# Dopers of Color: Was "Blazing Saddles" offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 26, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393 "2003-03-26T23:24:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/1 "2003-03-26T23:24:38Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![chula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a4c791/32.png) [@chula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chula)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/2 "2003-03-27T00:39:52Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/3 "2003-03-27T01:19:38Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![TheOnlySaneOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@TheOnlySaneOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheOnlySaneOne)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/4 "2003-03-27T01:27:34Z")
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… ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/5 "2003-03-27T01:44:50Z")
Dammit . . All this time I thought I was _white!_ ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/6 "2003-03-27T01:50:26Z")
**Eve** , …are _Jew_ white?? 😃 \ ---
**Author:** ![chigger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@chigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chigger)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/7 "2003-03-27T01:51:26Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/8 "2003-03-27T02:35:57Z")
“It’s twoo! It’s twoo!” ---
**Author:** ![USCDiver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/uscdiver/32/354_2.png) [@USCDiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/USCDiver)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/9 "2003-03-27T02:54:08Z")
Where da white wimmin at? ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/10 "2003-03-27T03:01:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*Dammit . . All this time I thought I was _white!_ \*\* 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. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/11 "2003-03-27T03:15:08Z")
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] ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/12 "2003-03-27T03:30:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > **I’m part Native American (if that counts).** 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](http://www.ew.com/ew/features/980731/gross/blazing.html) > [@](#): > > “Truman Show” or no “Truman Show,” Jim Carrey owes his career to fart jokes (“In Living Color,” “Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,” “Liar Liar”) and talking butt cheeks (“Ace Ventura” again). > > To figure out what got into him, go back almost 25 years. There, you’ll find nine cowpokes sitting around a campfire, plates dripping with baked beans, harmonica music playing in the distance. Then–pffffft! flshssht! frhonk!–an explosive new use for Dolby sound is born. There’s more at the page. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/13 "2003-03-27T03:31:22Z")
Aw, I was just bein’ a wisenheimer . . ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/14 "2003-03-27T03:44:59Z")
\ – 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. \ ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/15 "2003-03-27T03:47:22Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/16 "2003-03-27T04:59:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MLS \* > \*\*\ – 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. \ \*\* 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. ---
**Author:** ![Hamadryad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6de8d8/32.png) [@Hamadryad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamadryad)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/17 "2003-03-27T13:26:12Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/18 "2003-03-27T13:42:31Z")
Heh, heh. Eve said “weisenheimer.” Heh. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/19 "2003-03-27T14:10:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hamadryad \* > \*\*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. \*\* My kids would probably have similar problems understanding the film. But I’m sure they’d love the fart sequence. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2003, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/20 "2003-03-27T14:12:07Z")
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.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393.md?page=2)