Have we really become more sensitive?

[knapplc]

Turns out, Blazing Saddles almost didn't get made, too. For the same reasons we're talking about it not getting made today.

LINK

What did Warner Bros. executives think when they first saw Blazing Saddles?

They wanted to bury me and the film. The head of distribution told the owners not to release the picture but they only did because it was already booked in theaters and they didn’t have a picture they could replace it with. Only John Calley, an extremely filmmaker-friendly executive at the studio, championed it. The rest of the executives wouldn’t acknowledge me on the lot even when Blazing Saddles became a huge money maker.”

Why did they hate the film so much?

I actually got notes from the studio head in vivid detail who said, “Lose the fart scene, cut out any racial and ethnic jokes, edit scenes where a horse and an old lady get punched,” and my favorite note: “Can you reshoot Black Bart with a white actor?” If I had made their changes the film would have been just 14 minutes long! I stupidly threw all their notes in the trash. Imagine the book I could have written on them today. Then I had a screening on the lot for anyone who worked there, so the executives couldn’t think I was faking the results. The screening proved everything the big shots hated was funny beyond belief, and yet the big shots didn’t believe the comic tastes of their own employees. I only got my first royalty check recently, which meant it took all these years to show a profit. Hopefully my next check will be in three figures!

Aren't these exactly why we think it couldn't be made today? And yet, it was made 40 years ago, way before the "PC Culture" allegedly arose.

And, Mel Brooks doesn't think it would be made today:

Do you think Blazing Saddles would ever get made in politically correct 2016?

No!

But, Django Unchained was made in 2012. If that movie makes the screens, so does a modern Blazing Saddles.

 

[RedDenver]

Turns out, Blazing Saddles almost didn't get made, too. For the same reasons we're talking about it not getting made today.

LINK

What did Warner Bros. executives think when they first saw Blazing Saddles?

They wanted to bury me and the film. The head of distribution told the owners not to release the picture but they only did because it was already booked in theaters and they didn’t have a picture they could replace it with. Only John Calley, an extremely filmmaker-friendly executive at the studio, championed it. The rest of the executives wouldn’t acknowledge me on the lot even when Blazing Saddles became a huge money maker.”

Why did they hate the film so much?

I actually got notes from the studio head in vivid detail who said, “Lose the fart scene, cut out any racial and ethnic jokes, edit scenes where a horse and an old lady get punched,” and my favorite note: “Can you reshoot Black Bart with a white actor?” If I had made their changes the film would have been just 14 minutes long! I stupidly threw all their notes in the trash. Imagine the book I could have written on them today. Then I had a screening on the lot for anyone who worked there, so the executives couldn’t think I was faking the results. The screening proved everything the big shots hated was funny beyond belief, and yet the big shots didn’t believe the comic tastes of their own employees. I only got my first royalty check recently, which meant it took all these years to show a profit. Hopefully my next check will be in three figures!

Aren't these exactly why we think it couldn't be made today? And yet, it was made 40 years ago, way before the "PC Culture" allegedly arose.

And, Mel Brooks doesn't think it would be made today:

Do you think Blazing Saddles would ever get made in politically correct 2016?

No!

But, Django Unchained was made in 2012. If that movie makes the screens, so does a modern Blazing Saddles.

Good job on the retrospective and comparison. Blazing Saddles would be MUCH more likely to get made today IMO.

 

[StPaulHusker]

There is far more raunchy movies and even TV shows that get made today that makes Blazing Saddles look like Saturday Morning Cartoons.

 

[teachercd]

Turns out, Blazing Saddles almost didn't get made, too. For the same reasons we're talking about it not getting made today.

LINK

What did Warner Bros. executives think when they first saw Blazing Saddles?

They wanted to bury me and the film. The head of distribution told the owners not to release the picture but they only did because it was already booked in theaters and they didn’t have a picture they could replace it with. Only John Calley, an extremely filmmaker-friendly executive at the studio, championed it. The rest of the executives wouldn’t acknowledge me on the lot even when Blazing Saddles became a huge money maker.”

Why did they hate the film so much?

