Entertainment
Whoopi Goldberg passionately defends Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles after racism backlash-Rishma Dosani-Entertainment – Metro
‘He hits all the “isms.”’
Whoopi Goldberg is not here for Blazing Saddles critics (Picture: Getty)
Whoopi Goldberg has issued a passionate defense of Blazing Saddles after a Twitter debate over the themes of the flick.
The Mel Brooks movie – starring Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little and Burton Gilliam – was released in 1974, and follows a corrupt politician who hires a Black sheriff to protect a frontier village.
The satirical film is considered a classic and landed a string of Oscar nominations upon release, but many have questioned whether it would get the same reception today.
During a debate on The View, Whoopi insisted that it still holds up and pleaded with viewers to watch it if they hadn’t already done so.
The Ghost actress began the discussion by referencing Mindy Kaling’s recent comments that most of the characters of The Office would be ‘cancelled’ if the show was made now.
‘Mindy Kaling, who was star and writer of The Office, said that most of the show’s characters would be canceled today because what offends people has changed,’ she said.
‘There is also a Twitter debate about Mel Brooks’ 1974 spoof, Blazing Saddles, because of the way it deals with racism.’
Unable to contain her laughter over the criticism, the EGOT holder continued: ‘It deals with racism by coming at it, right straight up front, making you think and laughing about it.
‘It’s not just racism, it’s all the “isms”. He hits all the “isms”.
‘Blazing Saddles, because it’s a great comedy, would still go over today. There are a lot of comedies out that are not good, we’re just going to say that… That’s not one of them!
Whoopi implored fans to watch the Western satire (Picture: Getty)
‘Blazing Saddles is one of the greatest because it hits everybody.’
‘If you’ve never seen Blazing Saddles, you should do yourself a favor, get some popcorn, get a glass of wine, and put it on, because it’s magnificent,’ she added.
Whoopi’s comments come after fans were divided over the movie on social media, with many suggesting that viewers today would be offended.
It all kicked off when a Twitter user questioned: ‘Which one of these comedies would you recommend most to a 24 year old who hasn’t seen any of them? My Cousin Vinny Blazing Saddles Animal House Airplane [sic].’
‘Blazing Saddles so the young person can see we weren’t always so uptight with each other,’ one replied. ‘A movie like that could not be made today.’
‘That movie will probably trigger most 24 year olds today into a coma,’ another agreed. ‘It’s like a non-stop barrage of race and sexism jokes that wouldn’t make it into any Hollywood movie today.’
‘Blazing Saddles could never be made today. And the film actually makes fun of bigots and racists. Probably my favorite film ever,’ a Twitter user commented.
However, many more flagged that it was a satirical look at racism at the time, believing that many responses had missed the point.
‘How could you hope to fight the ridiculousness of racism, unless you accurately depict a racist? Art no longer depicts life anymore. Blazing Saddles did an amazing job turning racist people into laughing stocks,’ a follower posted.
More: Trending
‘Since it’s currently trending, Blazing Saddles is a movie mocking racism,’ a fan said. ‘That is the objective core of the movie. The younger generations get that too.’
As one added: ‘People are calling for #blazingsaddles to be cancelled because of its content.
‘The entire movie is A.) Satire and B.) intentionally made to highlight the Idiocracy of racist thoughts and principles.’
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