Existentialism In Monty Python's The Meaning Of Life

Life is a very precious thing to have. Every person begins his or her life new, innocent, and curious. As people grow up, they gain a lot of experiences and knowledge, which may or may not be useful to them when they reach early adulthood and start living in the “real world.” Whether it be good or bad, these experiences help tell the story, more specifically the life, of an individual. At one point in every person’s life, there comes a time for reminiscence of these experiences, but why do we have these experiences in the first place? Why do we exist? Does it have any meaning or purpose? The movie Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life attempts to answer these questions and express these meanings and purposes of life by touching mainly on two

In Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life, there are scenes that trick the audience into thinking that it will give them the movie’s view on the meaning of life. The film, however, never actually gives the audience a real, serious answer to the questions that relate to life’s meaning; by doing this, the people who created the film probably wanted the audience to make up their own views and answers to life’s meanings and purposes (a loosely defined meaning of existentialism). In existentialism, existentialists reject proposed systems that have a definitive answer to the questions involving the meaning and purpose of life; they freely choose standards of values on the human condition, which asks questions, like “Why am I here,” “What does it mean to be human,” or “How should I live my life?” According to Mitchell’s Roots of Wisdom, the idea of existentialism “emphasizes the uniqueness and freedom of the human person as an individual (what makes each life a unique, personal experience) as opposed to the essence of a human being (what makes all of us alive).” To reiterate, this movie seems to be leaning toward the audience’s personal views on life and its meaning and purpose. Each individual should decide for him/herself the meaning of life. The ending of the movie seemed very anticlimactic. The presenter explains the meaning of life so casually and with no serious regard or consideration: “Well, it’s nothing special. Try to be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and