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Blazing Saddless: A Satirical Analysis

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Recommended: Depiction of blacks in films

The 1970s exemplified many changes in American society that for many citizens was unlike what they had seen before, and for Black Americans this was especially true along with the many contradictions that came with it. Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974) and Jack Hill’s Foxy Brown (1974) subverts the character archetypes of African Americans and apply the broader experiences of Black Americans in the 1970s, through their protagonists Sheriff Bart (Blazing Saddles) and Foxy Brown (Foxy Brown). Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles (1974) is a satirical, western, comedy that tells the story of Bart (Cleavon Little) a railroad worker, who is appointed by Gov. William J. Le Petomane (Mel Brooks) to become the sheriff of Rock Ridge. The town is about to be destroyed to make way for a new railroad, a …show more content…

Their bosses then see what has happened, collect the trolly, and leave Bart and the other railroad worker in the quicksand. Although, unlike the uncle tom archetype Bart retaliates by hitting one of the men in the head with a shovel for not saving him from the quicksand. Second is the coon who is an “unreliable, crazy, lazy, subhuman creature good for nothing more than eating watermelons, stealing chickens, shooting crap, or butchering the English Language” (Hardiman, 13). They are often portrayed as one-dimensional or an object used for entertainment purposes to amuse white audiences. Little’s portrait of Sheriff Bart also overthrows this negative archetype of Black characters in film. For instance, in one of the first scenes of Blazing Saddles, the characters are working on the railroad. The white worker insists that the black workers, led by Bart sing a song. Bart and the other workers look upon each other and cleverly sing a harmonious tune that the white workers are shocked to hear. The white workers interrupt by stating they want to hear “Swing Lo Sweet Chariot,” an old slave spiritual, while Bart and the other black

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