The initial juxtaposition of Jesus and Brian set up the film as a parody of Jesus’s life being told through the life of Brian. It helps the viewer to understand that, while Brian is not Jesus, their lives can be accidentally, and easily, confused. Using Brian’s life to explore Jesus’s life is a way to make accusations about Jesus’s life, without really offending anyone. Through satire the Monty Python troupe causes people to unknowingly rethink about their views of Jesus as a human being. Seeing how Brian was accidentally pushed into the position of “Messiah” it is easy to understand how Jesus could have been pushed into a similar position. It was also interesting, for me, to see how simple accidents and coincident, can be misconstrued as miracles. This is seen when Brian falls on the man who has taken a vow of silence and causes him to cry out in alarm, and when the berry bush is growing in the dessert. Could Jesus’s “miracles” have been merely accidents, or were they actually miracles, this is the kind of question “Life of Brian” wants you to ask yourself.

The film also offers a satirical look into life in first century Palestine. Jewish legalism is one of the more hilarious ones. When a person says the name of Jehovah, they must be stoned, almost immediately. This leads to the stoning of a temple official, after he declares that the man is being stoned for uttering the name of Jehovah. The Jewish concept of the Messiah comes into play when Brian is assumed to be the messiah. People claim that they have followed quite a few messiahs, and are going to follow Brian as well. This shows that the Jewish people were looking for the messiah everywhere, and following anyone. This is a concept not much recognized in modern America because times are not as bad, and people are looking for worldly answers to their problems, instead of help from above.    

In Life of Brian, the Monty Python troupe explores a satirical way of examining Jesus’ life though the main character of Brian, a boy born at the same time of Jesus, and confused for him by the Magi.  This sequence actually starts the film, before the credits even, and shows the audience not only the humor that will be shown but also the idea that, without God’s interference, anyone could have been the messiah.  It is interesting to watch as Brian then grows up, and actually hears “Jesus” give the Sermon on the Mount.  This seems to influence his own ideas, but more importantly that scene shows the confusing interpretational work that is done to the text.  One of the characters hears Jesus say “Blessed are the cheese makers.”  In response, the people start arguing what that means with one person saying that is must refer to all makers of dairy products.  This also starts a little argument between the people in the audience and their differences, alluding to the concept of Jewish factions and ideas.  After this Brian’s mother takes him to a stoning, which goes horribly wrong as the people are so legalistic that they will not listen to the priest and jump at anyone who has said the word “Jehovah”, killing the priest as he is reading the crimes of the blasphemer?  Overall, the Jews are not portrayed too kindly in this film because of their splintering, fanatic martyrdom, and unwavering legalism.   The Romans do not make it out of the film unscathed either as they are depicted as stupid yet brutal.  In fact they help the Jews harass them, teaching Brian proper Latin so he can write slander against them.  They also do not understand the strangeness of the Jews and just watch them kill themselves because of their hatred for each other over the Romans.  The Romans are also brutal because they just kill everyone for a first offence, and they do not care if they person is the right person or not, as long as the number of people are killed they are happy.  The film does have one concept that did challenge my concept of Jesus though, and that is Brian talking to his followers that he did not want.  Telling them to go home and be individuals, but they take him as a grand teacher and follow him creating a religion behind their unwilling leader.  I have not thought of a Jesus who was mistaken as the messiah, and trying to tell his followers that he is not and send them home.

The “Life of Brian” uncovers the lunacy of 1st century Palestine through the film’s critique of Jewish sects and relationships with the Romans.  All the Jews in the movie are hoping to overthrow the Romans because they hate them but they are not sure why they hate them.  This can be seen in the scene where the leader of the FPJ says, “What have they given us in return?”  The mocking response is the Romans have given Jews many things like roads, order, wine, education, and public health.  Brian encounters the stereotype of Jews, disunity amongst them.  Each Jew has a different party name but all hate the Romans and the other Jewish parties.  For example, the Jews are always fighting over who had the idea first or what right to fight for.  This acts itself out when the two different Jewish groups kill each other over the same objective: kidnap Pilate’s wife and hold her for ransom.  The film also pokes fun at Jewish legalism as well.  The stoning scene is a critique of how Jewish legalism has no respect to context and has to follow this perfect letter of the law.  Another scene emphasizing such opinion is the request by the Jews to be crucified separating from the Samaritans.  Even at their death Jews follow the law by the book. 

