History YMMV / BlazingSaddles

*** "You couldn't male ''Blazing Saddles'' tod- wait, ''[[WesternAnimation/PawsOfFuryTheLegendOfHank they did?]]''[[labelnote:Explanation]]Statements like these now usually get refuted by pointing out how there was an animated loose remake of the film called ''Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank'' though it changes racism to speciesism[[/labelnote]]

** Even though Mongo punching a horse is used as a KickTheDog moment, it's still played for laughs. Nowadays, animal abuse is used as fodder for comedy much less often, and the scene has a harder edge. Don't worry about the horse, though. In reality, the punch didn't connect, and the horse was trained to fall over on cue (you can see the rider pull the reins sharply to signal the horse). For that matter, the depiction of Mongo himself (not to mention his name) would be less likely to fly today in an era of increased sensitivity toward intellectual disabilities.

** The depiction of UsefulNotes/NativeAmericans is a bit awkward, if FairForItsDay. In particular, the line about killing "every last Indian in the West"--while raising awareness about the important issue of the history of anti-Indigenous genocide on the US frontier--glosses over that millions of Native Americans are alive today. Additionally, Brooks in redface as the Yiddish-speaking Sioux chief was intended to satirize the practice (more widespread at the time) of casting non-Native--including Jewish--actors as Native Americans, but it would still raise eyebrows nowadays.

** The characters joke more casually about rape than they probably would in a modern movie.

** The depiction of UsefulNotes/NativeAmericans is a bit awkward, if FairForItsDay. In particular, the line about killing "every last Indian in the West"--while raising awareness about the important issue of the history of anti-Indigenous genocide on the US frontier glosses over that millions of Native Americans are alive today. Likewise, Brooks in redface as the Yiddish-speaking Sioux chief was intended to satirize the practice (more widespread at the time) of casting non-Native--including Jewish--actors as Native Americans, but it would still raise eyebrows nowadays.

** The depiction of UsefulNotes/NativeAmericans is a bit awkward, if FairForItsDay. In particular, the line about killing "every last Indian in the West"--while raising awareness about the important issue of the history of anti-Indigenous genocide in the Americas--still glosses over that millions of Native Americans are alive today. Likewise, Brooks in redface as the Yiddish-speaking Sioux chief was intended to satirize the practice (more widespread at the time) of casting non-Native--including Jewish--actors as Native Americans, but it would still raise eyebrows nowadays.

** Even though Mongo punching a horse is used as a KickTheDog moment, it's still played for laughs. Nowadays, animal abuse is used as fodder for comedy much less often, and the scene has a harder edge. Don't worry about the horse, though. In reality, the punch didn't connect, and the horse was trained to fall over on cue (you can see the rider pull the reins sharply to signal the horse).
* ValuesResonance: With racial tensions back at the forefront of socio-political discussions in the 2010s, the film's hilarious, unambiguously negative depiction of racism, bigotry, and prejudice in general have became more necessary to hear (and laugh at) than ever.

* OnceOriginalNowCommon: The fart scene is thought to be the first mainstream film fart joke and was quite transgressive for its time, to the point there was a genuine concern how the audiences will react, but fart jokes have become so mainstream and tame now that it lacks its original punch.

** The film was more subversive and shocking in 1974 than it is today. Not that [[ValuesResonance some of the things it says about racism and bigotry don't resonate even now]], but ''Blazing Saddles'' was also a product of its time. For one thing, the Western genre was dying at the cinema when the movie was released, so it was intended to be sort of a finishing blow by showing how artificial and manufactured it all was. Secondly, while racial tension between blacks and whites had been used in film before, the sort of white hegemony prevalent in 1970's America being blamed on white people was also rather new at the time. The film still works as a blanket condemnation of racism, but the subversion of expectations and critique of white people seen in ''Blazing Saddles'' [[OnceOriginalNowCommon sometimes gets missed by later generations because of how commonplace those things became in movies]].

* IronyAsSheIsCast: Gene Wilder as almost certainly the fastest gunslinger in the world. In Real Life, Wilder was adept with a combat weapon, but it wasn't a gun. He was actually a champion fencer in college and taught the sport to others.

* AlternativeJokeInterpretation: While listing off the crimes committed by the bandits when they attacked Rock Ridge, Reverend Johnson mentions -- among other things -- "people stampeded [[BestialityIsDepraved and cattle raped]]". Did the reverend get some items mixed up, or did the bandits actually do those things?
** Seeing as how there were cows at the town meeting, it's reasonable to say there's a good chance of the latter.

** And of course, no one in the film better represents this trope than [[BigBad Hedley Lamarr]]. A [[CardCarryingVillain knowingly dastardly]] baddie who's [[ButtMonkey constantly being infuriated]], backed up by a [[LargeHam beautifully]] [[CampStraight flamboyant]] [[LargeHam portrayal]] from Creator/HarveyKorman. Without a doubt one of, if not ''the'' funniest part of the film. [[AwardSnub Just a shame he had to risk that Oscar nomination.]]

