The British Satire—From Monty Python to The Office
Refined and distinctive, British humor has always been the comedy standard of excellence. The innate superiority, the self-depreciation, the whimsical farce—all are benchmarks of a style of humor that have been pushing boundaries for decades, and making generations of people laugh. What is exceptional about the British comedy style is how extremely versatile it has become in recent years. There is a timeless nature in which audiences can appreciate the mishaps and styling of British humor. Whether it is the sketch-comedy routines of Benny Hill or the individual hijinks of Roman Atkinson's mumbling creation: Mr. Bean, British comedy has managed to persevere the barriers of age and location, influencing comic style around the world. Yet, within the wildly adaptable British styles of humor, is the most permissive and intellectually stimulating form of comedy: the satire. Impossible to mimic abroad, and distinct within the culture that spawned it, the satire has been retrofitted to become the penultimate benchmark in British humor. In many ways, satire is a true test of a comedian. Over the course of British history, only two television programs have managed to achieve the status of a true satire, while being wildly loved and acclimated by the people. The 1970s saw the birth of Monty Python's Flying Circus, the avantguard and perfectly seasoned satire that denounced an entire regime of conservativism. The 2000s saluted the perfectly mundane and exceptionally ordinary, The Office, which challenged the conventional norms of working life in Britain. Both television programs emulated the unrest of the time period, reflecting the deep need for a satirical outlet.
To commence, during the 1960s, there was a global revolution within the youth culture. Rejecting the principles of their parents, the youth began embracing radical and alternative manners of economical, political, and social living. As is explained, "after the mid-1960s, signs were now collected into a more global frame, into a counter-proposal, into a counterculture" (Chambers 160). The counterculture would be crucial in the birth of a new Britannia—the Swinging London—for Britain's much needed renaissance would come through the counterculture's "alternative views" that would slowly influence the "separate world of art" (Chambers 163). As Chambers describes, "the Carnaby Street mod became Saturday-afternoon youth in any of Britain's major cities" (159). Revitalization was the name of the game, for "in its combination of youth and style, of music and fashion, [the counterculture] was the programme of the moment: pop music, pop culture, 'swinging London' (Chambers 159). To reach this newly fractioned branch of society, consumer culture began catering specifically to the youth market. With an influx of disposable income at their discretion, the British youths began carving out a niche of British culture for themselves. Perpetually "searching for difference, for a youth identity, while encouraged by the imagery of consumerism", the British youth market exploded in popularity (Chambers 153).
Swinging London's youth market was to be praised. Over the course of the 1960s, music would thrive on the poppy, energetic sounds of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones (Chambers 150). Television serials like The Avengers and characters like James Bond permeated film, invigorating the stale and wholesome tradition of family oriented programming with a dash of action and espionage (Chambers 154). The fashion world saw the beginning of the 'mod' style of fashion with the creation of miniskirt and hot pants, both devised by designer, Mary Quant, and modeled by the sensational, Twiggy (Chambers 155). Yet, amidst all the upheaval and change, comedy remained stagnant. Sitcoms like Dad's Army and Steptoe and Son were widely popular with the British populace (Hunt 34). Quirky and campy, the sitcoms that were venerated within British culture were 'safe' comedies that ended each episode with a moral and a high note (Hunt 34). Aimed at an older audience, the sitcoms fell flat with youths who were entranced with the avant-guard and the eclectic (Hunt 35). The youth's lackluster appreciation for comedy would irrevocably be challenged in 1969, when a comedy style of five friends burst onto the British scene, calling themselves the unusual moniker: Monty Python (Hunt 36).
The Monty Python comedy group has become a staple of British comedy. Created by Eric Idle, John Cleese, Terry Gillam, Terry Jones, Michael Palin, and Graham Chapman, Monty Python's Flying Circus was a weekly sketch comedy show. By incorporating a wide range of comedy styles to fit the timeslot, Monty Python managed to bridge a gap that had been in dire need of reparation (Hunt 36). Both the high and lowbrow elements of comedy were addressed by the various skits, which employed a mix of word play, language, animation, and farce (Hunt 36). As Landy describes "the intertextual dimension of comic material, the daring treatment of the body and of sexuality, and the unrelenting critique of the television medium made the show accessible" (3). With allusions to literature, philosophy and history, Monty Python was heralded as being "clever writing for clever people" (Hunt 36). While there was an air of exclusivity to the skits in The Flying Circus, often found in the references to art cinema and philosophy, the heart of Monty Python rested with the rapier wit that was found in the individual sketches (Hunt 36). Naturally, there were fan favorites within the comedy sketches, such as John Cleese's 'Ministry of Silly Walks' and Eric Idle's 'Nudge Nudge', but, what all the Mont Python skits had in common was their progressive attitude toward the heavily regulated norms and indecencies of the time (Landy 4). When Monty Python's Flying Circus was initially aired, the Pythons were appalled to discover their show had been heavily edited. In "keeping with the code of standards", The Flying Circus was cited on "five categories of abomination: sexual allusiveness, general verbal misbehavior, fantasies of violence, offensiveness to particular groups, and scatology" (Landy 1). With news out that a comedy series was finally pushing barriers, the rebelling youth generation gravitated toward the program, proclaiming it a comedic revolution.