The film seems to make fun of Jews more than Christians.  Prime example is the parody on the Sermon on the Mount and scenes following.  Brian accidently falls onto the platform with the other hopeful and crazily looking messiah figures jabbing about life and death.  He is asked to tell the crowd some wisdom, in which his message is rationalization and independence.  The mob, the Jews, who is actively seeking a messiah try to invest their hopes and dreams into Brian with talk about sandals and such.  Brian is chased into the wilderness by this mob, who wants to see miracles and signs of his identity.  They trick him into saying he is the messiah and then ask for food.  He points to a brush and the crowd is amazed at this find and calls it a miracle.  With these scenes, the film is presenting a critique against blind faith with Brian as the anti-messianic figure who just wants to be left alone.  The “miracle” emphasizes this blind faith of believers, who “have known many messiahs before” and are for sure Brian is one of them.  Perhaps, they like the Gospel writers took something ordinary and embellished it by investing their personal significance like this mob did. 

    The movie The Life of Brain begins with Jesus and Brian being born on the same night in the same area. This opening to the movie starts off the similar relation Jesus’s Gospel stories and Brian’s life have in common. The stories intersect a few times between Brian being crucified and Brian being called“Messiah”, the two stories show two different angels on the same journey. Brian is not liked by the Roman’s as Jesus was and even though his father was a Roman, he is not accepted. 
 
    The film shows the representation of the time period through the clothing, setting, separation of Jew’s and Roman’s, and other indicators. The Jewish people in the movie show their self-interest when they ignore Brian’s crucifixion notice. In the scene the followers of God do not think about acting quickly, instead they continued to work on a plan to stop the Romans.  This shows the men’s factionalism and narrow mindedness. When Brian dying and then his discipleship structured followers coming to him as if to rescue, but instead praise Brian’s martyrdom. The Jewish and Roman relations are seen as something well emphasized. The Jewish community seems to show more power than the Roman guards and people; when Pilot and his solider speak, they have a lisp and do not understand why all the Jewish people are laughing at them. Brian also fools the Roman soldiers into thinking he is painting over his bash at the Roman’s, “Romans go home”, but he really he is making them look foolish by writing the saying everywhere. 
 
    This movie creates a Christ-like man, Brian, who falls into the path of being worshiped as Jesus was. This is caused by some of his words and also his deeds. The Jewish people think that he is there to save them and be the person they solely follow. When Brian comes out onto his balcony the Jewish people think he is going to tell them great things, and with this mind set they obey him and say they do not have to follow him because Brian said they should not. This figure makes a Christ figure look like someone anyone could be and someone who becomes Christ from his words and deeds, not background.

    In the movie Life of Brian, Brian is a reimagined interpretation of Jesus Christ as a messianic figure.  He is mistakenly visited by three wise men bearing gifts in the beginning of the movie, and the similarities continue from there.  However, Brian is an unwilling 'messiah.'  In their desperate need for someone to save them from Roman oppression, the Jewish people follow Brian simply to have someone to follow.  He accidentally preaches when trying to escape the Romans and then is joined by a group of people trying to make him the Messiah.  Although he constantly tries to get rid of them by saying things like "Be an individual" they continue to view him as a leader.  He commits 'miracles' and is crucified, but unlike Jesus he is an unwilling participant in the role in which he has found himself.
    This role of Brian as a Messiah is satirical because he preaches independence and wants to be left alone.  This is not the message Jesus puts forth in the Bible.  The Jewish people are shown in a bad light as they don't fully understand the oppression which they are suffering under due to the Roman government.  They simply want someone to lead them, and being practically mindless sheep they use Brian as a sort of stand-in Messiah and therefore become his disciples.  At the time of his crucifixion, not only are people separated into goups but Brian attempts to escape his death by saying he is a Roman.  Only when he realizes he has no hope of surviving does he accept his fate.
    This movie makes the audience rethink Jesus as a human being beccause Brian is such a hesitant leader.  He doesn't want to be in charge, much less be the Messiah the Jewish people have been waiting for to save them.  He tries to escape his death and does not view dying as his duty for everyone else, but rather as an unpleasant experience.  In short, Brian is an average person put into the role of Jesus rather than Jesus the way the Gospels portray him: as a benevolent character who is fully willing to lead and die to save everyoen else from their sings

