# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![archmichael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@archmichael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/archmichael)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/41 "2003-03-28T00:34:51Z")
Korean married to a Black woman here. My favorite: “We’ll take the niggers and the chinks, but we don’t want the Irish!” Classic ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/42 "2003-03-28T00:41:33Z")
[Bloom County] Our lawyers would like to thank the good and generous folks at the Crayola company! Apparently, they have not had a flesh coloured crayon since 1963! [/Bloom County] ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/43 "2003-03-28T07:23:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > \*\*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] \*\* So you’re saying you found the movie very racist, right? ---
**Author:** ![3.885AM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/58956e/32.png) [@3.885AM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3.885AM)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/44 "2003-03-28T13:45:15Z")
I can’t speak directly to this, but my wife is African American and Blackfoot Indian, she thinks it is hysterical. Our kids grew up on this stuff, cone to think of it, that explains a lot! ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/45 "2003-03-28T17:37:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dr\_Paprika \* > \*\*[Bloom County] > > Our lawyers would like to thank the good and generous folks at the Crayola company! Apparently, they have not had a flesh coloured crayon since 1963! > > [/Bloom County] \*\* OPUS (in response): "Yeah, but they still have ‘Indian Red’. S’pose they have ‘Negro Brown’? ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/46 "2003-03-28T19:05:51Z")
Of course, “Indian Red” is not a reference to the first inhabitants of North America. It is a reference to a particular shade of red that was made in India. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/47 "2003-03-28T20:13:32Z")
I suppose if the nice people at Crayola wanted to be P.C., they’d have dropped the point size on the type font and simply named that crayon, **" Eastern Indian Red Which Is In No Way Associated With Native North America Tribes Or Their Skin Color But Is Rather Derived From Plant Life Found Growing Along The Ganges"**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/2bfe46/32.png) [@Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/48 "2003-03-28T20:37:42Z")
Yeah, count me in on the not-so-amused group. I found the farting scene too obvious, and I guess my comedic tastebuds for that sort of thing were outstretched after the age of nine. But since I’m a big fan of all things un-PC (I often find the funniest humour comes from off-the-wall stuff no-one would touch; religion(s), abortion, murder, war etc.), it doesn’t bother me as such. There was one exception to the not-so-funny-movie rule though. That little cowboy who hangs off Headley Lamarrs butt throughout the film (“Mr Lamarr you use your tongue purt-ier than a twen-y dolla whore!”). He was hilarious at times. ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/49 "2003-03-28T21:17:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wartime Consigliori \* > \*\*OPUS (in response): "Yeah, but they still have ‘Indian Red’. S’pose they have ‘Negro Brown’? \*\* [hijack w/a twist] At the store a guy was wanting a can of Black Krylon…he had the cap in his hand. It was labled Noir/Negro/Black. So he asks the (African American) guy behind the counter for a can of that “Negro Black”. The look on the counter guys face was priceless. The guy buying the paint must have been a BS extra[/hijack w/a twist]. I like Blazing Saddles. And somebody mentioned The Jerk, “I’m a Nigger!” ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/50 "2003-03-28T21:18:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Xavier \* > \*\* (“Mr Lamarr you use your tongue purt-ier than a twen-y dolla whore!”). He was hilarious at times. \*\* That was the aforementioned Slim Pickens, may he rest in peace. He was fantastic in that film. I can only think of 3 Brooks movies I actually thought were consistently funny: this one (despite the fart jokes, which I’m not a fan of); _Young Frankenstein_; and _The Producers_. His other stuff I find nearly unwatchable. But something in those movies just clicks. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/51 "2003-03-28T21:54:26Z")
Bart: [holding his own gun to his own head] Nobody moves or the nigger gets it. Still laughing at that one 29 years later. ---
**Author:** ![hapaXL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@hapaXL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hapaXL)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/52 "2003-03-28T22:49:49Z")
Richard Pryor was a co-writer and the original choice to play the sheriff. [http://us.imdb.com/Trivia?0071230](http://us.imdb.com/Trivia?0071230) Mel Brooks is nice and all, but I’ve always attributed the hilarious racial jokes to Mr. Pryor’s brilliant input. As a person of color, I kind of miss the way race could be discussed in the 1970s. More open, more honest, and in this case, much more funny. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/53 "2003-03-28T23:01:27Z")
“Instead of leaving, they’re staying in droves!” ---
**Author:** ![WillSantini](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ed8c4c/32.png) [@WillSantini](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillSantini)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/54 "2003-03-28T23:17:11Z")
Very funny movie, but not as funny as Archie Bunker. ---
**Author:** ![LurkMeister](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@LurkMeister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LurkMeister)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/55 "2003-03-28T23:27:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vl\_mungo \* > \*\*Bart: [holding his own gun to his own head] Nobody moves or the nigger gets it. > > Still laughing at that one 29 years later. \*\* “Won’t somebody help that poor man?” “Quiet, Harriet, that’s a sure way to get him killed!” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/56 "2003-03-29T01:04:19Z")
“Fought outlaws. Fought Indians. Fort Dix.” “Authentic frontier gibberish” “Bart they said you was hung.” “And they was right.” “Hello boys did you miss me?” “It’s like steam escaping.” “Howard Johnson’s right.” “Mongo straight.” “Screw you. I work for Mel Brooks.” “Scuse me while I whip this out.” “We rape the shit out of them at the number six dance.” “The little bastard shot me in the ass.” “Randolph Scott” ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/57 "2003-03-29T03:47:26Z")
The racists are the villains and the buffoons in the movie. Even the ignorant townsfolk of Rock Ridge come around once Bart and Co. save their bacon. People might be offended by certain jokes or the language (especially in these PC times), but the message of the film is quite clear. “Baby, please, I’m not from Havana!” “Now for my next impression - Jesse Owens!” “Um, sir, he specifically asked for two niggers. Well, to tell a family secret, my grandmother was a Dutch.” “Mungo! Santamaria!” All this and the Count Basie Orchestra. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/58 "2003-03-29T06:29:07Z")
Speaking of movies like **Blazing Saddles** –which I also found funny and a satire of racism–which couldn’t be made today…What about **Airplane!**? Just for one example: Remember the subtitles given for the two African-American men on the plane whenever they talk because they “speak jive” ? ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/59 "2003-03-29T07:41:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vivalostwages \* > \*\*Just for one example: Remember the subtitles given for the two African-American men on the plane whenever they talk because they “speak jive” ? \*\* Oh God! That old lady always cracks me up. “Stewardess? I speak jive. Just hang loose, blood. She’s gonna catch you up on the med side.” ---
**Author:** ![MeanJoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanjoe/32/5693_2.png) [@MeanJoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanJoe)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393/60 "2003-03-29T13:17:08Z")
“No dang gummit, the sheriff is a ni_CLANG_…” _snort_ “Oh fellas, look what I found.” “Where all the white women at?” _snort chuckle_ The entire scene with Mel Brooks and the paddle-ball’s… _snort chuckle snort-snort_ Gets me every time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dopers-of-color-was-blazing-saddles-offensive/164393.md?page=4)