Monty Python's "Life of Brian" (Stoned to death...)

artanis2alatariel0 HN recommenders · 2013–2022
613K views · comedy · evergreen · Uploaded 2007-06-13

The stoning scene from Monty Python's Life of Brian, where a man is condemned for blasphemy after saying 'Jehovah' over a halibut supper.

HN uses it as a joke reference in discussions about speech and political correctness.

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3 comments from Hacker News

@gruseom2013 · in “A History of Political Correctness”

The problem is that the words themselves carry an intrinsic charge I'd say that is precisely what they don't do. That's magical thinking (what sort of energy is this "charge"?) and I think it's the core of what's wrong with political correctness: people imagine that they're fixing reality by doing surgery on language, but they're not; they're fixing a reflection of reality, with "fixing" in the sense of "price-fixing". In other words it's photoshopping. That's why intent matters: it actually exists, while the intrinsic power of bad words does not. Ignore intent and you end up in an absurd place. In extreme cases this leads to personal harm being caused, but those are pretty rare. What bugs me more is how rigid people get when they try to correct others. That special blend of prissiness and condemnation is an anti-peanut-butter-cup, and it just makes me want to say "jehovah" over and over again like the dude in [VIDEO] . It also misses how language really works. Language changes as people change. We can't control it, and it's silly to pretend that we can. That's like King Canute who ordered the waves to stop (except Canute's whole point was that they wouldn't comply, even for a king). The truth about all this is told by the great comedians who mine the contradictions between language and social norms. Is there one piece of great comedy defending the politically correct view of language? I'd love to see it. p.s. Just to be clear, I don't mean that you try to censor other people

@mythrwy2021 · in “NYTimes Peru N-Word: My side of the story, in four parts”

It reminds me of this Monty Python skit: [VIDEO] "Now look, no one is to stone anyone until I blow this whistle. Even ...and I want to make this absolutely clear... even if they do say "Jehovah."

@nix232022 · in “Nordstream: An Accident?”

I think he writes down a possibility and we should not pointing fingers until we have evidence. The press ATM act's more like "Live of Brian": [VIDEO] See also the hint from the past aka ""russian" submarine's at sweden's coast": [LINK]