Anti “Life of Brian” Flier from the Opening Night in Phoenix

Monty Python’s Life of Brian had its world premier in New York City 45 years ago this month. It took at least another month before it opened in Phoenix, in September of 1979. I was a junior in high school, already a big Python fan. My sister and I saw the film when it made its Arizona debut — on opening night at the Town & Country 6.

As we stood waiting to get into the theater, protesters were canvassing the line, trying unsuccessfully to dissuade people from seeing the film. One of them handed me a flier. I still have it.

(The full text is below, if these images are too hard to read.)

Whoever typed this had a fancy typewriter – an IBM Selectric probably – with multiple fonts, and they used them. They wanted to make an impression.

The flier quotes Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish leaders who objected to the film. “The most blasphemous film I have ever seen,” said the Spokesman for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York. And in parentheses the flier tells us that the spokesman is a bit of an expert on blasphemous films, with “9 years of experience in film reviewing.”

Wait. Did this spokesman get to see the film in New York when it premiered?

The protest was apparently organized by Calvary Church of the Valley, whose address is at bottom of the flier. As far as I can determine, the church does not have a notable reputation for reactionary evangelical protests. (It does, however, have a 5-star rating on Yelp. Contrast that to the sub-2-star rating of the Westboro Baptist Church.)

The flier is absolutely wrong in its assertion that the film mocks Christianity. I recognized that immediately when I finally read the flier closely — which was after I saw the film. The protesters clearly had not seen the film, and had been disinformed about the plot and its treatment of Christianity. (In the years since the film’s release, the film and director Terry Jones have been vindicated for the portrayal of Brian, a first-century Jew, in the Roman Mediterranean context of Jesus.)

Interestingly, the flier makes no claims about the peril posed by the film to my immortal soul. The whole flier can be summarized in one sentence: If you see this film, it will hurt our feelings.

But What About…

1979 was a pretty great year for movies, but there were a few other protest-worthy films released that year.

Did Calvary Church protest Caligula for its explicit sexual content and extreme violence?

Did they picket Manhattan for it’s portrayal of a romantic relationship between a middle-aged man and a 17-year-old girl?

Did they warn moviegoers not to see The Tin Drum which shows a child in sexually suggestive situations?

I don’t know, but I doubt it.

I’m not singling out Calvary Church or its members for being particularly grievous or hypocritical in this regard. As far as I know, I never again interacted with any of their congregants after one of them put the flier in my hand that evening. (I lived on the other side of Phoenix.)

Rather: Their protest just seems typical of the attitude in American culture and politics that religion is off-limits for mockery. Nobody should be allowed to hurt the feelings of the religious.

Granting religion immunity from criticism stifles free speech and allows harmful ideas to persist — especially unchallenged beliefs that influence public policy and societal norms.

I wonder what the congregation of Calvary Church of the Valley would think of this today – what would they think of the film and the fact that their predecessors saw fit to plead to filmgoers not to see Life of Brian.

For me, at the age of 17, the movie’s subversive irreverence was liberating. As liberating as punk rock. More liberating than any experience I’d ever felt in a church. That’s for damn sure.

The Full Text of the Flier

Please know:

“LIFE OF BRIAN”

IS A TRANSPARENT COVERING FOR A CRUDE, MOCKING BLASPHEMY OF JESUS CHRIST AND OF GOD. AN OFFENSE TO CATHOLICS, JEWS, AND PROTESTANTS ALIKE.

“This is the most blasphemous film I have ever seen and it pretends to be nothing else.”

— Spokesman of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York (has had 9 years of experience in film reviewing)

“We have never come across such a foul, disgusting, blasphemous film before… a vicious attack upon Judaism and the Bible and a cruel mockery of the religious feelings of Christians as well.”

— President of the Rabbinical Alliance of America

“‘Life of Brian’ is crude and rude mockery, colossal bad taste, profane parody. It is grossly offensive to those who accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.”

— Executive Director for Communication and Interpretation of the Lutheran Council in the USA

WE CHRISTIANS BELIEVE
“In Jesus Christ, God’s only Son our Lord,
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven,
And sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”

Christians across the country are offended to the utmost and grieve deeply that our Lord Jesus, who died on the cross for our salvation, is so cruelly mocked. Now that you are aware, as fellow Americans, would you not respect the faith of your brother Americans?

PLEASE DO NOT JOIN IN THIS MOST VICIOUS PIECE OF BLASPHEMY THIS COUNTRY HAS EVER SEEN.

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For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

— Gospel of John 3:16

If you desire further information, write:
Concerned, 6107 N. Invergordon Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85253