# Holy Grail vs. Life of Brian **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 1, 2006, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524 "2006-02-01T17:33:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/61 "2006-02-03T07:08:55Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > Gangster Octopus writes: > > \> LOB is much more a properly structured story, it actually is a commentary on > \> something important - organized religon, and it is very funny. > > I don’t think of _The Life of Brian_ as being mostly about religion at all. I think of it as being about any kind of fanatical group and really more about political groups than religious ones. The most sharply satirical parts of the movie are about how hopelessly ineffectual the anti-Roman underground movements are. They’ve split up into a dozen tiny feuding groups. I think this is exactly right, and it’s a nuance all those knee-jerking religious groups who protested the movie missed. In fact, the movie is quite clear that there is a real Jesus. The first scene in which we see the adult Brian is in front of the Sermon on the mount, and Jesus is actually portrayed biblically and respectfully. “The Greek? Blessed are the Greek?” “Oh, it’s the meek! Blessed are the meek! Oh, that’s nice. Because they’ve had a hell of a time.” “Blessed are the cheesemakers?” “It’s not meant to be taken literally. It refers to any manufacturer of dairy products.” ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Gene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@Soylent\_Gene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Gene)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/62 "2006-02-03T07:42:32Z")
Ten reasons why Holy Grail is MUCH BETTER The Holy Hand Grenade Tim God The Old Man from Scene 24 The Witch trial Ubiquitous Cat Flogging The Autonomous Collective The Taunting Frenchmen Sir Belvedere’s Ingeneous Rabbit Plan The Swamp Castle Father and Son Duo The Black Knight I could go on and on. I didn’t even mention the Killer Rabbit…exept for just there Face it people, THE GRAIL RULES ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/63 "2006-02-03T11:23:31Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > BTW: I like the Mona Lisa better than the Last Supper. The Last Supper is somewhat contrived, I mean why are they all on the same side of the Frickin table? Huh, Huh, answer me that. 😉 > > Jim Because the television was on the the other side. Duh!! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/64 "2006-02-03T14:26:15Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > Because the television was on the the other side. > > Duh!! But what type of TV, DLP, LCD, Plasma or Projection \*\*and were they watching LoB or Holy Grail? \*\* ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/65 "2006-02-03T16:01:33Z")
Now this is getting silly! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/66 "2006-02-03T16:04:24Z")
> [@cactus waltz](#): > > Now this is getting silly! Hey, we managed to bring it full cirlce at least. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/67 "2006-02-03T16:26:40Z")
> [@Wendell Wagner](#): > > Gangster Octopus writes: > > \> LOB is much more a properly structured story, it actually is a commentary on > \> something important - organized religon, and it is very funny. > > I don’t think of _The Life of Brian_ as being mostly about religion at all. I think of it as being about any kind of fanatical group and really more about political groups than religious ones. The most sharply satirical parts of the movie are about how hopelessly ineffectual the anti-Roman underground movements are. They’ve split up into a dozen tiny feuding groups. Well according to the Python’s the movie is primarily meant as a commentary on rivaling religous factions as opposed to political ones. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/68 "2006-02-03T17:04:19Z")
> [@What Exit?](#): > > BTW: I like the Mona Lisa better than the Last Supper. The Last Supper is somewhat contrived, I mean why are they all on the same side of the Frickin table? Huh, Huh, answer me that. Because they had a conjurer and a steel band. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/69 "2006-02-03T17:18:56Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > I think WW is right, and thinking back to Meaning of Life and the best bit (the sex lesson), isn’t the point the team are trying to make similarly not how naughty sex is but how _difficult_ it is to “teach” it, without either being so cutey and indirect that it’s useless, or so up front that it belittles it, takes away the mystery that is proper to it? > > Brilliant, anyway, whatever they might have been driving at. I always thought that the bit really didn’t have anything to do with sex ed specifically, but rather was riffing on the idea that absolutely anything presented in a classroom enviroment is going to be perceived as dull and boring by the students. ---
**Author:** ![Llama\_Llogophile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@Llama\_Llogophile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llama_Llogophile)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/70 "2006-02-03T20:51:35Z")
The Last Supper is better than the Mona Lisa, primarily because it has three Christs in it. The fat one balances out the two skinny ones. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/71 "2006-02-03T20:53:17Z")
