I’ve long wanted to watch all of the Mel Brooks films. I was lucky and got a Blu-ray collection on black Friday a few years ago, but I hadn’t cracked it open. I decided to watch Blazing Saddles, which has 90% on Rotten Tomatoes, as I’ve been planning on seeing it for some time.
Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) has the governor (Mel Brooks) appoint a black sheriff in order to ruin a western town. Bart (Cleavon Little) takes the appointment and heads to the town only to find out he is instantly hated by the town’s people except for the drunk in the prison named Jim (Gene Wilder) who becomes his only ally. The film is a satire on an old western and really does a great job of mimicking Mark Twain’s satire Huckleberry Finn in that there are racist terms but the idiots and villains use them.
THE GOOD
It. Is. Funny! I laughed so many times that I slept better than I have in two months. Memorable scenes like the farting cowboys, the defeat of Mongo, and quick hands Jim are easy to see why after forty years this film still holds up. I’m really glad I own this as I think I’ll be revisiting it again after this year is over. My favorite scene was how Bart got out of the pickle he found himself in when get first arrives at the town. They all drew their guns on him and his tactic is hilarious and becomes even funnier as it actually succeeds.
It’s really smart, too! The idea of displaying racism in a way that shows how ignorant it is and giving the lead protagonist to a black man speaks volume. From the beginning of the film the white guys start using racial slurs and ask the black railroad workers to sing some songs. They’re surprised by the song choice and the juxtaposition of the intelligence begins.
This film went really well with a lesson on short films I’d done with my students early that day. I showed the short documentary called Trump Rally on Vimeo (watch it here) to a small group of students. Depending on your political stance will depend on the interpretation of the film. If you’re pro-Trump I think you’ll probably cheer and nod in agreement with the interviews that are shown. Then again, if you’re anti-Trump you’ll likely shake your head in shame and call the individuals crazy. The film maker’s voice is not clear and they are nothing more than an objective observer for most of the film leaving it to the audience to decide where they stand.
That lesson was placed on my students to have them think about their role as an audience of a film. Our own opinions heavily shape our opinion of a piece of work. If you’re comfortable with being racist then it’s possible you won’t see Blazzing Saddles as anti-racist until Bart shines as the hero. Much like people who read Huck Finn and don’t identify that the people who are racist are always in a negative light and Huck’s struggle with dealing with his love of Jim and what he believes is “right” is the true conflict of the story.
Sorry…but this film landed at the end of a day where this was my subject matter. It is a great comical watch and doesn’t have to be looked at quite so deeply, but I feel Brooks nailed it.
THE BAD
The language is not my favorite. I appreciate the intent as demonstrated above, but when the “N”-word dropped at the beginning of the film my body tensed. I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. Once Bart demonstrated he wasn’t going to be the old-submissive slave archetype from old films that tension lessened. Nonetheless, I cringed every time the word was uttered. Luckily, I watched the film with headphones so my daughter wasn’t subjected to the words spewing out of my surround sound system.
THE VERDICT
I love Mel Brooks so far. I loved this movie and it definitely made me laugh so hard. I give Blazing Saddles 8 out of 10 farting cowboys!
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