"Loretta" scene being censored from Life of Brian stage remake

[zibzibara]

John Cleese is forced to cut famous Life of Brian scene about men having babies from his new West End show

Cleese told an audience at his one-man show last week that when the scene (co-written with the late Graham Chapman) was performed at a read-through for the new show in New York last year, doubts emerged. 'At the end, I said to the American actors: 'What do you think?' And they said: 'We love the script, but you can't do that stuff about Loretta nowadays.'

'So here you have something there's never been a complaint about in 40 years, that I've heard of, and now all of a sudden we can't do it because it'll offend people. What is one supposed to make of that? But I think there were a lot of things that were actually, in some strange way, predictive of what was actually going to happen later.'

[Heliotroper]

@IcakethereforeIam

Quick look at that wiki on Strom (nasty piece of work), but interesting that his radicalism was aided by a teacher. Seeing too much of that at the moment.

On thread, I'm surprised Cleese is going along with this. Idle, definitely, he's always struck me as....not without principles, but in it for the money. Also, 'Loretta' is a trans character, who is mocked but also supported. Loretta gets the right for everyone to pretend that he is a woman. Cleese's character, the main naysayer, is reduced to ineffectual muttering.

Yet that sort of support is deemed transphobic now, it is not enough to pretend that transwomen are women, you have to truly believe they are women.

[Zodfa]

It really is a problem for any ideology if even a neutral (or supportive!) representation of its beliefs comes across as ridicule.

[EdithStourton]

@Zodfa

It really is a problem for any ideology if even a neutral (or supportive!) representation of its beliefs comes across as ridicule.

I don't think the scene is supportive, it's more that the characters on screen are supportive, but we've already established that they're a bunch of crazed idealists ('People's Front of Judea... Judean People's Front... Splitter!') with about 10 or 12 of them creating endless purity-spiralling sub-groups a la the numerous versions of the British Communist Party... The Communist Party of Great Britain... The Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Britain... etc etc.

[puffyisgood]

so whoever said that they were going to cut the crucifixion scene apparently wasn't joking? seems on a par with remaking the lion king without any lions in it? will be utterly terrible.

[BlackForestCake]

Is this a satirical exercise in itself, perhaps – take out all the “offensive” stuff and have a five minute show left?

[nilsmousehammer]

@CrossPurposes

It's surreal.

The New Blasphemy from the new puritan zealots.

[Finallybreathingout]

The first time I saw LoB was on Channel 4 in the early 90s when they did a season of ‘banned’ films and TV shows. The idea being that we had all moved on from those days.

Thoroughly depressed to find that we are now back there. I know what is seen as offensive shifts over time, but I find misogyny in general never gets seen as a problem. Meanwhile we are now back to banning the religious satire, and the Loretta scene, one of my favourites, bites the dust even though nothing in it is untrue.

[nilsmousehammer]

There really seems to a need in some of the population to Do the extreme religion thing, and it doesn't really matter what the religion is. So long as you get to punish and shame the unbelievers and be righteous and control everyone to strict rules and play Better Than You games.

It's a bit like watching Dickens' early Victorian times roll round again.

[nilsmousehammer]

And a club to belong to, and a prescribed set of things to believe in.

[Justme56]

John Cleese has tweeted that he has no plans to cut the Loretta scene. The media took the word of someone (in the audience?) and failed to actually check with John.

[Apollo441]

That's good news.

[RealityFan]

It's amazing what having to fund expensive divorces makes a guy do, lol.

[BonfireLady]

Interesting development.

Hopefully he can also make it clear that he has nothing to do with the current media frenzy (BBC, Channel 4) which is false-teaming all concerns to do with the impact of gender identity belief with the religious conservative US "don't say gay" contingent.

He's in a great position to do that. Hopefully he will.

[GrumpyPanda]

Just came in to say this.

https://twitter.com/JohnCleese/status/1661672993657962497

[EsmaCannonball]

@Finallybreathingout

The first time I saw LoB was on Channel 4 in the early 90s when they did a season of ‘banned’ films and TV shows. The idea being that we had all moved on from those days.

