For all fans of Monty Python, this is a special treat. Anyone who has watched The Life Of Brian will remember the crack suicide squad who appeared at the end of the movie when Brian was on the cross. They promptly killed themselves for no apparent reason other than they were a suicide squad and wanted to prove it.
At the time, I thought that their appearance was just one more strange quirk to be expected of the Python team. I was wrong. The following clip provides context for the suicide squad and their actions.
This clip was edited from the final cut. The reasons have become fairly clear.
The Monty Python team made a strong statement about religion and fanaticism in The Life Of Brian. It is regarded as not only one of the funniest movies of all time, but also one of the cleverest. The crack suicide squad were, in fact, Zionist supremacists. They are depicted as such in the following clip. They are also compared to Nazis, a comparison that many across the globe readily and accurately make today with regard to the rogue state of Israel. The Python team were well ahead of their time in not only their comedic genius, but also in their assessment of geopolitical affairs in the Middle East. The message from the comedic team, therefore, is clear to even the most reluctant supporter of Palestine. Zionism can be equated with Naziism, in the 1970’s (when the movie was made) just as it can be today.
What is of interest though, is that while The Life Of Brian does poke fun at Christianity in a light-hearted manner, and although it also casts a critical and comedic eye upon our perception of society at that time, it does not cast serious aspersions upon Zionism in the way that would appear to have been first intended, as evidenced by the content of this short passage of film.
The question could be asked, just what pressures were brought to bear upon the Python team and their backers to coerce or force them into editing content, openly critical of Zionism, that provided necessary context for a later scene?
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