did a live show, broadcast to theaters around the world. I didn't go but I noticed a few weeks ago that the library had the DVD so I put a hold on it. I thought it would be fun to watch and laugh at the classic Python bits.
But instead of laughing, I found myself feeling very uncomfortable.
I began to realize that I have an area of Python that I really love - usually bits that are on the more intellectual or weird side. The philosopher's soccer game. The penguin on the television set. Spanish Inquisition. BICYCLE REPAIRMAN! In other words, the earliest years of Monty Python. I think I only watched the first 3 seasons then would trail off.
But the live show was full of jokes from all the Python bits, bits that haven't aged as well. Most of them made fun of gay or transgender people. Or, at least, the crux of the joke was being gay.
Also, as far as musical numbers go, the Lumberjack Song is the only Python song I've ever really liked, with Always Look on the Bright Side of Life on my radar but not a favorite. Of course, Lumberjack is also problematic for the same reason - the joke is that he is a transvestite.
When I was 12, this was comedy gold. I thought it was hilarious. At 34, I found myself unable to laugh at it anymore. There was something unfunny about these old men performing these bits. I think I could probably watch the original sketches on DVD and find them amusing, but seeing it done today, knowing it was 2014 and they were still doing these jokes...I couldn't finish the show. I turned it off, I didn't want my memories of these bits sullied.
Have I lost my sense of humor? Was it ever funny? I guess I can just paraphrase the Pope when he was talking to Michaelangelo - I may not know comedy, but I know what I like.
Last year, the surviving Pythons did a live show, broadcast to theaters around the world. I didn't go but I noticed a few weeks ago that the library had the DVD so I put a hold on it. I thought it would be fun to watch and laugh at the classic Python bits.
But instead of laughing, I found myself feeling very uncomfortable.
I began to realize that I have an area of Python that I really love - usually bits that are on the more intellectual or weird side. The philosopher's soccer game. The penguin on the television set. Spanish Inquisition. BICYCLE REPAIRMAN! In other words, the earliest years of Monty Python. I think I only watched the first 3 seasons then would trail off.
But the live show was full of jokes from all the Python bits, bits that haven't aged as well. Most of them made fun of gay or transgender people. Or, at least, the crux of the joke was being gay.
Also, as far as musical numbers go, the Lumberjack Song is the only Python song I've ever really liked, with Always Look on the Bright Side of Life on my radar but not a favorite. Of course, Lumberjack is also problematic for the same reason - the joke is that he is a transvestite.
When I was 12, this was comedy gold. I thought it was hilarious. At 34, I found myself unable to laugh at it anymore. There was something unfunny about these old men performing these bits. I think I could probably watch the original sketches on DVD and find them amusing, but seeing it done today, knowing it was 2014 and they were still doing these jokes...I couldn't finish the show. I turned it off, I didn't want my memories of these bits sullied.
Have I lost my sense of humor? Was it ever funny? I guess I can just paraphrase the Pope when he was talking to Michaelangelo - I may not know comedy, but I know what I like.