Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Could a Movie Like Blazing Saddles Be Made Today?

I was wondering that last night after I watched Blazing Saddles again on Turner Classic Movies.. If you have never seen the the movie no written description will do it justice. It is a classic Mel Brook's movie.

I can remember when I was young in school we would all say that now often quote line "Badges? We don't need no stinking badges." It also has this Classic line and scene:

[Bart, disguised as a Klansman, describes his qualifications as a villain]
Bart: Stampeding cattle.
Hedley Lamarr: That's not much of a crime.
Bart: Through the Vatican?
Hedley Lamarr: [smiling] Kinky. Sign here.

Anyway what stands out in the movie is the the comical , in your face of the infamous "N" ,other ethnic humor and its use by several well known white actors. All this was done for a purpose that was not all for comedy effect but to sort of shatter the silliness of how we treat each other

By the way , when people were discussing the "N" word in the past even as in the context that it was mean and improper one could actually feel free to say it. If I recall correctly the media and everyone else, with the huge exception of rap music of course, started using the phrase the "N" word around the OJ trial.

Anyway as a young southern boy , I was raised in a time where many of the "white" adults including some of my family were still still dealing with integration and the use of the "N" word was still littered in everyday conversation in every day society.

The movie looking back was one of several cultural moments that affect me and I suspect several of my generation. It was sort of MAD magazine meets film with the in your face taboo subject matter. I was too just a little tyke when it came out in 1974. However it came out on regular TV I think just a few years after. I can't recall when I first saw it but it has to be early 80's. The so over the top use of the "N" word, the quite funny lines and scenes making fun of various ethnic groups, all combined of course to undermine those old prejudices that were part of a many social system. The genre was funny and so absurd it made the fact that someone could be racist or dislike ethnic groups absurd itself.

I do wonder if a film like that would be made today.

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