Blazing Saddles Research free essay sample

In one of Mel Brooks’ most well known movies the 1974 film, Blazing Saddles, racism is shown in a different manner than almost any other film. In this movie, racism is depicted as more of a comedy. Cleavon Little plays the role of the first black sheriff in a town scheduled to be demolished by a railroad that is in line for construction. Blazing Saddles is the perfect film to social commentary on racism because as Mel Brooks uses racism in a comedy goes to show how racism has more of a role of comedic relief in this film, not something to run one’s life by. Being as this movie is shown to be a comedy to most, if someone were to watch the film and evaluate it, they would realize that the extreme hatred between two races is actually social commentary on race. This movie is set to have taken place just after the Civil War. As soon as the movie begins, the audience is drawn into the subject of racism. As the black men work on the railroad, Taggart (Hedley Lamarrs sidekick), pulls up on the horse and says to the men watching all the slaves work; Taggart: â€Å"The surveyors say they may have run into some quicksand up ahead. Better check it out. † Lyle: â€Å"Okay, Ill send down a team of horses to check out the ground. † Taggart: â€Å"*Horses*? † [hits Lyles head] Taggart: â€Å"We cant afford to lose any horses, you dummy! Send over a couple of niggers† (Blazing Saddles). After Lyle, a white man watching the slaves picks two black men from the crowd to take the hand cart to see where the quick sand starts. It is obvious that Taggart and the other white men surveying the slaves have more respect for the horses than they have for the black men working for them. Once the slaves make it to the quick sand they get stuck in it, along with the handcart. Taggart and Lyle take no time to get the handcart out of the quicksand, but completely disregard the slaves crawling their way out of the. To me, this is one of the most important parts of the film because of the fact that it reveals the way that the attorney general and his men behave toward the different colored people. This scene is also the audiences’ first glimpse of racism in the film. As the film progresses, one can see how it develops into a social commentary as it conveys racism more brutally from one scene to the next. As soon as Hedley Lamarr realizes that he has to make the railroad go straight through the town of Rock Ridge, he (Hedley) comes up with a brilliant idea to place a black man as the town sheriff. Usually in any other motion picture that involves racism, a black man becoming the sheriff of a town would be quite the honor but this black man, (Bart) knows that it is a suicide mission to try and get the people of Rock Ridge to flee the town. Hedley convinces Governor Lepetomane that he would be considered a great man if he were the one to implement the first black sheriff in town. As the scene continues on in the Governor’s office, Hedley and the Governor show no respect to Bart (soon to be sheriff). Bart sits to the side while Hedley and the drunken Governor discuss their plans to get him to be sheriff. As Bart and the attorney general are walking out the door, the governor mentions that he needs to organize Bart’s funeral jokingly. Bart has a very uncertain look on his face. The way Mel Brooks keeps the camera pointed straight at Bart, while the Governor is chuckling about his comment on Bart’s funeral, displays his true feeling towards the white men in the room as well as the stress between these two races portrayed to the audience. As the audience sees this movie as a comedy, social commentary is exemplified because of the hatred displayed between the two races, even if it is shown in a humorous manner. The next scene begins with Bart being very excited to ride into his town of Rock Ridge and everyone in the town is just as excited to meet the new sheriff. As the people of Rock Ridge see Bart approaching the town, they start to get loud for him and the band starts playing in excitement for the new sheriff. As Bart comes forward, the crowd becomes completely silent and the band stops playing. Howard Johnson: [reading] â€Å"As honorary chairman of the welcoming committee, its my privilege to present a laurel and hearty handshake to our new † [looks up and sees Bart] Howard Johnson:† nigger (Blazing Saddles). The camera stayed pointed at Bart while no one spoke. One can definitely tell by the look on Bart’s face, that he is trying not to look frightened and stay calm and collected. As soon as he took the podium, everyone in town pulled their loaded guns out and pointed them straight at Bart. He had a very uneasy look on his face as the camera captured every gun pointed at him in the picture. Everyone showed their extreme hatred toward another race. Bart soon made a quick decision and to turn the gun on himself. The crowd obviously has no idea what goes through another races’ head because he makes every white person look incredibly stupid when acting like he will pull the trigger on himself. This made everyone put their guns down and allowed him to make it to the police station safely as he calls himself so talented while all the white towns people extremely dumb for buying his absurd act. Another form of social commentary in this film is the demonstration of a rare friendship between races. During Bart’s first day of being the sheriff of Rock Ridge comes into play, he meets someone that he can finally talk to and call his friend. This is a man named Jim. Jim awakens from his drunken night sleep in the jail to find wakes a black town sheriff. He is extremely confused to say the least. The two men show the audience something they have yet to see in this movie. This is an actual friendship between a black man and a white man. The camera goes back and forth between the men’s faces showing no hatred or any violence toward one another. As they start to talk more and get to know one another over a game of chess, Bart discovers that he is the â€Å"Maco Kid,† the man with the fastest hands in the world. Jim soon becomes Bart’s right hand man. Overcoming racial boundaries is a recurring theme of social commentary in many movies that focus on racism. As Bart goes out on the town for his first day of work, he tries to be very nice and calm, but as soon as he says: Bart: â€Å"Mornin, maam. And isnt it a lovely mornin? † Elderly Woman: â€Å"Up yours, nigger† (Blazing Saddles). The sheriff is actually torn apart by this and returns to the station. Jim basically asks him if he expected everyone to act nice toward him. Hedley then sends in Mongole to take out the sheriff. Bart soon receives notice that Mongole is terrorizing the town. As Bart, being the clever man that he is, he tricks Mongole into taking a candy graham that is actually dynamite. Bart takes down the mighty Mongole and Taggart is shocked. Bart still under the impression that people do not appreciate his work is surprised when the elderly woman that told him off earlier, brings by a pie for him for putting Mongole away. The people of Rock Ridge are becoming more accepting of their new black sheriff. In rebuttal, some may say that Blazing Saddles is nothing but a dumb comedy and there is no other director that could actually get away with making a movie like this, other than Mel Brooks. Which is actually very good observation. At the time of this movie’s release, happened to be one of the first times that racism had taken a comedic approach. This was able to take place because of Mel Brooks’ ridiculous comedy. From the scene in which the old, dirty cowboys are sitting around a camp fire, eating beans, and letting farts rip like crazy, to another ridiculous scene of Bart tricking everyone in town that he was going to pull the trigger on himself after everyone had their gun pointed at him. The way Mel Brooks portrays racism as a hilarious comedy, made it seem to the audience that racism is such a ridiculous topic to get all bent out of shape about. When something as serious as racism, is put into a movie like this to show audiences just how dumb all the controversy is. Mel Brooks just so happened to be the one to put it out there for all to see. Mel Brooks’ film, Blazing Saddles, is a very suitable social commentary about racism. The way the camera shows most of the black actors’ reactions after racial slurs were said, the hatred between two races, intense racism, rare friendship, and overcoming racial boundaries is all shown in detail in this film. As I stated previously, some people say that this film is just a stupid comedy but if you actually watch the film and the people in it, it is solely about racism. I believe that if people were to watch this movie they could come to realize see their own actions toward people of other races and maybe, just maybe this hilarious movie could have an impact on how people in the world today interact toward others.