Dennis the Constitutional Peasant, from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (1975), directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones

Hard to pick just one scene from Python's oeuvre, but I think this is the most sharply scripted, with a hilarious parody of Marxist-anarchist critiques. Or is it Weberian? Magne Flemmen comments online: "Rather than Marxian concepts, I've used [this scene in classes] to illustrate Weber's distinction between charismatic and rational-legal authority. Upon being asked how he became King, Arthur offers a classical charismatic account: He has been appointed by God, with the Lady of the Lake offering him Excalibur. This is challenged by the peasant, who offers a typical rational-legal critique: 'Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony'. To my mind, this is the perfect example of the distinction between the two types of authority: the anarchist peasant's critque is almost ideal-typical of (legitimations of) rational-legal authority under democracy." (I just took all the fun out of it, didn't I?) With Michael Palin as Dennis, the recently deceased Terry Jones as his mum; Graham Chapman as King Arthur and Terry Gilliam as his coconut-clapping sidekick, Patsy.


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