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There are also numerous sketches where homosexuality is never mentioned, but where some other trait is obviously supposed to represent homosexuality.
Examples? Well, there was that BBC documentary about men who secretly live as mice. Chapman played Julius Caesar (a closet mouse in the sketch, possibly a closet homosexual in real life).
And there was the bit about cannibalism in the British Navy. Chapman played an admiral who insisted, “There is NO cannibalism i nthe Navy. And when I say none, I mean there is SOME. But we’re working on the problem and we won’t rest until it’s been completely hushed up.”
Someone commented that he was a transvestite and not gay (he had his ‘best girly by his side’ after all). But actually, if we’re to get really specific, he later sings that he wants to BE a girly, which would make him transgender.
Yes, that was pointed out six posts and four years before you got here.
It was a deep closet.
Well, zombie post, but since this thread was bumped…
According to the BBC’s pretty comprehensive six hour documentary of Monty Python that I finally got around to watching recently, Cleese was indeed the most shocked by the revelation. This from Cleese’s own mouth. He was completely thrown for a loop and not terribly happy about it. He got over it one presumes, but it is interesting that Cleese comes off as kind of the most starched shirt of the Pythons.
I’d highly recommend the documentary by the way, it gave me a bit of insight into their characters and early roles. For example I’d always rather undervalued Terry Jones’ contribution, but apparently he was very much one of the main driving forces behind the group. I was not surprised by the revelation that Michael Palin was universally considered the nicest and was the best liked by all of the others ( also one of the two most naturally talented, along with Cleese - Gilliam maybe half-jokingly notes that he thinks Cleese originally joined the troop primarily because he was interested in working with Palin ).
What’s the name, and is it available on NetFlix?
It’s called Monty Python: Almost the Truth and sadly no, it does not appear to be on Netflix. I caught it on IFC I think ( maybe BBC America? ), which was running them all back to back one day. And actually looks like it wasn’t exactly a BBC product, but rather independently produced.
Ha, it’s funny that I was rereading this thread, got to my contribution, and immediately thought: “WTF? What about the ‘I wish I’d been a girlie’ line, choie you idiot? Obviously he’s a transexual lesbian!” (And yes, I am that harsh to myself in my interior dialogue.) Naturally people corrected me, including the recent bumper of the thread who apparently didn’t read it.
A more interesting contribution: I’ve since read Michael Palin’s Diaries (it’s okay, he sold them and everything!) and his rather matter-of-fact comments about Graham and his sexuality are exactly what you’d expect of the extraordinarily amiable Palin. All very accepting and open. The only real judgment has nothing to do with sexuality, but rather Chapman’s work ethic, or apparent lack thereof, as well as his drinking. He also commented at least once that he felt GC was the funniest of all of them, and Palin considered it a great waste that GC was so unable to control himself or take a more active role in his partnership with Cleese, whom Palin describes as kvetching a lot about being saddled with GC.
Oh, I do remember that in one entry where Palin does ponder whether having kept his sexuality a secret even to himself for so long might have been responsible for GC’s currently feeling free–nay, perhaps even compelled–to live a hedonistic lifestyle.
I highly recommend the Diaries, btw. Palin is a wonderful writer, and even aside from the behind-the-scenes look at his Python and post-Python work, they can be quite moving when discussing his parents, particularly his dad who was sick with Parkinson’s, and his sister, who struggled with depression.
Funny. Cleese still spends a little time kvetching about this in the above-cited documentary, decades after the fact :D. He kinda felt he was carrying him at a time when the other Pythons weren’t quite as aware of the real depth of Chapman’s alcoholism.
That included, on his deathbed, making Cleese promise he’d use the word “fuck” in his eulogy at the memorial service.
Two other bits of Chapman trivia:
He had some medical training and acted as on-set medico during filming of the movies, as needed.
He once was so annoyed to be ignored by a bartender that he took out his penis and begin pounding it on the top of the bar.
He graduated from medical school and briefly practiced medicine.
Thanks. When or why did he let his medical license lapse?
I also just remembered the male member of the People’s Front of Judea in Life of Brian saying he wanted the others to call him “Loretta.” So… a transgendered freedom fighter?
From what I’ve read, he kept his license current and did work occassionally at hospitals for this purpose.
Could be, that sounds familiar. Just like Ken Jeong. He continues to act but maintains his currency in Internal Medicine.
I saw Graham Chapman speak at my college in about 1987 or so. He was charming and very funny. I had no idea before I saw him there that he was gay but he was very upfront about his sexuality. He retold that story about telling the complainer that they were going to execute the gay cast member. It came from a conversation he had on a TV talk show where he was quite candid about it. That was during the run of Monty Python. I’m sure it took balls to reveal that back in the early 70s.
As for the OP I think he not only didn’t mind the gay material, I believe he wrote most of it. They are all fans of tasteless humor. The name of their recently announced stage show is “1 Down 5 To Go.” During his memorial service Cleese said, “Good riddance to him, the freeloading bastard, I hope he fries. And the reason I feel I should say this is he would never forgive me if I didn’t, if I threw away this glorious opportunity to shock you all on his behalf. Anything for him, but mindless good taste. …”
In particular,*** Life of Brian ***was filmed in Tunisia, and the cast and crew was constantly getting sick there, partly due to the bad water. Chapman was writing prescriptions for ailing Englishmen all through the shootong.
Actually it is on Netflix as a three disc documentary. (Could have been unavailable for a while though. Netflix will do that sometimes.)
I recall reading somewhere that Chapman disliked effeminate gay men, preferring more macho types, so some of the Nancy stereotypes in the show might have had some real sting behind them.
As long as this has been reanimated maybe you all can help me…
I seem to recall a sketch about a man who wanted to join the armed forces and was listing off his interests which were all very feminine. The recruiter suggests a branch of the service and the potential recruit responds “well what about (some other branch)” when the recruiter replies “No, no, I’m afraid they’re completely butch”
Did that actually happen or did I dream it?