According to Landy, the counterculture was "intrinsic to [Monty Python's] success" (15). During the 1960s, Britain was in social, political and economic disarray. The might of the Labour government was perpetually facing a downfall as demands for devolution from Welsh and Scottish nationalists became more aggressive (Landy 16). The British pound was crumbling due to devaluation, striking an economic recession (Landy 16). The debate whether to join the European Economic Community struck a sour chord in the populace (Landy 16). The British withdrawal from NATO left many divided (Landy 16). The undercurrent of dislike for the military involvement in Vietnam was hitting a high note: essentially, Britain was breaking apart at the seams (Landy 16). With so many left unsatisfied and distrustful of their government, a schism was created. The Monty Python group is what was born of that schism. For the first time, comedy actively sought to challenge conventions. The foul language and offensive nature of the show was the exact outlet the youth culture gravitated toward. The show's milieu was "identified with youth, generational tensions, conflicting perceptions about the breaking up of national traditions and institutions" (15). With the youth enthralled with the sketches, the Pythons opened the door for a "worldwide cultural transformation" (Landy 19). Whether or not the world was fully ready for the re-appropriation of "authority, gender, generation, sexuality, and nation and regional identity" was of no concern to the Python's (Landy 19).
Though, what shocked the British people and generated a buzz within the younger crowds was how Monty Python went on to challenge the authority of myth and religion with their live action films: Quest for the Holy Grail and The Life of Brian (Black 63). With Quest for the Holy Grail, Monty Python embarked on a satirical approach to the Arthurian legend of King Arthur (Black 63). Highly comical in nature, Quest for the Holy Grail placed the Monty Python troop in a position of historical authority as they battled against juggernauts and maniacal rabbits. The Python's had always used allusions to history in their sketches, yet the feature length film was the first time they readily engaged in a time period that was so grounded in the frameworks of people's minds (Black 64). Challenging the positions of the knights of the roundtable, with characters named Sir Robin the Not-Quite-So-Brave-as-Sir Lancelot and Sir Galahad the Pure, Monty Python chose to add their own spin to the infamous legend, remaking it for their own use (Black 64). By humorously challenging conventions of an old myth, Monty Python subtly launched a crusade of reworking the status quo. By building a comedic rapport with history and mythology, the Python’s were able to anchor themselves as authority. They will later deliver another satiric film, but this time, the Python’s would attack a crucial institution of British life: religion.
With King Arthur's tale now bent to their will, Monty Python turned their attention to Jesus and religion. In 1979, The Life of Brian became the fruit of their labor. In The Life of Brian, an ordinary man is mistaken for Jesus the Christ, and amasses a group of followers. Although Brian repeatedly admits he is not the messiah, his followers are steadfast in their belief that he is Jesus, and Brian is sadly crucified at the end. As one could imagine, The Life of Brian heavily satirized religion and religious intolerance, marking it as one of the most controversial films of the 1970s (Miller 111). With conventions of religion being challenged by the rabblerousing Python group, the youth market became infatuated (Miller 111). Although done in the typical style of Python satire, The Life of Brian marks a crucial shift in the way in which audiences responded to religious parody (Miller 112). By having the savoir of men proclaimed a phony, a newer, more powerful critique is offered to the stifling presence of the church. Borderline sacrilege, the saving grace in The Life of Brian was the common knowledge of Monty Python’s lackadaisical approach to the subject of history (Miller 114). Indeed, people saw the satire in the film, citing it to be one of the most successful films in British history. Monty Python was always toeing the line of profanity and heresy, but The Life of Brian solidified their reputation for a brutal, humorous manner of looking at the accepted rules of society (Miller 114).
