He Rode a Blazing Saddle....

....He wore a shining star
His job to offer battle To bad men near and far
He conquered fear and he conquered hate
He turned our night into day
He made his blazing saddle A torch to light the way

A second reference to a Mel Brooks' film in one week, but hey, I like Mel Brooks films. My husband and I watched Blazing Saddles last night because we both needed some humor after a long and mostly down day.

Blazing Saddles is one of my favorites, because of its satire of the Hollywood western and the ridicule of the racism prevalent in the time period. If all you're seeing is the overt racism and fart jokes, you've totally missed the point. I'm not going to go into some long diatribe about how racism should always be ridiculed and exposed, as much as possible; that's not my job, and others have done it better than I. I enjoy the movie for what it is while also appreciating the subtler elements. I don't need to pick them apart to know what Mel Brooks was trying to say, or apologize for the crude humor.

You could never make such a movie in the current political climate; you'd be torn apart and vilified for what lay on the surface. No one looks any deeper than face value any more, or criticizes the people pretending political correctness while secretly holding on to old prejudices. I am sorry about that, and I miss more movies like Blazing Saddles that seemingly had no fear and laid it all out there for everyone to see. Nowadays it really does seem to be all about the fart jokes and little else. Is everyone afraid? Or is there truly no one else like Mel Brooks? (I'd believe that.)

For me Blazing Saddles is iconic and its entertainment will never grow old. After all, who could grow bored of clueless cowboys, mustache-twirling villains, a sultry German saloon girl (the genius, Madeline Kahn, oh how I adore you), the actors breaking the fourth wall frequently, dozens of anachronistic references, and a full-on Hollywood pie-fight?

Not me. I think I'll watch it again next week.