re: Blazing Saddles was released 50 years ago today

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Make it stop.

Just enjoy the movie. Quit looking for reasons to be pissed.

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No one is pissed, nor is anyone not enjoying the movie because of that reality. They are just lamenting where society is now relative to a time where you could make a truly funny movie without fear reprisal for "feigned outrage". People were just looking for something to make the laugh. Now, our society has made being a loser and victim "virtuous" which, in turn, has made society less fun.

It's a MOVIE...not actual events

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No one is pissed

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They are just lamenting

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Again. Just enjoy the movie.

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Again. Just enjoy the movie.

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You do know it is possible to have two distinct thoughts/perspectives at the same time, right?

One can BOTH enjoy the movie AND simultaneously be disappointed a similar movie just as enjoyable can't be made again because of the current state of society.

Humor/laugher is a good thing. Blazing Saddles provides such. Presumably if you like humor you would like more of it. Society prohibiting humor/laughter makes for a much duller society.

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Humor/laugher is a good thing. Blazing Saddles provides such. Presumably if you like humor you would like more of it. Society prohibiting humor/laughter makes for a much duller society.

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Speaking of dull. You must be a riot at parties.

"Have a drink! You'll possibly damage your liver, but, enjoy!"

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Speaking of dull. You must be a riot at parties.

"Have a drink! You'll possibly damage your liver, but, enjoy!"

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This is a really weird response to what you guys are talking about.

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No, it would more akin to going to a party and having a phenomenal drink. Then going to another party, asking for the same drink because you liked it so much, and being told that they don't serve that drink because it is a horrible drink that contributes to climate change and only horrible people enjoy that drink.

My taste and enjoyment level never changed. The world around me did.

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It's interesting, but John Stewart had a take on this (though in a different context) that really resonates with this IMHO:

John Stewart: Where's the line?

To summarize:

A student at the University of Chicago asks him this question:

"Are there limits to comedy? The fact that it can... and are there certain topics that are off limits to political satire?"

His response:

"No topics are off-limits... because no topics are off-limits to life."


So while she is talking about political satire specifically, it still felt like he was addressing the elephant in the room, so to speak. He then points out that it's weird that it only seems that comedians and not, say, politicians and policy makers, that are ever asked "where's the line" or told "you've gone too far."

I, personally, think we need comedians to point out the absurdities of both sides of the aisle, but also the absurdities of life in general. We can laugh at Blazing Saddles treatment of a "black sheriff" because the idea of someone being black being a reason not wanted for a job in law enforcement is patently absurd, but wasn't back then.

It's okay to have family-friendly comics and comedic movies, and if people really want to "be safe" instead of trying to stop these movies from being made instead just let parents know, "Hey, this movie satirizes racism, murder, and other crimes, so use your discretion regarding if your kids are ready to watch it" instead of "No, never make comedies that push the envelope again."

I will say this though:

If you can't laugh at the absurdities of your own side/beliefs, THEN that's when you shouldn't be making jokes about the other side of the aisle.

I don't think that ever applied to Mel Brooks. He made fun of his own faith just as quickly as he made fun of literally anything else.

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I think people
forget that Richard Pryor helped write this movie.

It would still get made today. they would just make sure everyone knows a black guy was there writing the n-word jokes.


Like I said earlier, does anything think Jordan Peele or Donald Glover couldn’t get a script about a black sheriff in the old west green lit?

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As with Chapelle leaving his Comedy Central show, black writers/performers are aware that there is an audience laughing with you and a separate audience laughing at you. A huge part of the Blazing Saddles audience was laughing not just at the racists getting their due, but also that they got to hear the N-word used repeatedly in a humorous fashion.