Thoroughly depressed to find that we are now back there. I know what is seen as offensive shifts over time, but I find misogyny in general never gets seen as a problem. Meanwhile we are now back to banning the religious satire, and the Loretta scene, one of my favourites, bites the dust even though nothing in it is untrue.

Yes, the first time I watched it was during the Channel 4 Banned Season. I bet Channel 4 would run scared of broadcasting a similar season again.

I don't understand why the response to actors who refuse to act the lines in a play isn't, 'Ok, then. We'll get some new actors.' Surely actors need to understand that it's acting and not giving a personally-endorsed speech. This move to actors having to identify with a role (and not just Daniel Day-Lewis style method acting but genuinely being the kind of person being played, right down to holding the same ideological opinions) is completely asinine. Does anyone think that Ralph Fiennes must be a bit of a Nazi or that it's a good job Louise Fletcher never went into nursing? No. Actors need to challenge themselves and embrace who they are not.

[Datun]

@GrumpyPanda

Just came in to say this.

https://twitter.com/JohnCleese/status/1661672993657962497

Good. And I, for one, will buy tickets on that basis alone.

There will be loads of Python fans who will flock to this show.

The publicity over attempts to woke wash it, and Cleese's refusal to bow down, will only increase it's appeal.

Can you imagine the reaction of Python fans to a transactivist protest?

There simply won't be enough time in the world, for all the piss taking.

[Dumbo12]

I'm wondering if "those who wish to ban things" are going to attempt to cancel: Get back (the Beatles) Lola (the kinks) Take a walk on the wild side (Lou Reed) Dude looks like a lady (Aerosmith) Tweeter and the Monkey man ( the travelling wilburys) and I'm sure many more!

[puffyisgood]

I was reflecting the other day that probably the one aspect of the original show that genuinely would be unacceptable to younger elements of a 2023 audience might be Judith having relatively full pubic hair ?

[RealityFan]

@GrumpyPanda

Just came in to say this.

https://twitter.com/JohnCleese/status/1661672993657962497

Cleese returns to comedy hero status.

And tbh, this has helped him no end in his appointed role as older man pissed off with cancel culture.

I wouldn't be surprised if he made the story work out this way.

[OneMorePlant]

@GrumpyPanda

Just came in to say this.

https://twitter.com/JohnCleese/status/1661672993657962497

"and that all the actors - several of them Tony winners - had advised me strongly to cut the Loretta scene.

I have, of course, no intention of doing so So someone in the audience had called a journalist and misreported me.

Amazingly none of the British media called to check"

Came to post this. I knew it John Cleese would not do that.

[RoyalCorgi]

If you read the Mail article, the quote it gives about what Cleese said seems to be a faithful reporting of his conversation with the US actors.

The journalist and headline writer have extrapolated from that conversation (where the actors say the scene will have to be cut) and concluded that the scene is being cut.

Obviously they should have checked with Cleese first, though.

[IcakethereforeIam]

Perhaps he is the Messiah?

[SerendipityJane]

Not sure about the films, but I know Monty Python were very protective of their work and their contract with the BBC stated that the BBC couldn't distribute the programmes without their permission.

This ended in a US court case (may have got to the supremes) where ABC were sued for bawdlerising the TV show in the early 70s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Python_v._American_Broadcasting_Companies,_Inc.

I mention this, because I wonder if Cleese's need for money rather affected his artistic purity ?

[nilsmousehammer]

@IcakethereforeIam

Perhaps he is the Messiah?

According to some, he is definitely a very naughty boy...

Bravo John. No kowtowing to bullies.

[RealityFan]

Cleese is a HELL of a businessman, and totally worthy hero in this battle.

Can you imagine the headlines otherwise:

"Monty Python team face down Christianity only half century later to capitulate to the blue hairs on Twitter"?