I actually got notes from the studio head in vivid detail who said, “Lose the fart scene, cut out any racial and ethnic jokes, edit scenes where a horse and an old lady get punched,” and my favorite note: “Can you reshoot Black Bart with a white actor?” If I had made their changes the film would have been just 14 minutes long! I stupidly threw all their notes in the trash. Imagine the book I could have written on them today. Then I had a screening on the lot for anyone who worked there, so the executives couldn’t think I was faking the results. The screening proved everything the big shots hated was funny beyond belief, and yet the big shots didn’t believe the comic tastes of their own employees. I only got my first royalty check recently, which meant it took all these years to show a profit. Hopefully my next check will be in three figures!

Aren't these exactly why we think it couldn't be made today? And yet, it was made 40 years ago, way before the "PC Culture" allegedly arose.

And, Mel Brooks doesn't think it would be made today:

Do you think Blazing Saddles would ever get made in politically correct 2016?

No!

But, Django Unchained was made in 2012. If that movie makes the screens, so does a modern Blazing Saddles.

I think it would depend on the cast. Django had HUGE stars in it so that totally helped. Blazing Saddles would probably also need huge stars to get it lit.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Turns out, Blazing Saddles almost didn't get made, too. For the same reasons we're talking about it not getting made today.

LINK

What did Warner Bros. executives think when they first saw Blazing Saddles?

They wanted to bury me and the film. The head of distribution told the owners not to release the picture but they only did because it was already booked in theaters and they didn’t have a picture they could replace it with. Only John Calley, an extremely filmmaker-friendly executive at the studio, championed it. The rest of the executives wouldn’t acknowledge me on the lot even when Blazing Saddles became a huge money maker.”

Why did they hate the film so much?

I actually got notes from the studio head in vivid detail who said, “Lose the fart scene, cut out any racial and ethnic jokes, edit scenes where a horse and an old lady get punched,” and my favorite note: “Can you reshoot Black Bart with a white actor?” If I had made their changes the film would have been just 14 minutes long! I stupidly threw all their notes in the trash. Imagine the book I could have written on them today. Then I had a screening on the lot for anyone who worked there, so the executives couldn’t think I was faking the results. The screening proved everything the big shots hated was funny beyond belief, and yet the big shots didn’t believe the comic tastes of their own employees. I only got my first royalty check recently, which meant it took all these years to show a profit. Hopefully my next check will be in three figures!

Aren't these exactly why we think it couldn't be made today? And yet, it was made 40 years ago, way before the "PC Culture" allegedly arose.

And, Mel Brooks doesn't think it would be made today:

Do you think Blazing Saddles would ever get made in politically correct 2016?

No!

But, Django Unchained was made in 2012. If that movie makes the screens, so does a modern Blazing Saddles.

I think it would depend on the cast. Django had HUGE stars in it so that totally helped. Blazing Saddles would probably also need huge stars to get it lit.

Django Unchained was also a drama, which empowered the former slave. I haven't seen Blazing Saddles (yes, I know I'm lame) but racial comedy is not as accepted today.

 

[darkhorse85]

This thread has triggered me. Thanks for the trigger warning, shitlord.

 

[teachercd]

Colleges have been the forefront of different cultures since the 1800s, so that would belie the "we're more PC now" idea that's going around.

I think there's a recency bias at play with the perception of "PC culture" today. Colleges especially have always been progressive when it comes to acceptance. The Hippie culture and Counter Cultures of the 1960s - two generations ago! - were pushing these ideas.

True...but for many many many college students that "culture" stays on campus when they graduate. To some extent anyway. For many it is a time to experiment.

 

[RedSavage]

Turns out, Blazing Saddles almost didn't get made, too. For the same reasons we're talking about it not getting made today.

LINK

What did Warner Bros. executives think when they first saw Blazing Saddles?

They wanted to bury me and the film. The head of distribution told the owners not to release the picture but they only did because it was already booked in theaters and they didn’t have a picture they could replace it with. Only John Calley, an extremely filmmaker-friendly executive at the studio, championed it. The rest of the executives wouldn’t acknowledge me on the lot even when Blazing Saddles became a huge money maker.”

