I felt mostly embarrassed while watching Mel Brooks‘ Blazing Saddles. I left like I am reverting to a 14 year old. The humor in this movie is exactly the kind I enjoyed at that age. I already started to get over the fascination with gross humor, but was not yet ready for subtle one. On the surface it’s a kind of crude physical and verbal humor that floats this movie above other parodies. But if you listen to what they are really saying there is a lot of cultural references and social criticism in it too. Here are some examples, with the references identified:
- I must have killed more men than Cecil B. DeMille. [the director of classic epics]
- What’s a dazzling urbanite like you doing in a rustic setting like this?
- The whole character of Lili Von Shtupp is a great joke on Marlene Dietrich’s Lili Marleen persona/song.
- Bart: Just give me 24 hours to come up with a brilliant idea to save our town. Just 24 hours, that’s all I ask.
Townspeople: NO!
Bart: You’d do it for Randolph Scott. [Randolph Scott was an actor who played in a lot of old western movies.] - [after his disguise of a Klan Member is discovered at the villain's meeting] And now, for my next impression, Jessie Owens! [Owens was an African-American athlete who competed in the Berlin Olympics and snapped up four golds from Hitler's “Aryan, racially superior” athletes.]
Then there is a lot of racial politics covered, starting with the Yiddish speaking native Americans to the self-deprecating afro-American slaves. A lot of the jokes are so abrasive that they hover between the hilarious and outrageous. Despite the constant barrage of provocative humor I found myself bored. I think the movie ended up being dated. Or maybe my western adoring days ended too long, also when I was 14.
IMDB’s summary: The Ultimate Western Spoof. A town where everyone seems to be named Johnson is in the way of the railroad. In order to grab their land, Hedley Lemar, a politically connected nasty person, sends in his henchmen to make the town unlivable. After the sheriff is killed, the town demands a new sheriff from the Governor. Hedley convinces him to send the town the first Black sheriff in the west. Bart is a sophisticated urbanite who will have some difficulty winning over the townspeople.
I’ll have to re-watch this one. I remember watching it when I was around 14 and not getting a lot of the jokes – or maybe they weren’t funny then either. Do you think it’s just in the nature of comedic farces to become outdated quickly? I generally love the outrageous slapstick humor especially when it reflects my own experiences (Superbad, etc), but I’m curious to hear what you think.
Becca