"Always look on the bright side of life"

Quando Graham Chapman morreu, John Cleese proferiu uma elegia que é, no mínimo, incontornável. No final, os outros quatro Monty Python juntam-se a ele, para se despedirem do amigo, da melhor forma que sabem. Brilhantes como sempre.
Às vezes é preciso que nos lembrem que a morte não passa disso mesmo - morte. E deveríamos concentrar-nos na pessoa que perdemos (homenageando-a da melhor forma, lembrando o que tinha de bom) e não na morte em si. E é preciso que nos lembrem que no humor não deve, nem pode haver tabus. Porque se há coisa que merece ser gozada e ridicularizada é, sem dúvida, a morte.
(Em baixo, está a transcrição da parte da elegia que aparece no vídeo, para, se quiserem, poderem acompanhar melhor John Cleese.)



"Graham Chapman, co-author of the 'Parrot Sketch,' is no more.

He has ceased to be, bereft of life, he rests in peace, he has kicked the bucket, hopped the twig, bit the dust, snuffed it, breathed his last, and gone to meet the Great Head of Light Entertainment in the sky, and I guess that we're all thinking how sad it is that a man of such talent, such capability and kindness, of such intelligence should now be so suddenly spirited away at the age of only forty-eight, before he'd achieved many of the things of which he was capable, and before he'd had enough fun.

Well, I feel that I should say, «Nonsense. Good riddance to him, the freeloading bastard! I hope he fries.»

And the reason I think I should say this is, he would never forgive me if I didn't, if I threw away this opportunity to shock you all on his behalf. Anything for him but mindless good taste. I could hear him whispering in my ear last night as I was writing this:

«Alright, Cleese, you're very proud of being the first person to ever say 'shit' on television. If this service is really for me, just for starters, I want you to be the first person ever at a British memorial service to say 'fuck'!»"

(Se quiserem ler o resto da elegia, podem fazê-lo aqui.)