    The initial scene in Life of Brian looks very similar to the Jesus’ birth in the gospel of Mark; three wise men follow a star to where the baby is born. However, there is confusion about who they actually find. The three wise men arrive at the baby Brian instead of Jesus who was in a manger nearby. This mess-up is what describes the movie’s main theme of mistaken identity. Brian finds himself in situations characteristic to the life story of Jesus. When Brian lands on the platform and has to preach in order to escape being caught by the Romans it is similar to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, except that Brian’s concepts do not make sense and once he evades danger he just wants to leave. The crowd then begins to follow him believing that he is the messiah and he has a secret (Gospel of Mark’s messianic secret). 

     This film pokes fun at first-century Palestine characteristics. Jewish legalism was extremely formalist and the stoning scene shows how they have no respect for context. The movie also demonstrates the extreme hatred between the Jews and the Romans; even though nobody in the movie knows why. The concept of the messiah is also uniquely portrayed in this film. Everyone was looking for a messiah and they were constantly looking for someone to be the messiah and to die for them. It was on the minds of everyone during first-century Palestine.

     In the gospels Jesus is only one of three crucifixions which raises the level of uniqueness of his death, but in the film Brian’s crucifixion is one of 139 dramatically decreasing his importance. The film also projects that the crucifixions were random arbitrary nature, that they didn’t care who was up on the cross. 

     This film makes you re-think the gospel Jesus by offering alternative explanations for the growth of Jesus’ sayings and his miracle traditions. For example the gospel Jesus knows he will die on the cross, but Brian tries to figure a way out of it. By doing this the film makes the death meaningless unlike the gospel which adds meaning to a meaningless death. It asks the question what if these things happened by chance and people just infused his words and actions with importance out of desperation for a messiah. What if it was just all a mistaken identity?

The beginning of the film sets up the parody between the lives of Jesus and Brian immediately by showing the wise men coming in and mistaking Brian’s birth for that of Jesus.  It sets the stage for the viewer so that he/she can see the similarities between Gospel stories and the events that are unfolding in Brian’s life.  It also gives a humorous representation of the origins of the understanding people have of Jesus today.  For example, Brian gains a following after ad-libbing a speech in order to evade the Roman centurions.  Afterwards, he tries to deny the accusations that he is the Messiah and that the “miracles” and “idols” that people are claiming that he performed and owned are all nonsense and have no significant meaning.

The film constantly portrays the relationship between the Jewish factions and the Jewish-Roman interactions as humorous, yet it is clear that the Jews are afraid of the Romans.  All of the different Jewish factions represent the fact that the Jewish people were upset with Roman rule.  However, the fighting between these groups demonstrates that little was actually done in order to overthrown Roman rule.

One interesting point of the film is the strictness with which the Jewish people adhere to the rules.  In the scene where the man is being stoned for saying “Jehovah”, this strictness is demonstrated.  I interpreted this scene as a type of jab to religions that take their associated texts as literal meaning, even if what is said in the text no longer applies to modern day society.

The film makes the viewer look at Jesus from a perspective that greatly differs from that of the Christian faith.  My interpretation of the film is that the significance of Jesus could be just a case of over exaggeration.  Brian gained followers for doing something he really had no intentions of doing and was immediately upgraded from a pseudo street-preacher to that of a divine, Messianic prophet.  While I would like to think that this would not be the case in reality, it certainly makes one wonder how the perceptions of Jesus have changed over time and if this transformation has taken place over the course of two millennia rather than immediately, as the film portrays.

The Life of Brian’s initial scene of Jesus and Brian sets up the rest of the film because it shows the three wise men following the star which they thought was pointing to Brian. Once they realize that he is actually not the messiah they quickly come back for the gifts and go to visit the real messiah next door. The story of Jesus is explored through the character of Brian by showing him always being followed by groups of people. Although he continues to explain to the people that he is not the messiah they still seem to want to follow him because they are so worried about having a leader to follow. They believe Brian may be the messiah because his views and teachings are so different from the first century Jewish culture. Throughout this movie Brian teaches about unity and how everyone needs to come together as one group. He also goes about teaching about how they are all individuals.

