How does John Cleese adapt his language during the televised debate?
John Cleese and the rest of the panel adapt their spoken language greatly due to many factors throughout the debate. First of all, the purpose of this debate was to discuss the different interpretations and perceptions of Jesus in the film. One way in which the purpose affects how spoken language is used is through the use of formal language. The members of the debate are all highly intelligent and are present to debate a very serious matter. “Malcolm, awfully sorry to interrupt but is it possible for John to answer perhaps”. This shows that formality is present within the debate and the politeness displayed portrays this well. Also present at the debate as well as the two members from Monty Python are Mervyn Stockwood, a bishop who is highly respected amongst the Christian community and Malcolm Muggeridge, a greatly religious and moral campaigner. This may be another reason for the formality of this debate as these two speakers would want to show their superiority over the two other speakers.
John Cleese and the other speakers are affected largely by the audience as there is a battle to try and win them over and also to entertain them. The audience influences the speakers the most during this debate and one device employed is hearer support. This is because it encourages the speakers and Cleese in particular to include more humour and funny jokes within the debate. The members of Monty Python especially Cleese have the audience on his side for most of the debate. An example of this would be when Stockwood raises the topic of Socrates and how he would not be mocked however; Cleese’s witty response to this was “maybe there are funny things about him (Socrates), why shouldn’t we make jokes about Socrates?” This response not only entertains the audience more but the interruption was very clever and strategic from Cleese as a good point was made. When Cleese employs the tactic of humour into his speech in an attempt to mock the other two speakers he silences the crowd when they laugh with a “hand gesture”. This is very smart again from Cleese as it adds significance to the point is he making and it makes it even funnier causing the crowd to be behind him even more. Furthermore, Stockwood loses the crowd very early on in the transcript by adding personal insults such as “sheer rubbish” when describing the movie. The reaction from the crowd is negative towards him with a sarcastic laugh which causes him to employ a different tactic later on when speaking in the debate which causes him to be less direct, personal and insulting. This is done by hedging a lot more when speaking a being a lot more light-hearted when raising and responding to points.
The language used influences other speakers and listeners in a large way as it affects the way in which points are put forward to other speakers and their responses to them. One way in which language is affected is when Muggeridge raises the idea of the film being “tenth-rate”; this hyperbole is used against himself by Cleese, “I started to think why I was given this tenth-rate series of platitudes”. This example of convergence used by Cleese was incorporated smartly as he knew he would get a good response out of the audience for doing this and it would make him appear to be the more dominant in the debate. Secondly, Cleese uses a mocking tone when making his points, this is shown when
