What happened on 28th May 2023 - with your comments in the Web

On Sunday, it came great news from ‘Monty Python’ star John Cleese thats ‘Life Of Brian’ scene won’t be cut despite modern sensitivities.

Cleese claims it was “misreported” that he was planning to cut the “Loretta” scene for an upcoming stage adaptation of the religious satire film. Instead, he said he has “no intention” of removing it.  

The scene in question features a male character declaring that he wants to be woman named “Loretta,” and wants to have a child. Cleese’s character tells the man that the notion is ridiculous, while another suggets that they all advocate for his right to childbearing.

“I want to be a woman. … It’s my right as a man,” the character claims “I want to have babies… It’s every man’s right to have babies if he wants them.” After Cleese’s protest, the character snaps, “Don’t you oppress me!”

Obviously, times have changed the impact of that humor.

The readers of Deadline supported this decision:

"I’m trans and it doesn’t offend me. In large part because it was from 1979, and it’s about all the media representation we got got back then. I feel like that about the Rocky Horror Picture Show as well. Sure we do better now but those were both at least not the more typical invisibility of their days."

"Although the movie is foremost a comedy, it’s also parody, and social commentary on the sometimes absurd nature of activism .
I think that a healthy dose of this type of “controversy” is exactly what is needed in the United States today.
Everyone here seems to take their own opinions as the only way to think, and believe their issues are far more serious than they need to be."

"You should not need to cut. Funny then, funny now."

"I’m left-wing. I’m tolerant. And I agree 100% that the scene should stay. The film is a parody. Parodies inevitably offend someone. Why should liberals be immune from being mocked or offended? “Tolerant” liberals have no problem mocking right-wing ideas. Why is it not ok to make fun of liberal ideas? Especially liberal ideas that are harmful. Or are you trying to say that all liberal ideas are perfect and beyond reproach?

I have always considered liberals to be the “good guys”, to have to moral high ground, to have the more reasonable values. Well, in that spirit isn’t it wise to look to our own shortcomings before we look at others’? He who is innocent of sin shall cast the first stone…liberals are not innocent and we should look to fix our sins before we condemn others."

Some have a different opinion, yet:

"Every film, play, or book should be pared down to meet present day sensibilities. All objectional material should be removed. All traces of elder abuse should be cut from “King Lear”. Scenes of drag performances need to be taken out of the movie “Tootsie”. If it is not relevant today – if it does not live up to modern expectations – it has to go."

"The scene should not be cut because it offends people, the scene should be cut because it is no longer insightful or funny. Maybe the level of trans hate isn’t so high in the UK, so he has no idea what the scene is playing into. This is a nation that is banning drag shows. Ever notice how much drag is in Monty Python?"

 But there is a third party who think that a old comedian just wanted to draw a bit more attention:

"Nobody cares or is offended by a scene in Monty Python - perhaps a troll on twitter if you search hard enough. People have enough actual worries in life than caring about a mundane joke written decades ago. But just seems to be a leading question asked for the sole purpose of making an article out of it.

Its like a journalist asking him "Do you think King Charles should be covered in jam?" - at which point the headline "John Cleese says King Charles shouldn't be covered in jam" comes out, so some people can get enraged at the idea that some people must think King Charles should be covered in jam. In reality, nobody was freaking talking about King Charles, Jam, Monty Python, whatever."

Also on Sunday, it seems that people tended to incline to a slight melancholy (or harsh depression). All in all, Brits learned that London was named the loneliest place to live in UK with a 'worse social life than Nigeria'.

London has 'officially' been declared the loneliest city in the UK, according to new research by a co-living rental brand. With the highest number of one-person households, London and specifically Westminster top the loneliest city charts, while Liverpool, Riverside and Birmingham, Ladywood rank second and third in the findings from Gravity Co’s study.

Researchers have found that loneliness is as harmful to a person’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, and can increase the risk of dementia. According to Mind, the mental health charity, loneliness can be associated with “an increased risk of certain mental health problems, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, sleep problems and increased stress”.

 

This assertion raised just questions:

 

 "Why would this be surprising? And why would you compare the UK to Nigeria?"

 

"Is Nigeria known for it's poor social life? what does worse social life than Nigeria even mean?"

The Redditors interpreted the message of the article as "“Recent immigrant feels lonely in the new country.” Frankly, this probably applies to 99% of the newly arrived anywhere in the world. Unless you move with your entire family and/or into an established expat-like community."

"I think that is the same everywhere. You don't magically make friends for life in moving to Yorkshire either. In general people have become more isolated in their mid 20s and 30s meeting for a coffee seems to be 2 weeks off planning for some there comes a point when you just don't bother."

And referred to infamous Nigerian letters: "This is true. I don't get any emails from London Princes needing my help to move millions out of their frozen bank accounts."

At the same time, Rishi Sunak apparently considered the Sunday night too calm. So he decided to warn Brits that price caps will create food shortage.

Rishi Sunak has been warned his plan for “1970s-style” price caps will lead to food shortages amid a backlash from cabinet ministers and supermarkets. Downing Street is planning to ask retailers to agree to maximum prices for some basic goods such as bread and milk in an effort to lower food prices and tackle inflation.

But the proposal has been condemned by the major supermarkets and has angered at least two Cabinet ministers, who said it would involve too much interference in the markets and could lead to shortages as suppliers take their goods abroad. One cabinet minister told The Telegraph that price caps, last used in Britain in the 1970s, would not work “in this day and age” and that produce would be “sold elsewhere” if supermarkets refused to increase their prices.

Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose backed a statement by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) that said the plan, first revealed in The Telegraph, “will not make a jot of difference to prices” and accused Mr Sunak of “recreating 1970s-style price controls”.

That much angered Telegraph readers.

"No S, Sherlock. A Tory PM proposing food price caps shows how far to the left these consocialists have gone.

Energy costs creating high food prices could be solved over night by drilling our own huge reserves of oil and gas instead of importing it and destroying the economy over net zero."

 "Perhaps the idiot Sunak should consider a tax cap, or maybe a government spending cap or an immigration cap."

"Sunak must be a sleeper agent. Not only in destroying the Tories but the whole country."

"Sunak = Our Biden" - "Biden created jobs, Sunak created inflation and strikes"

""A Cabinet minister said: “There is an international market for wheat and it is quite expensive after what’s happened in Ukraine. "

As if it wasn't bad enough that they are floating the idea of the completely insane notion of price controls on food, we also have a minister who is apparently unaware that the price of wheat is actually 20% lower than its pre-Ukraine invasion level."

  "This guy hasn't got a clue. Totally out of his depth."

"The Conservatives new policy " Clutching at straws" "