If you're not already a Python fan, then "The Meaning of Life" may not be the best introduction to their humor. You should probably start out with something a bit lighter, such as "The Holy Grail", and then move on to the "Flying Circus" TV series before tackling this. For those of you who have been living in a cave for the past 40 years, Monty Python is a 1970s-era British comedy troupe consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, and Michael Palin, who are rightly regarded as one of the most original and brilliant comedy acts in history. Their comedy is absurdist, irreverent, silly, and usually deeply philosophical. Their humor is definitely not for everyone; but, for those of us who appreciate it, there's absolutely nothing funnier.
This is Monty Python's final, and most philosophical, feature film. As the title suggests, this film tackles the question of the meaning of life. Specifically, it satirizes mankind's quest to find any meaning in life -- pointing out the absurdities in organized religion, science, education, business, power, status, hedonistic pleasure, and even philosophy itself, to show that no real meaning is to be found in any of them. Ultimately, it draws the existentialist conclusion that there is no inherent meaning to life -- life is simply what you make of it. But the journey that the Pythons lead you on in order to reach that rather simple conclusion is a wild roller-coaster ride of hilarious absurdity and biting satire.
This movie is certainly NOT for everyone. If you are easily offended (or disgusted), don't even bother. If you have no interest in philosophy, you may find this to be just pointless absurdity. (It definitely IS absurdity; but there is actually a point to it all.) A lot of people just don't get Monty Python's humor. It's not based on conventional jokes, one-liners, zingers, witty observations, or slapstick. Rather, it's based on acting out absurd scenarios that satirize the hidden absurdities of the real world. Much of their humor focuses on language and meaning and social conventions. It goes over a lot of people's heads.
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