Vital Viewing (Oxford Faction Edition)

1942-2020

It was a mere three weeks ago that I put up a Monty Python-related post. Well, here's another, and for the saddest of reasons. Terry Jones has now joined fellow Pythonite Graham Chapman in... 

 

  ...the Hereafter.

But before he's allowed in, Jones first might have to answer to...

...the Almighty Himself!

(Just don't grovel, Terry. If there's one thing God can't stand, it's people groveling.)

As a fan of Monty Python's Flying Circus and the feature films that sprung from it, I submit the following video clips as evidence for Terry Jone's admission into Heaven.

First up, here's Jones talking to Conan O'Brien:   

Jones mentioned an Oxford/Cambridge split among the Monty Python troupe. Here's the Oxford-educated Jones in a sketch with the Cambridge-educated Eric Idle:

 That's John Cleese at the end, another Cambridge alumni. No wonder Jones was kicked off the set.

Above is Sir Bedivere, one of the Knights of the Round Table. Never mind why he's throwing a sword into a lake. It's not germane to this post. Only know that Terry Jones played Bedivere in the feature film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. In this clip he calls upon his great wisdom to decide if an accused witch is in fact what's she's accused of being:    

I know what you're thinking. He wasn't being logical at all! Well, here's a diagram of Bedivere's reasoning. study it carefully:

Now are you convinced?

 The Monty Python troupe were all males. If a sketch has a role for a female, they would sometimes get outside help (usually Carol Cleveland, above), but more often than not...

 ...just played those roles themselves. This continued in the movies. Here's Jones as the mother of a Messiah:

 No, no, no! Not the Messiah who said (depending how far away you were standing) "Blessed are the cheese-makers" and "the Greeks shall inherit the Earth," I mean...

...this Messiah (the aforementioned Cambridge-educated Chapman) and his Oxford-educated mum. Let's have a closer look:

 

Even though Jesus (actor Kenneth Colley, in the film's only non-comic role) and Brian are shown to be two different people, Monty Python's Life of Brian generated its fair share of...

...controversy.

So how's Terry Jones going to explain that to God?

Well, if there ever was a movie that argued against worshiping false idols, it's that one.

Then there's Monty Python's Meaning of Life. Unlike argably Life of Brian, it was neither blasphemous nor heretical. Nevertheless, you may find the following scene disturbing anyway, especially if you have a weak stomach. If you have a strong stomach, after watching this scene you may end up with a weak one. Here's Terry Jones as the unforgettable Mr. Creosote:

I was going to reserve a table, but I think I'll get carry-out instead.

This brings us all back to God (seen here in human form as W.G. Grace, considered one of the greatest amateur cricket players of all time.)  Would he let Terry Jones into Heaven? I think so. If Monty Python was about anything, it was about the complexity and subsequent absurdity of life,  and I think that's something a Supreme Being had a little to do with. 

Surviving Python members are John Cleese and Eric Idle, both of Cambridge, Michael Palin, who went to Oxford, and Terry Gilliam who went to California's Occidental College. Hmm, it would seem Cambridge has the upper hand, but as Gilliam once pointed out in an interview, Oxford and Occidental both begin with the letter O. There's a certain Python logic to that.