By admin<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

I chose to do my post on Blazing Saddles<\/span>, Mel Brooks’ western spoof released in 1974. About half an hour into the movie, Hedley Lamarr, the film’s antagonist, exclaimed the year in which the film was set much to my dismay. The film takes place in 1874, so it is a bit outside of the parameters for the assignment. It still seemed like a decent fit given that the plot revolves around race relations, the understanding of \u2018place’ and the expansion of the railroad system. I will first explain the ways in which Mel Brooks develops the plot around these topics and their connections to course material, and then I will briefly analyze the film through Sorlin’s four rules for selection.<\/p>\n

The film’s main objective is to comment on race relations between blacks and whites. Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to this point in our course material. We have, however, studied a bit of the tension between Native Americans and white Americans. Brooks touches on this tension in a flashback seen showing Black Bart, the film’s protagonist, and his family moving west. They were following a white wagon chain, which was encircled and attacked by Native Americans, but the Native Americans allowed Bart’s family to go free. The attack reflects the hostility that we have studied. Understanding of \u2018place’ and the expansion of the railroad system are more pivotal plot points. Hedley Lamarr was in charge of plotting the course for a westward railroad expansion, but he had to land-grab a town to effectively do so. To get the land he ordered some underlings to attack the town. The townspeople initially wanted to flee, but one man stood up in church and exclaimed \u201cI was born here, I’ve lived my life here, and I will die here.\u201d This quote helps to establish a sense of place through this character’s interaction with the space around him. As Sherwood noted in his primary source analysis, \u201c[Withers] argues that place emerges from the interactions between people and space and therefore carries greater meaning.\u201d[1]<\/a> This analysis applies here as well because this character’s sense of place carried such a great burden on this man that he was willing to essentially look death in the face to defend the only home he had known.<\/p>\n

Sorlin’s four rules for selection include \u201cthe originality of a film, its relationship to current events, its favourable reception by the public, and the fact of its being produced and distributed during a time of crisis.\u201d[2]<\/a> These rules help an historian select the films fit for analysis that can more broadly reveal truths about the era they are representing. The first critique is without a doubt the most difficult. The originality of a parody film is tough to assess because it steals much of its content from productions of the western genre, yet it does so with an obvious tone of refreshing mimicry. Therefore, the content in itself (by which I mean the overall genre) is unoriginal. Shoot-em-up westerns had been common long before Brooks entered the arena. Yet, his approach and his goal were entirely unique, which leads me into the second and fourth critiques. His end goal was mainly to comment on racism in the 70’s, not to merely entertain. This fact comes through in an interview with Brooks during which he described a conversation he had with Richard Pryor. Brooks said he asked Pryor to taper the use of the N-word to which Pryor responded \u201cno, we are writing a story of racial prejudice. That’s the word, the only word. It’s profound, it’s real, and the more we use it from the rednecks, the more the victory of the black sheriff will resonate.\u201d[3]<\/a> This response tells me that the story largely applied to the era of its release in that Richard Pryor, a prominent black comedian, felt it relevant to strip whites from the ability to use the word. Lastly, the outcome of the third critique is revealed in the same interview in which Brooks said that the studio did not plan on releasing the film because of its vulgarity, but its overwhelmingly favorable response in test markets persuaded them to do so.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Sherwood, March 22, 2015, \u201cThe Twilight Zone: Historians Investigate the Role of Railroads in Changing Perceptions of Space and Time,\u201d History 245 Public Blog<\/em>, http:\/\/courses.shroutdocs.org\/his245\/2015\/03\/22\/the-twilight-zone-historians-investigate-the-role-of-railroads-in-changing-perceptions-of-space-and-time\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Pierre Sorlin, \u201cHow to look at an \u2018Historical’ film,\u201d in The Historical Film: History and Memory in Media<\/em>, 25-49<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Lou Lumenick, \u201cMel Brooks: 10 things you never knew about \u2018Blazzing Saddles, ‘\u201d NY Post<\/em>, May 3, 2014, accessed April 2, 2015, http:\/\/nypost.com\/2014\/05\/03\/mel-brooks-10-things-you-never-knew-about-blazing-saddles\/<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a>  <\/a>  <\/a>  <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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