Critics debate the style of film as well as the comedy. In a scholarly article written by Philip Autor and Donald Davis, they describe the science of breaking the fourth wall. This means talking directly to the camera or audience, and the effect it has on the viewer. They titled their article: “When Characters Speak Directly to Viewers: Breaking the Fourth Wall in Television”. Another critic, Emily Soares, wrote a review for the Turner Classic Movies website describing the movie as a successful comedy, “For sheer offensive-jokes-per-minute Blazing Saddles may still hold the world record”.  Soares also describes the actors roles and why certain actors were chosen over the others. The movie was a successful film because of its mass appeal. It was directed by a well known director and had famous actors in it, so naturally people liked it from the start. The humor in it was not my style of humor because it seemed really corny, but perhaps at the time it was created, society’s sense of humor was more relatable to it than mine.

Were there any demographics that reacted negatively to the film, is a historical question to keep in mind. 

My view can be highlighted by this clip showing the white cowboys disregarding the lives of the black workers. From the time (0:09 to 1:40). They are joking and Mel Brook’s makes the point that it’s preposterous behavior of white men, but to me the whole scene is just not that funny. The black folks have to drag themselves out and save their own lives, while white men lack compassion and the joke drags on, pun intended. I think it’s crude. The historical document of the original movie poster is also a representation of the unappealing humor, where the coin says “Hi, I’m Mel, Trust me”, replacing E. Pluribus Unum, or “In God We Trust”. This is just classless humor to me because while I may or may not believe in God, I do respect the devout faith a huge portion of our species has, regardless the religion.

My experience of everything regarding this film has been that it was a large expense for little reward. Everything about it is a spectacle, from the drama regarding who was cast as the sheriff, to the comics that raved about how much comedy was packed into it. The science behind breaking the fourth wall is useful for all films, and I give merit to that aspect of Mel Brook’s directing. With the amount of comedy packed into the movie, it creates a feeling of boredom because the viewer knows what to expect. Monotony in comedy is how it feels. It feels this way because the movie was very simple. It had a simple plot and only used jokes of the same sense of humor, the entire time, to portray the plot. It strikes me as it does because I do not typically watch older movies and this is one of the reasons why. I enjoy the complexity of modern day films. This film is connected to the historical movement of equal human rights, because it so heavily touches on women’s and african americans’ mistreatment. Being placed in the wild west allowed many jokes to be made regarding the historical racism and how it is something to make a mockery of.

This movie was absolutely a mainstream movie due to the cast used as well as the director being famous. This was a large budget film that was in the movie theaters, which appealed to a large audience and was not designed to offend a large demographic. The story of Blazing Saddles was a simplistic opportunity to crack jokes in good light, the style used highlighted stereotypes that are the opposite direction of the way society is going, something to laugh at. Politically, the movie touched on sensitive topics because as films can provoke thought, this film highlights the injustice and evil nature of racism or mistreatment of others.