In the early 1970s, one set of my grandparents retired to an adorable mid-century house in Seminole, Oklahoma. They were about half an hour away from where I lived after my parents split up, so I got to spend weekends at their place fairly regularly when I was an adolescent/tween. I can remember them having two televisions, one in the den, and one in the bedroom. I recall watching the bedroom TV with Gramps on Sunday nights, when Monty Python came on the PBS channel. We thought it was hilarious (I preferred it by a longshot over Benny Hill, which he sometimes watched too.) My grandmother would come in and tsk at both of us, scolding him for letting me watch that show (she was particularly offended by the animations with naked ladies in them). Didn't slow either of us down. We loved Monty Python.
I must have been in middle school when Life of Brian came out. I knew that people of a certain bent were livid about it. They picketed and refused to allow it to be seen in towns all throughout the Bible Belt. My little Oklahoma town was solidly in the middle of that belt. I didn't get to see it in theaters. I was so excited when it made it to HBO. We were visiting my step dad's best friends in Dallas, and they set it up to record while we spent the day at Six Flags. I was distracted the whole day, anticipating finally seeing this movie I'd been waiting for for ages. Something went wrong, and when we tried to play the tape, it was just static. Foiled again!
I eventually saw Life of Brian, and it immediately zoomed into my pantheon of Perfect Movies for the Ages. I quote it all the time, to this day. I loved all the other Python movies, but that one was special. All of the Pythons had a hand in writing it, but it was directed by Terry Jones, so it reflected his touch in every scene. Terry disappeared from public life a few years ago, and it was announced that he was struggling with dementia. He passed away today. I have warring emotions about it. I am sad that he is gone forever, but truly, he had been gone for a while. I think I'm left feeling peaceful that he is no longer trapped in a body and mind that stopped behaving for him, and I'm grateful and joyful that he left such a body of work for me to revisit for as long as my brain still cooperates with my own body.
Now if you will excuse me, I need to go get naked and play my piano. If it offends the neighbors who can see in the window, even better.
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