Opinion: The right-wing misreading of 'Blazing Saddles' is so telling
On social media at least, Mel Brooks’ classic “Blazing Saddles” has become the standard example of a film that supposedly could not be made today because of rampant left-wing political correctness. Rewatching the 1974 film on the occasion of its 50th anniversary, though, what stands out is its cheerfully irreverent antiracism — and its open enthusiasm for insulting and mocking racists.
“Blazing Saddles” is the kind of unreproducible film that doesn’t need a remake. But if it were remade, it almost certainly wouldn’t be the left who would object.
Like most Brooks films, “Blazing Saddles” (whose distributor now shares a parent company with CNN) is as much a collection of vaudeville-esque skits and set pieces as it is a coherent narrative. But to the extent that there’s a plot, the movie is a Western in which nefarious Attorney General Hedley Lamarr (Harvey Korman) wants to take over the town of Rock Ridge, which is about to become a railroad stop.
Lamarr’s thugs kill Rock Ridge’s sheriff and, when the town petitions Governor William J. Le Petomane (Mel Brooks) for a replacement, Lamarr sends them Bart (Cleavon Little), a Black railroad worker. Hedley figures the good people of Rock Ridge will murder their own sheriff rather than be defended by a Black man. But he didn’t count on sheriff Bart’s wits—or on what a silly movie they’re all in.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/opinion/opinion-the-right-wing-misreading-of-blazing-saddles-is-so-telling/ar-BB1hV1UJ
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