\>Which Theory of Einstein’s was better? General or Special Relativity? This one is pretty easy, which is, I suppose, why nobody bothered responding. General relativity is far more important than special, since it’s…well…general. Covers far more cases, including what special relativity covers. And I’ve only seen Holy Grail, but now I shall search around for Life of Brian. Just one question - does Lob have any songs of the same caliber of “Knights of the Round Table” and “Brave Sir Robin”? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/72 "2006-02-03T21:04:58Z")
[QUOTE=athelas Just one question - does Lob have any songs of the same caliber of “Knights of the Round Table” and “Brave Sir Robin”?[/QUOTE] “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life” makes any song in _Grail_ sound like a Barry Manilow ballad. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/73 "2006-02-03T21:22:53Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I always thought that the bit really didn’t have anything to do with sex ed specifically, but rather was riffing on the idea that absolutely anything presented in a classroom enviroment is going to be perceived as dull and boring by the students. I thought it was more of a general reversal of expectations of a classroom scene. Remember how the kids are dutifully studying before the teacher arrives, and there’s a lookout at the door? When the lookout spots Professor Cleese coming, they all get up and start acting rowdy? Same with the sex scene. One might expect a classroom of horny teens to be just a tad bid interested in the possibility of seeing some real life titty. Instead, the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/74 "2006-02-04T03:00:22Z")
Gangster Octopus writes: \> Well according to the Python’s the movie is primarily meant as a commentary on \> rivaling religous factions as opposed to political ones. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/75 "2006-02-04T04:37:17Z")
Re the sex ed scene, which I’ve only seen once, but found uproariously funny (perhaps with the added piquancy of having attended such British schools), and taking on board **puly** ’s reminder of the reversed expectation aspect of the earlier rowdiness scene, perhaps one point MP were trying to make was that so-called “liberal” schoolteachers can be (or become) both very boring and very predictable to their young charges. On a personal note, my daughter (9) is never less impressed with me than when I “try” (“try” in her eyes - I would swear blind I was being “myself”) to be a bit radical. And I don’t think it’s necessarily embarrassment, which is how such feelings are often classified. I think Natalie has hit on that time-honoured saw that when the performer (be it comedian, actror, musician etc.) is really enjoying himself, then the audience most probably are not. Self-indulgence is the bane of all performing arts. Interesting discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/76 "2006-02-04T21:49:50Z")
> [@N9IWP](#): > > I think I have to recuse myself from judging. > > Brian > (and so is my wife) Would that make her the Wife of Brian? 😃 I’m calling a draw. Yanno, **Rocky Horror Picture Show** fizzles at the end too, which is one of the reasons I think it’s become the pluperfect Midnight show. Because we allllll fizzle around 1:51am. ( snerk ) HG is a loosely assembled melange of brilliant bits, that loses what passes for a cohesive tale at the end. LOB well…uh… we all kind of know that the end of that story is a bit cohesive. And lighthearted and gay too ! Cartooniverse ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/77 "2006-02-04T23:10:41Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life” makes any song in _Grail_ sound like a Barry Manilow ballad. 😃 Now, now, boys… fortunately for all of us, the minds at work knew a good thing when they heard it and so put “Knights of the Round Table”, “Brave Sir Robin” AND “The Bright Side of Life” all in the _Spamalot_ score. “Bright Side” gets extra points for being the tune with which the troupe sent off Graham Chapman at his memorial. Now, they may say that _Brian_ is about religious factions, but the piece itself comes across as being about factionalism, eagerness-to-follow, fanatism, etc. in ALL venues, with a special attention to religion. Still, sometimes you want to laugh at something silly. _Grail_ delivers the goods on this count. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2006, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/78 "2006-02-04T23:40:48Z")
I’m sure most of you have seen it, but in case someone missed it: The Lego [Knights of the Round Table](http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2405283?htv=12). ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/79 "2006-02-05T02:46:01Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “Always Look On The Bright Side of Life” makes any song in _Grail_ sound like a Barry Manilow ballad. 😃 Which is why Spam-a-Lot used it. Idle took his best song to improve the Holy Grail. Jim ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524/80 "2006-02-05T03:05:41Z")
I did not know that, but feel incredibly smug nonetheless. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/holy-grail-vs-life-of-brian/342524.md?page=5)