Gilliam and Satire

After much research into Gilliam's early illustrations and animations I have now found that my project is naturally finding a course towards satire and comedy.

In the opening credits of Life of Brian, Gilliam's simple cut-out technique really sets us up for what we are about to let ourselves in for. The content, for those who are yet to see it, includes characters taken and cut out of magazines, particularly angels. This continues the theme of religion and divine intervention of the film. In fact, the Pythons decide to show their own take on the New Testament and play with the ideas thrown to us in the Bible which results in humour as they destroy the commonly told story of the birth of the messiah. The actual content of Gilliam's simple animation involves the journey of one particular angel through a series of rather rude or odd events. She is not held in high regard or precious as angels are so usually shown but instead flies up to the sun in the end squarking in a very unangelical voice, then gets burnt by the sun.

Despite the simplicity of the animation, I believe that it is this simplicity that proves to be the success of the sequence. The complete reinvention and satirical way of animating such traditional characters and illustrations creates a hugely atmospheric and apt title sequence.

When describing Monty Python as satirical, I have been met with varied comments. In common is the thought that Monty Python is not in fact satire. Soooooo, I wikipedia-d it . . .

Satire (from Latin satura, not from the Greek mythological figure satyr[1]) is a literary genre, chiefly literary and dramatic, in which human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods, sometimes with an intent to bring about improvement.

[2] It is used in graphic arts and performing arts as well. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, the purpose of satire is not primarily humour but criticism of an event, an individual or a group in a witty manner.

Satire usually has a definite target, which may be a person or group of people, an idea or attitude, an institution or a social practice. It is found in many artistic forms of expression, including literature, plays, commentary, and media such as song lyrics.

Often the target is examined by being held up for ridicule, ideally in the hope of shaming it into reform. A very common, almost defining feature of satire is a strong vein of irony or sarcasm. Also, parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are devices frequently used in satirical speech and writing.

The essential point, however, is that "in satire, irony is militant"[3]. This "militant irony" (or sarcasm) often professes to approve values that are the diametric opposite of what the satirist actually wishes to promote.

Therefore, we could say that Monty Python does in fact reflect human follies that are held to censure by means of ridicule and irony. However, this does chiefly rely on humour. Here is where the second part of the definition becomes apt:

ALTHOUGH SATIRE IS MEANT TO BE HUMOROUS, THE PURPOSE OF SATIRE IS NOT PRIMARILY HUMOUR BUT CRITICISM OF AN EVENT, AN INDIVIDUAL, OR GROUP IN A WITTY MANNER.

In fact, Monty Python does all three.

When I talk of satire and Monty Python I can, when talking generally, refer mainly to the films Life of Brian and Holy Grail as they are the most familiar with the public.

What never ceases to amaze me with MP is the broad spectrum of fans that it has. Often, people I'd never expect to like it are the biggest fans and can reel off entire scenes word for word. Here lies the key to its success, that a comedy sketch can surpass time and culture because, in my opinion, the themes in Python will never become outdated.