Why did they hate the film so much?

I actually got notes from the studio head in vivid detail who said, “Lose the fart scene, cut out any racial and ethnic jokes, edit scenes where a horse and an old lady get punched,” and my favorite note: “Can you reshoot Black Bart with a white actor?” If I had made their changes the film would have been just 14 minutes long! I stupidly threw all their notes in the trash. Imagine the book I could have written on them today. Then I had a screening on the lot for anyone who worked there, so the executives couldn’t think I was faking the results. The screening proved everything the big shots hated was funny beyond belief, and yet the big shots didn’t believe the comic tastes of their own employees. I only got my first royalty check recently, which meant it took all these years to show a profit. Hopefully my next check will be in three figures!

Aren't these exactly why we think it couldn't be made today? And yet, it was made 40 years ago, way before the "PC Culture" allegedly arose.

And, Mel Brooks doesn't think it would be made today:

Do you think Blazing Saddles would ever get made in politically correct 2016?

No!

But, Django Unchained was made in 2012. If that movie makes the screens, so does a modern Blazing Saddles.

I think it would depend on the cast. Django had HUGE stars in it so that totally helped. Blazing Saddles would probably also need huge stars to get it lit.

Django Unchained was also a drama, which empowered the former slave. I haven't seen Blazing Saddles (yes, I know I'm lame) but racial comedy is not as accepted today.

This is what I was going to say as well. Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I don't remember people being up in arms about Django and clamoring about it being racist. It was more realistic and like CH said, empowered the former slave. There is no way Blazing Saddles gets made and doesn't make people upset about it being racist.

How many racial comedies have been made in recent years?

Teach, I would have posted about it in your thread but it was made in '74

 

[knapplc]

The Donald thought Django was racist.


When you ask about "racial comedies," are you talking about comedies that deal with race and racism, like Blazing Saddles (where the Black Guy is the hero despite overt racism and eventually wins the town over, much like Django is eventually empowered in Django Unchained), or are you talking about movies that just have racial stereotypes as hollow characters, like the Japanese racers in Better Off Dead?

Also, Better Off Dead is an excellent movie.

 

[teachercd]

The Donald thought Django was racist.



When you ask about "racial comedies," are you talking about comedies that deal with race and racism, like Blazing Saddles (where the Black Guy is the hero despite overt racism and eventually wins the town over, much like Django is eventually empowered in Django Unchained), or are you talking about movies that just have racial stereotypes as hollow characters, like the Japanese racers in Better Off Dead?

Better Off Dead is AMAZING! I want my two dollars!

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Is Django Unchained really a racist movie? Yeah, it has plenty of n-bombs, but it's a movie set in 1858. It would be historically inaccurate if the movie didn't have that kind of language.

 

[knapplc]

Is Django Unchained really a racist movie? Yeah, it has plenty of n-bombs, but it's a movie set in 1858. It would be historically inaccurate if the movie didn't have that kind of language.

Blazing Saddles is set in 1874, just after the Civil War.

 

[ColoradoHusk]

Is Django Unchained really a racist movie? Yeah, it has plenty of n-bombs, but it's a movie set in 1858. It would be historically inaccurate if the movie didn't have that kind of language.

Blazing Saddles is set in 1874, just after the Civil War.

Thanks. I knew it was a western, but didn't know the timing. So, yes, even though it's done for comedy, the use of the N-word would be historically correct then.

 

[Fru]

I've never seen Blazing Saddles, so correct me if I'm wrong, but don't some of the racial jokes/tones/aspects of that film have a satirical element to it?

Race or epithets used to prove a point and provide social commentary ("All in the Family" being a perfect example) is certainly different than something like Michael Richards going haywire at the Laugh Factory.

 

[StPaulHusker]

I've never seen Blazing Saddles, so correct me if I'm wrong, but don't some of the racial jokes/tones/aspects of that film have a satirical element to it?

Race or epithets used to prove a point and provide social commentary ("All in the Family" being a perfect example) is certainly different than something like Michael Richards going haywire at the Laugh Factory.

The whole movie is a satire