STORY STUDY - MEDIUM: FILM “Blazing Saddles”

Look out criminals, there’s a new sheriff in town. But don’t worry: the citizens don’t like him either.

Directed by Mel Brooks, written by Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, and Alan Uger, and story by Bergman, Blazing Saddles is about Bart a black railroad worker who becomes a pawn to become the sheriff of Rock Ridge, who is in desperate need of a replacement… but not that desperate to accept him.

Bart is the pawn of Hedley Lamarr, who wants to drive out the citizens of Rock Ridge so the new railroad can run through it. Since the citizens are racist against their sheriff, he expects the chaos and disorder to be severe, giving him the advantage.

What no one expects is that Bart is a clever one.

The film has a Road Runner-Wile E. Coyote thing going on (yeah, I know, weird reference) in that the bad guys are trying to outwit the good guys, but the good guys are able to get out of it, leaving the bad guys desperate to just go in guns blazing. But I use a Looney Tunes reference because… well… this is like a Looney Tunes cartoon… a very offensive, adult, politically incorrect Looney Tunes cartoon.

The characters, the situation, the gags; they all just make everyone think “What the f-” but before they can complete that sentence, they laugh hard.

I knew about the film when I was learning about Brooks’ film career. That’s all I can really say about my connection to it.

Much like a majority of Mel Brooks’ iconic films, Blazing Saddles is either going to be hilarious or offensive. There are black jokes, sex jokes, Native American jokes, even a moment where even PETA would complain. It's an assault on good taste.

The important thing is to understand the time period of when the film takes place and when the film itself was made. Either way, it’ll leave your jaw dropped.