** Creator/DomDeluise as a Busby Berkeley type director and his league of CampGay actors.

* ProtectionFromEditors: Creator/MelBrooks had the final say on what was actually in the film thanks to his contract, and he was very averse to altering or removing anything. He was once called into a meeting with Creator/WarnerBros company executives where they had a long list of changes that they wanted to make, including removing all instances of the [[NWordPrivileges N-word]], and cutting the [[{{Gasshole}} beans scene]] entirely. Mel took careful notes of all their requests, and when the meeting was over, he dumped his notes in the garbage.

** On a meta-level, the observation that "You couldn't make ''Blazing Saddles'' today" (due to its allegedly now-unacceptable content) has become a meme among those critical of the sentiment.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: The title theme. Mel wanted someone "[[ThePoorMansSubstitute like Western film singer Frankie Laine]]." At the audition, the real Frankie Laine showed up, and was unaware that the film was a comedy; so he sang it as if it was for a genuine western. After hearing how much effort Laine was putting into his singing, Creator/MelBrooks simply didn't have the heart to tell him the truth. Laine didn't find out until the premier and loved it.

** Jim's career as "The Waco Kid" came to an end after a six-year old [[ShotInTheAss shot him in the ass]]. He states that when it happened, he just "limped into the nearest bar, climbed inside a whisky bottle, and [he's] been there ever since." Nowhere in that recounting does it says he went to a doctor or received any kind of medical attention. Granted, a bullet to the buttocks is probably the least likely gunshot wound to kill or even seriously debilitate anyone, but you'll notice upon rewatching indications that he's still tender in that area. Just after he engages in the impromptu "quick draw" with Bart, he eases ''very gingerly'' back into his chair. And when we first meet him, he isn't laying down on his rack (like you'd expect a passed out drunk), but hanging upside down, asleep, suggesting that lying on his ass is too painful. Maybe [[TheAlcoholic all that drinking]] is Jim self-medicating, to escape gluteal agony?

** "Ah, yes, the Doctor Gillespie Killings. Well, do your best." This is a reference to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Kildare a 1940s movie serial series,]] and is basically the equivalent of joking Jessica Fletcher was the real killer in ''Series/MurderSheWrote''. Considering by the time this movie came out those movies hadn't been in cinemas for ''thirty years'', it's a hell of an obscure joke.

** Bart's [[AnachronismStew Gucci-brand]] saddle bags bring to mind the "cowboy hat from Gucci" lyric from Music/LilNasX's "Old Town Road."

** [[{{Website/Botchamania}} Never mind ''that'' shit... Here comes MONGO!]]''
** "Candygram for Mongo!"
** "You said rape ''twice''." "I ''like'' rape!"

** After Gene Wilder's death, many fans said he'd gone "nowhere special."

** "Howard Johnson is ''right''!," and/or "Who can argue with ''that''?" in response to any TheUnintelligible.
** "'Scuse me while [[AccidentalInnuendo I whip this out.]]"
** "The sheriff is a ni-'''''*bong*'''''!"

* MisaimedFandom: The movie's existence has become a popular catch-all excuse for white apologists of racial insult humor ("Mel Brooks used the n-word, why can't I?") to excuse racist jokes as "transgression," to the point where the buzz-phrase "you could never make a Mel Brooks movie nowadays" specifically references this film. This is blatantly ignoring the fact that every character in the movie who makes racist statements is depicted as evil, an idiot, or an evil idiot. Creator/LindsayEllis did [[https://web.archive.org/web/20190208203235/https://twitter.com/thelindsayellis/status/1093688825434361857?lang=en a long Twitter essay]] about why the anti-PC crowd are so protective of ''Blazing Saddles''. She came to the conclusion that a lot of them secretly fall under this aforementioned camp, and think that Mel Brooks was using satire as an excuse to say racial slurs without consequences. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzMFoNZeZm0 This video]] further elaborates by examining how it deconstructed the racist foundations of Western genre conventions that some of the MisaimedFandom embraces.

** In a cut scene, Lili von Shtupp refers to "I'm Tired" as "the song that closed Poland."

** Hedley Lamarr is always correcting people who call him "Hedy." There are fewer people today who know Creator/HedyLamarr (Who starred in 19 films, had six husbands, and whose work in radar technology in WWII served as a key precursor to the development of cell phones, wi-fi and GPS, making her the Mother of the Cellular Age) than who know ''Blazing Saddles'' -- or who know Hedy [=LaRue=] in ''Film/HowToSucceedInBusinessWithoutReallyTrying'', a more direct takeoff on Lamarr.

** The film was more subversive and shocking in 1974 than it is today. Not that [[ValuesResonance some of the things it says about racism and bigotry don't resonate even now]], but ''Blazing Saddles'' was also a product of its time. For one thing, the Western genre was dying at the cinema when the movie was released, so it was intended to be sort of a finishing blow by showing how artificial and manufactured it all was. Secondly, while racial tension between blacks and whites had been used in film before, the sort of white hegemony prevalent in 1970's America being blamed on white people was also rather new at the time. The film still works as a blanket condemnation of racism, but the subversion of expectations and critique of white people seen in ''Blazing Saddles'' [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny sometimes gets missed by later generations because of how commonplace those things became in movies]].