When Monty Python’s Life of Brian movie came out in 1979, there was minor outrage. Ok, there was major outrage. It was blasphemous. It was offensive. It was irreverent to the point of abuse. Yet still they wanted to ban it. As if those things weren’t good things.

But heh, its a movie; how much harm can it do? People likely to be offended by such a film have the power to, kind’a, just ‘not see it’. No-one’s forcing them. Its a bit like church. It exists, some people find it offensive but no-one ‘has’ to go.

The film was effectively ‘banned’ in the lovely seaside town of Bournemouth. By the council who insisted on it carrying the highest censorship rating they could impose so cinemas wouldn’t show it as most of its target market was banned. So a kid of 16 could probably blag his/her way in to see the violence of Reservoir Dogs, learn how to steal cars in Gone in 60 Seconds, see any of a million offerings of sex, rape, torture and murder, but weren’t allowed to giggle at a Jesus spoof.

Blasphemy laws were abolished here in 2008, but still Bournemouth wouldn’t downgrade the film’s rating, so its still never been shown within the land defined by the Pier at one end and Harry Rednap’s house at the other.

But now, for one day only, some 36 years since the film was released, the Town of Bournemouth are prepared to downgrade its rating to a ’15’. For one day only. So that all the residents can go and see it, even though its been on tv about 95 times and the dvd has been available ever since they stopped selling videos.

The new Bond film cost £200 million to make. 24 mil of which was used turning Aston Martin’s new, yet to be released or seen DB10, into scrap metal. And the funny thing is that even though violence in movies makes me cringe a bit (wimp!), and watching difficult situations make me feel uncomfortable, its seeing cars getting smashed up that really upsets me. I’ve never gotten over the start of the original Italian Job when a Lamborghini Miura goes off a cliff.

Does this make me overly metal-sensitive? Too in touch with my mechanical side?? Or just a stupid man?

Answers on a postcard…

A xxxx