The film offers satirical portrait of first-century Palestine by making fun of Jewish and Roman cultures throughout the entire movie. The PFJ wants to overthrow the Romans along with many other independent groups. Instead of all of these groups working together to work towards their main goal they never seem to get anywhere because they are too busy fighting amongst themselves. This was represented well when the PFJ runs into another group while trying to take Pilate’s wife and they get so caught up about who was there first that they never even get close to taking her. Another thing the film represented well was when at the end Brian thinks that the PFJ is coming to rescue him, but instead they come to think him for what he’s doing and for being a martyr.

The satire of this film invites the audience to rethink Jesus as a human being and a divine icon of the Christian faith because what if the messiah that we know today was mistaken like Brian was. This film allowed me to see how people in first-century Palestine reacted to messiahs and it showed me how badly they looked for one to follow. 

The film begins with the three wise men delivering their gifts to the messiah. However, they initially make a mistake and deliver the gifts to Brian. Then, once they realize their mistake, they retrieve their gifts and take them to the “glowing” manger scene. This prepares the viewer for the remainder of the movie where Brian will continue to be mistaken for the messiah. Brian never claims to be the messiah, but the Jewish people are searching so desperately for a messianic figure to appear that they’ll throw that label on anyone who diverges from typical first century Jewish culture. Though Brian never preaches a Gospel-like message, his message of independence goes against typical Jewish culture.

This film is continuously poking fun at Jewish and Roman cultures in first-century Palestine. It often makes fun of Jewish formalism and legalism and their idea that everything must follow strictly by the rules. This is represented in the scene where a man is sentenced to death by stoning because he said “Jehovah.” Even though he said it as a means of praise rather than insult, the Jewish priest and the crowd insisted that he must die because those are the rules.  Their obsession with formalism is also shown in the crucifixion scene when the Jewish people are more concerned about being crucified next to a Samaritan than the fact that they are about to die.

Overall, this film invites the audience to consider the fact that Jesus of the Gospels may be a case of mistaken identity. The Jewish people were searching for a messiah everywhere so there was no way that Jesus was the only man believed to be the messiah in that time period. The final crucifixion scene demonstrates that crucifixion was extremely common and therefore so was martyrdom. Basically, it downplays the significance of crucifixion and consequently the message of Jesus and the Gospels. Whenever the film references the Gospel message, it seems to do the complete opposite. The point of this is to show that the Gospel message may not be completely accurate, and may actually be propaganda.

 

Brian is compared to Jesus by having wise men come to visit him as a baby. They bring gifts and claim they were led to Brian by a star. Brian is persecuted by the Romans like Jesus was. Brian said do not pass judgment on others or you will be judged yourself. However this preaching is done by accident. It is something Brian simply made up off the top of his head. After this, he begins to have a group of followers who are obsessed with him being the Messiah. They interpret everything Brian does to be messianic and holy. They even went as far as making up miracles Brain performed.

The movie portrayed the idea of Jewish people not being allowed to say Jehovah or God. The man who was accused of it, was to be stoned to death. During the stoning, other people accidentally slipped up by saying Jehovah and had stones throw at them. During the stoning, women had to dress up like men to attend. There was a law that did not allow women to attend stonings.

The tension of Jewish-Roman relations was also portrayed in the film. The Jewish people were heavily oppressed in the film much like they were during Jesus’ time. The film also shows how much Romans improved life in Jerusalem. During one of the meetings they bring up the “what have the Romans done for us?” To their surprise they come up with a list of things including wine, sanitation, education, and clean water.  

The film in a way tries to down play or make fun of Jesus in my opinion. There were so many satirical elements that in a way would challenge many Christian’s faith. I feel like a lot of Christians may dislike this movie if they watched it. I feel like when you watch a movie like this, you cannot take it too serious because it is not meant to be taken seriously. Brian is not a divine figure in the movie, but Brian is also not Jesus in the movie.