Where the true nature of Monty Python's satire was seen, was in the manners in which the Python's addressed the social issues of the time. Whether it was "marriage fatigue, same-sex bias, [or] middle class pretensions", Monty Python managed to channel the mundane elements of everyday living and generate laughs (Miller 115). This approach will later be seen in The Office, which utilized a straightforward approach to everyday working environments. Created in 2001 by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, The Office set out to do what no other sitcom had done before: offer the viewers the "feeling [that] somebody [had] gone and made a comedy directly for them" (Walters 130). Where The Office becomes distinguishable from the other situation comedies that saturated television was in the manner in which it was produced (Walters 1). The Office reworked the British traditionalism of comedy naturalism. Naturalism, once abandoned for the quirky, outrageous comedies like Blackadder or Red Dwarf, began to make a comeback with programs like Keeping Up Appearances. Back to the realistic settings that were highly recognizable to the British populace, satire was on the rise.Stripped of the safety blanket of the BBC’s glamour and production value, The Office was a gloomy, mundane satire of the commonplace workspace (Walters 1). As is described, on paper, "the series that was about to launch…scarcely seemed a likely remedy: it was conspicuously banal in its settings and offered nothing in the way of elaborate plotting or farcical mishap, punch lines or catchphrases. Even its own characters were stultified with boredom" (Walters 1).
The Office marked the return of realism in British satire. "The Office embraces mundanity as its main mode and subject", rather than utilizing the mundanity of the settings for slapstick antics (Walters 56). As Walters emphasizes, "part of the appeal of The Office was arguably its novelty in presenting an environment that closely reflected the actual experience of many of its viewers—something that neither sitcom nor the other conventionally realist genre… had been especially interested in at that time" (130). By highlighting the white-collared worker, the person who made up the largest fanbase of television sitcoms, The Office made the everyman the star. The characters in The Office became so starched of personality, that it would become easy to substitute the characters for coworkers, elevating the show in terms of personal connection. Yet, there was a gamble with The Office: performed by a largely unknown cast, audiences were initially divided in their reception of the show (Walters 1). Primarily turned off by the lack of action, viewers slowly began to understand the deeply rooted satire, reveling in the cleverness. Though initially unpalatable, the "painful plausibility… offered provocative characterization and emotional engagement" which audience members were quick to receive (Walters 2).
By and large, it was the attention to detail that kept the viewers of The Office enraptured. "[The Office’s] very banality offered a more authentic view of the workplace than most TV series, showing an environment with which many viewers could all too easily associate (Walters 56). Large chunks of time are devoted to showcasing the perfect banality of the moder day workplace, with shots of the back of people’s heads, workers at their desks, half asleep, and co-works rubbing the sleep from their eyes while keeping a close watch on the clock (Walters 59-60). With the soundtrack of the office being the perpetual hum of the photocopier or occasional ring of the telephone, The Office presented "an unusually faithful representation of the clerical environment" that paid particular attention to the lackluster moods and depleted enthusiasm of the workers (Walters 2). Unlike the sitcoms that came before, there was a tendency for the episodes to "end on a downbeat note" (Walters 60). Furthermore, the damper endings were "perhaps the most extreme example of the programme's refusal to provide relief, to let us all laugh in an affirming, cathartic way" (Walters 60). With the perfect emulation of the white-collar workplace, the fragile balance of reality and fantasy are crossed. A heightened reality is achieved, all the while underscoring the devastatingly clever satire of the workplace.
As on can see, British satire was explicitly used in the social protest comedy. Monty Python reflected the ambivalence of the 1970s, just as The Office reflects the modern day labor environment, where "tedious activity goes hand in hand with underlying insecurity about one's employment status" (Walters 3). The new political and social regimes of the 1970s needed a new sense of humor to capture the disdain felt by the populace. Said ambivalence would find a home in the sketch comedy of daring and sensational, Monty Python's Flying Circus. With its highly mocking and sarcastic humor, the satirical nature of Monty Python would pave the way for demure and cleansing satire of The Office. Brutally honest and trite, The Office is in a class of its own in terms of societal deadpan and white-collar living. However, both comedies accentuate the ways in which revolution occurred through the use of satire, leaving Britannia laughing and contemplating at the same time.
Works Cited
Black, Jeremy. Britain Since the Seventies. London. Reaktion Books; 2004.
Chambers, Iain. Popular Culture. London and New York. Methuen; 1986.
Hunt, Leon. British Low Culture: From Safari Suits to Sexploitation. London and New
York. Routledge; 1998.
Landy, Marcia. Monty Python's Flying Circus. Detroit. Wayne State University Press;
2005.
Miller, Jeffrey. Something Completely Different. Minneapolis and London. University of
Minnesota Press; 2000.
Walters, Ben. The Office: A Critical Reading of the Series. London. BFI Publishing;
2005.
