# Things that seemed funny at the time but you couldn't get away with them now **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comedian-jokes\ **Created:** [September 25, 2020, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472 "2020-09-25T04:50:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![Babale](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/babale/32/15666_2.png) [@Babale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Babale)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/201 "2021-02-07T03:13:19Z")
> [@madsircool](#): > > Its basically a light-hearted fun song about spousal abuse and murder. So sorta like “pumped up kicks”? Minus the spousal abuse of course. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/202 "2021-02-07T03:18:00Z")
And about a zillion hardcore gansta rap songs. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/203 "2021-02-07T03:20:01Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > What, specifically, got him into trouble? The whole film is a criticism of racial prejudice. I’m not seeing why people of color would object. Pretty much non-stop use of the n-word. If you’re actually watching the movie through in a theater or at home, you’ll get that it’s a satire. But if you are just seeing 10 minutes of it while you are on line at the video store, you won’t get the context and will just see [white people calling Cleavon Little a n\*\*\*\*\*r.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM4-r4pN1PY) ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/204 "2021-02-07T03:41:24Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > …white people calling Cleavon Little a n\*\*\*\*\*r. Yeah, they wouldn’t see where the white people later baked him a pie. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/205 "2021-02-07T13:38:52Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > > > What, specifically, got him into trouble? The whole film is a criticism of racial prejudice. I’m not seeing why people of color would object. > > Pretty much non-stop use of the n-word. If you’re actually watching the movie through in a theater or at home, you’ll get that it’s a satire. But if you are just seeing 10 minutes of it while you are on line at the video store, you won’t get the context and will just see [white people calling Cleavon Little a n\*\*\*\*\*r.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM4-r4pN1PY) Largely, but not necessarily only out of a lack of context. The folks who came in on Friday morning complaining about it largely weren’t interested in hearing “nigger” in any context, much less one where it’s played for laughs. The area was mostly people of color, but it was still an area that was generally middle class and pretty straight laced. _Blazing Saddles_ was going to be a hard sell to this crowd under any circumstances, and popping it on them context-free while they were shopping for their weekend videos was probably the worst way to do it. It wasn’t even a large segment of the customers who complained. But the folks who rented the new releases when they came out on Thursday night and were back on Friday morning looking for the ones they missed the night before were the kind of customer that was addicted to movies and in the store all the time, and we knew their names. Their complaints weren’t going to be dismissed. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/206 "2021-02-07T15:29:22Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Pretty much non-stop use of the n-word. But even a few seconds of viewing will show that anyone using that word is either a buffoon or an evil person or both. Anyone who still objects, after being given a brief explanation, is unreasonable. It’s not something anyone should lose their job over, then or today. ---
**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:** [February 7, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/207 "2021-02-07T15:43:24Z")
It’s been a very long time since I saw Blazing Saddles. I thought it was funny and remember it as ultimately being socially positive satire. I don’t know what I would think of it now. Context and intent are both important. Times change and some reasonable people are going to be offended by dated stereotypes and archaic references. Seeing it in passing further confuses things… seems like a terrible idea to me nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/208 "2021-02-07T15:50:26Z")
Maybe, but it’s pretty clueless and more than a little racist to expect people not to be offended when the movie is playing in public. It’s one thing to choose to watch Blazing Saddles, it’s another to have to hear it while you’re helping your kid pick out a movie for the weekend. Then a smug white guy tells you that you’re wrong to be offended, yeah I could see someone getting fired. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/209 "2021-02-07T15:57:39Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > But even a few seconds of viewing will show that anyone using that word is either a buffoon or an evil person or both. But then as now many people would object to the use of the word in any context, regardless of whether it is satire or comedy. It was used by edgy comedians exactly because it was extremely shocking. Even in the 1990s its use in rap songs was controversial. > [@](#): > > Anyone who still objects, after being given a brief explanation, is unreasonable. It’s not something anyone should lose their job over, then or today… It wasn’t just the n-word. _Blazing Saddles_ was groundbreaking for a mainstream comedy in using obscenities and crude jokes. We’re used to raunchy comedies now, but it wasn’t so decades ago. It would probably have been unwise to show such a movie in a video store frequented by families and kids anyway. It was pretty poor judgement on the part of the assistant manager. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/210 "2021-02-07T17:10:02Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > Anyone who still objects, after being given a brief explanation, is unreasonable. Well, that’s the thing about the general public, they’re often very unreasonable. I’d say from my experience at that video store that unreasonable is almost the norm for customers. > [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > It’s not something anyone should lose their job over, then or today. He and I both knew we weren’t allowed to play R rated movies while the store was open - technically we weren’t supposed to play PG-13 either. If you were going to risk it, it’d be best to play it just before closing on Monday or Tuesday night. Thursday, the day the new releases hit the shelves, was right out. That he chose to play a movie that was pretty much guaranteed to generate a complaint made me wonder if he _wanted_ to get fired the next morning. Nope, he genuinely seemed shocked he was fired when he arrived for work later that day. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/211 "2021-02-07T17:22:43Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > It wasn’t even a large segment of the customers who complained. But the folks who rented the new releases when they came out on Thursday night and were back on Friday morning looking for the ones they missed the night before were the kind of customer that was addicted to movies and in the store all the time, and we knew their names. Their complaints weren’t going to be dismissed. I would certainly expect anyone “addicted to movies” to be familiar with Blazing Saddles. I can see those complaints from casual movie-watchers, especially in a context like in a store, where people are only seeing a little bit and not paying attention to what they’re seeing, but movie addicts should be able to say “Oh, that’s Blazing Saddles” when they walk in. That said, if the store had a stated policy of what movies should and should not be shown, well, not following policy is an ancient and time-honored reason for firing someone. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/212 "2021-02-07T17:36:55Z")
I don’t think video stores should have been playing movies at all because spoilers. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/213 "2021-02-07T17:40:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I would certainly expect anyone “addicted to movies” to be familiar with Blazing Saddles. I can see those complaints from casual movie-watchers, especially in a context like in a store, where people are only seeing a little bit and not paying attention to what they’re seeing, but movie addicts should be able to say “Oh, that’s Blazing Saddles” when they walk in. Yeah, and I would too. But my experience with the general movie consumer at that store was an eye opener. The reasons people would or would not watch a movie were bizarre to me. For instance, there were plenty of folks who would rent literally anything that was on the wall of “new” movies, but weren’t interested in any movie that we’d recommend that was more than 5 years old. > [@Chronos](#): > > That said, if the store had a stated policy of what movies should and should not be shown, well, not following policy is an ancient and time-honored reason for firing someone. Again, the really startling part was that he chose a movie that was so transgressive, and while they might rent a bunch of horror movies over the weekend, they’re the same folks who are dropping off Saturday night’s movies in the slot before we’d open, obviously dressed for church. > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > I don’t think video stores should have been playing movies at all because spoilers. Nope! The only rule regarding that was we couldn’t pop the new releases on Wednesday night before anyone had the chance to rent them. After all, you could have seen it last year at the theater. This was before the cycle between the theater and video was so short. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2021, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472/214 "2021-02-08T00:51:19Z")
90 percent of the benny hill show … funny thing my favorite performance of his was him covering del Shannon’s runaway in almost a total falsetto which to someone I was watching it back in the 90s with said " that’s the coolest gay thing I’ve ever seen… and led to a discussion if he was or wasn’t … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-seemed-funny-at-the-time-but-you-couldnt-get-away-with-them-now/921472.md?page=10)