Blazing Saddles: Not Your Father's Western

I'm not sure if this comparison has ever been made, but Brooks' Blazing Saddles is somewhat akin to Mark Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in that both works attack ideas of racial inferiority by continuously having the antagonists use racial slurs and put forth ideas of inferiority. Huckleberry Finn remains one of the most frequently banned books in American history because people don't understand that Twain was attacking stereotypes. And I have met a few people who find Blazing Saddles to be one of the most racist and offensive movies ever produced. In reality, Blazing Saddles is both a send-up of various Western movie cliches and an attack on the way minorities (especially blacks) were treated in the 19th century and continue to be treated today.

Using a plot that formed the basis of too many Westerns to name (an illegal land taking), Brooks tells the story of Bart, the first black sheriff in the ol' west. Bart starts the movie as a poor railroad worker who is continuously abused by the white construction bosses (all of whom are much less intelligent than Bart is, allowing Bart and his fellow workers to play practical jokes on their unsuspecting employers). Meanwhile, State Attorney General Hedley Lamarr wants to run the citizens of Rock Ridge out of town in order to buy the land at a low price; a new railway has to be diverted through Rock Ridge, and the land will skyrocket in value as a result. After the traditional method of pillaging fails to work, Lamarr decides to get the town to implode by appointing Bart as sheriff. At first, the plan looks like it will succeed, as the citizens of Rock Ridge try as hard as possible to make life hard for Bart. However, as with the railroad overseers, Bart is much smarter than pretty much everyone in Rock Ridge, and he is able to stay out of trouble through his wits. When Bart saves the town from Lamarr's savage flunky, the citizens finally realize that Bart is a good sheriff.

Bart is aided by his new deputy and friend, Jim "The Waco Kid", a former gunslinger who turned to alcohol after accidentally shooting a kid who spooked him. Jim is strangely tolerant for someone from this era, but he has to be for the message to work. In the film, the people who are intolerant are either antagonists or they learn to be tolerant. Bart needed a friend to help him get through the early rough patch in Rock Ridge, and he and Jim make a good pair. By the end, the citizens of Rock Ridge are still not models of tolerance, but the experience with the intelligent, competent, and charming Bart has shown them not to judge someone based on the color of their skin.

The movie is hilarious in addition to moral. The film satirizes Western cliches and continuously breaks the fourth wall, which is something Brooks is known for. People often confuse Hedley Lamarr with actress Hedy Lamarr (who wouldn't have been born yet in the year the film takes place), and the entire ending sequence was meta heaven. The infamous campfire scene may be the first fart joke in a major studio film (oh Mel Brooks, what hath thee wrought?). The film was truly a landmark for comedy films.

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