Quote:I don't think it could be made today, but not for the reasons listed above.


Simply put, Mel Brooks was brilliant, and I don't think there is a comedic movie director today that comes close.


There are two scenes from that movie that illustrates this point.


First, when the guy from the rooftop announces, "The sheriff's a -------------"


Later, this same sheriff, facing a hostile crowd, puts his own gun to his head and threatens to blow this -------- head off if the crowd doesn't cooperate. The white mob completely fell for it in a spectacular demonstration of collective stupidity.


With those two scenes, within the context of the movie, the epithet was effectively neutered.


The use of the word and other similar words and stereotypes in his movies weren't instruments of bigotry as much as they were comedic tools.


In short, Brooks was a comedic genius and, for want of better phrasing, an equal opportunity "offender."


Many have tried to replicate his humor. Very few have even come close to pulling it off successfully

 

Completely agree with you on this.

 

The only thing that I do disagree with is that the movie could be made today.  Even with the pure genius of Brooks, the culture has changed.  People scramble to find things to be offended about, and while Brooks is an equal opportunity offender, some would still be outraged in the environment today.

 

There's an interview of Mel Brooks in the anniversary edition of the BluRay of the movie.  He said it himself that there's simply no way the movie could be made today because of how the environment has changed.

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