I’m old enough to remember the wailing and gnashing of teeth.

"this hero, Jesus Christ, even has the same initials as John Cleese, the comic messiah"

The movie still causes gnashing teeth among conservative religious acquaintances.

That's part of his point. That while it was controversial then, it's worse now. “...now there would be much more of a battle. Sides would be taken and people would be influencing others over whether to see it. Everything is very adversarial and everyone flies off the handle much more quickly...”

Worse than being banned in at least one supposedly liberal European democracy and in parts of the UK?

That seems to be his assertion, based on what he's saying in the interview. It's possible I'm misinterpreting his words, you can have a read for yourself if you want to make sure. www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/0/michael...