Friday, October 21, 2011

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

This is why it's good (and accurate for the time):
Arthur travels until he reaches a pair of peasants who are unaware he his king since it's so far out of his kingdom's reach.  Because of the far reach, they've created their own government, "anarcho-syndicalist commune" in which they "take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week."

It is likely because outside the castle walls and it's protected neighboring township, few probably realized there was a king at all.  Aside from the traveling bandits that claimed to be tax-collectors, they very likely would live all their lives not knowing a king existed, so they governed themselves loosely (and effectively) based on a light anarchistic-based system.

I suspect the small facts like this one, and others like the witch-trial accuracy of alchemical pseudo-science, or the famous "bring-out-your-dead" scene's painful accuracy fell off many's a shoulder as they're not knowledgeable of history of the time, just smiling at the absurdity of it.  Absurd?  Yes.  Accurate?  Painfully so, which makes it 1000 times better.




http://www.ibras.dk/montypython/finalripoff.htm#Peasant
(Text of the scene).

This is far more relevant now than ever before in US history.

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