Fox News Mocked After Mistaking Monty Python Joke for Seattle Protest Infighting (Video)

During a Friday segment network fails to notice direct quotes from ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’

Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Photo: YouTube

It looks like Fox News needs to brush up on its movie knowledge.

During a story about the Seattle protests that aired live Friday night, Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum reported on a Reddit post she said was evidence of infighting among activists involved in the city’s so-called “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.” There was just one problem: The post was clearly a joke referencing one of the most famous scenes from the 1975 comedy classic “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

The post, added to the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone subreddit by user “Kasplorge,” says “I didn’t vote for Raz. I thought we were an autonomous collective? An anachro-syndicalist commune at the least. We should take turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week.”

“But of course all the decisions of that officer would have to be ratified at a special bi-weekly meeting by a simple majority in the case of internal affairs, or a 2/3 majority in the case of more major issues,” the post continued. “Raz can’t simply expect to wield supreme executive power just because someone threw a sword at him.”

The post paraphrases a scene mid-way through “Holy Grail,” in which Graham Chapman’s King Arthur happens upon two peasants played by Terry Jones and Michael Palin, and discovers they’re actually members of “an autonomous collective.”

“We’re an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week,” Palin’s character says as an exasperated King Arthur starts demanding he shut up. “But all the decision of that officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting. By a simple majority in the case of purely internal affairs, but by a two-thirds majority in the case of more major issues.”

Later in the scene, when the peasants ask why he gets to be king, Arthur tells them that the Lady of the Lake gave him the sword Excalibur. “Well you can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just ’cause some watery tart threw a sword at you,” Palin’s character says in part.

As for Seattle and that Reddit post, “Raz” refers to Rapper Raz Simone, who has declared himself to be the sheriff of the “autonomous zone,” also called “CHAZ,” and has apparently deputized other activists to search any unfamiliar people as they enter. It’s true that he’s been criticized by other members of the movement for these actions — but as far as TheWrap knows, not by anachronistically leftist peasants from the time of King Arthur.

Meanwhile, Kasplorg has been banned from the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone subreddit for the (very funny) joke.

Fox News’ Daily Caller Twitter page posted the segment June 12 and users were quick to point out the allusion to “Monty Python.”

“She does know that the lines that she read comes directly from Monty Python – search for the holy grail? Did Fox just get punked?,” one user asked.

“Fox News quotes a post from Reddit, quoting Monty Python, then the Daily Caller tweets the Fox video. My goodness these people are stupid. Go look for it. Come to see the violence inherent in the system! Help! Help! I’m being oppressed!,” said another. Hundreds of similar replies followed.

See the Reddit joke read on Fox News, the original scene from “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,” and some of the bemused reactions from Twitter users below.

https://twitter.com/rebellegrrl/status/1271924429648519173

https://twitter.com/jbillinson/status/1271885483057037312

Samson Amore

Reporter • samson.amore@thewrap.com • Twitter: @Samsonamore

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