I’ve never discussed the movie with anybody except white people and a Jew. Do you, as a person of color, find Blazing Saddles offensive? If so, why? I mean, they use a lot of offensive language to be sure (duh), but it is all in the service of making fun of dumb whites. So in that regard, it seems pretty tame.
Anyway, I’m just curious.
I’ve definitely heard people of color say they thought the movie was hilarious, and I’ve never heard anyone say they thought it was offensive.
I had this discussion with a woman of color. Here take was that it was OK because it took shots at EVERYBODY.
She loved the movie.
I for one thought that it was great, and have recommended it to friends.
Bart: Are we awake?
Waco Kid: We’re not sure. Are we…black?
Bart: Yes we are.
Waco Kid: Then we’re awake. But we’re very puzzled…
Dammit . . All this time I thought I was white!
Eve,
…are Jew white?? 
<rimshot>
Funny me - I found the whole thing an offensive waste of film. I swear, I didn’t laugh a single time. Wasn’t really offended by any of it, just completely bored.
Now Buster Keaton - that dude makes me laugh.
I guess I just march to a different beat.
“It’s twoo! It’s twoo!”
Where da white wimmin at?
I just remember an episode of Northern Exposure where the Jewish character gave a Native American character a severe dressing down for confusing him with Whites. If figured that what with the pogroms and persecution at the hands of European types and all, making a distinction wouldn’t be too terrible of a faux pas. No offense meant. Please forgive me.
I’m part Native American (if that counts). I thought the movie was hilarious. Despite the racially-charged terms used, the whites came off looking like in-bred idiots, whereas the blacks were portrayed as smart and hard-working.
[hijack]
Can anyone verify something I heard about the movie? One book I read stated that the famous fart scene was the first time gas had ever been passed in a comical way on-screen. I remember reading a quote, which IIRC was from Mel Brooks commenting about the premier: (quoted loosely, as I don’t remember word-for-word) “When the first fart sounded, I heard gasps from the audience. Silence greeted the second and third. By the fourth, some people were starting to snicker. By the seventh fart, people were litterally rolling in the aisles.”
[/hijack]
I think that does.
Re: The “Gas” Scene, I put “Blazing Saddles” and “fart scene” into google and this was the first site to come up (from Entertainment Weekly Online): www.ew.com/ew/features/980731/gross/blazing.html
There’s more at the page.
Aw, I was just bein’ a wisenheimer . .
<Slight hijack> – One place I work had a lot of Asian people. One day one of them asked where “Kathleen” was. I pointed down the row, and said she’s that Irish woman over there. Kathleen was a stereotypical fair-skinned, red-haired type. The Asian guy looked kind of embarrassed and said “Well, you know, you all look alike to us.” He could tell a Vietnamese from a Korean person in an instant but was hard-pressed to distinguish between an Irish and an Italian person. </hijack>
Bart: Morning Ma’am. Isn’t it a lovely day?
Old Lady: Up yours, nigger!
I love it and so does any black person I ever talked to about it. It showed just how ingrained racism was just stupid. And did it hilariously.
That’s a great story, thanks for sharing it!
Biggirl, you can listen to that line here. It’s got all sorts of WAV files from the flick.
I watched this again a couple of months ago and realized that I have absolutely no idea how to explain to my 8-year-old why it’s hilarious. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t even understand the concept of racism.
Heh, heh. Eve said “weisenheimer.” Heh.
My kids would probably have similar problems understanding the film. But I’m sure they’d love the fart sequence.
And as yet another note, I think chigger is the very first person I have ever hears say they didn’t like this movie.
“Candygram for Mongo.”