Living in the Life of Brian

How the People’s Front of Judea is now ‘problematic’

It is easy to parody those who argue over minutiae. It’s the stock in trade of the satirist who likes to point to bigger issues that are at stake, showing how politicians and wonks fiddle around over words while the city burns.

In Gulliver’s Travels, Swift explains how civil war broke out over which end of the boiled egg should be cut open. Much mirth ensued.

The ‘common sense’ approach is an easy rhetorical trick to pull off. It’s usually done every week on the BBC’s unwatchable political discussion show Question Time. A comedian or commentator is often invited to take part. Having not signed up to any party manifesto or political philosophy, the comedian or pundit can say what they like. They normally get a round of applause for suggesting an ‘obvious solution’ to an intractable problem when, clearly, if it were that easy and obvious, the problem would have been solved.

Are you the Judean People’s Front?

Monty Python’s Life of Brian takes satire to a new level with their parody of fringe political movements who argue over principles and do nothing. Go back and watch the People’s Front of Judea sketch and you’ll see an interesting moment that was decades ahead of its time. This could even cause the film to be cancelled for reasons that could not have been foreseen when it was released in 1979.

During the sketch, Stan (Eric Idle) is always chiming in with female pronouns. When challenged he says:

STAN: I want to be a woman. From now on, I want you all to call me 'Loretta'. 

REG: What?! 

STAN: It's my right as a man. 

JUDITH: Well, why do you want to be Loretta, Stan? 

STAN: I want to have babies. 

REG: You want to have babies?! 

STAN: It's every man's right to have babies if he wants them. 

REG: But... you can't have babies. 

STAN: Don't you oppress me. 

REG: I'm not oppressing you, Stan. You haven't got a womb! Where's the foetus going to gestate?! You going to keep it in a box?!

Reg, played by John Cleese, is pointing out scientific and biological reality. Today this would be deemed problematic. Don’t believe me? The other day I was researching pregnancy for a sitcom plot, and I discovered a website which never assumed the person expecting a baby was a woman. It just said ‘pregnant person’.

Is this just some fringe, progressive website? Not any more. Across the NHS, the word ‘woman’ is being erased from all kinds of websites and communications about natal services and ovarian cancer. These relate to scientifically tested and approved treatments. But we are now invited to assume that sex or gender is not a biological reality. Actually, no. Not invited. Expected. This is what is going on when you are being asked to give your pronouns. (I wrote about this last time.)

What’s In a Deadname?

Moreover, I could be accused of ‘deadnaming’ Loretta by referring to him – or her – as Stan, even though he’s fictional and played by a male actor. Jordan Peterson recently ran foul of this on Twitter, when posting a message about a surgical operation on a Hollywood star, who, ironically, played a pregnant teenage girl in the movie, Juno.

I suspect Juno – which is only 15 years old – looks very different now, especially given the overturning of Roe v Wade and the escalation of the culture war. But the point is that the actor playing a pregnant girl in the movie would now like to be known as Elliot Page (He/Him). It’s virtually impossible to describe the situation without breaking the new draconian, ever-changing rules. This is ideal for those seeking to smash the old clear definitions and delineations because it puts everyone on edge.

Peterson’s Pronouns

Jordan Peterson rose to prominence for refusing to have pronouns put in his mouth by the state, so it’s no surprise that when Twitter told him to delete his tweet about Page, he refused. He thereby lost access to his two million followers on Twitter. Getting it wrong has consequences. It will have consequences for you if you don’t go along with it at your work-place or community group.

We are living in the world of Loretta. We are living in the Life of Brian, a movie which brilliantly satirises mobs roving around desperately looking for something to believe in. The only character who is not satirised in the Life of Brian is Jesus himself. We hear him briefly give the Sermon on the Mount, before cutting to the back of the ground where people mishear, misinterpret and threaten violence. The movie, like Juno, is probably worth another look.

Next time, we’ll look at the power of words and how this scene ends. But in the meantime, are you going to share this post on social media? No, I didn’t think so. Why not? Because you might well already be worried about the Twitchfork mob. That’s understandable, but rather makes the point, doesn’t it? This problem isn’t coming. It’s already here.

You could share this post via email with someone who might find it interesting. It turns out quite a lot of people think biological sex and gender is real and Christians can really take the lead on this.

I explain more on the Cooper and Cary Podcast in which we talk about the perils and pitfalls of giving your pronouns, even though it’s not a lie for me to say that I’m James Cary (He/Him). Have you given it a go?

And in episode 136, which just dropped, we have words with Rhys Laverty about the benefits of a Christian Classical Education. After all, the Romans killed Christians, and Pilate should be ashamed of himself. To quote Reg (John Cleese) What have the Romans ever done for us?

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