Blazing Racial Humor

The tension between blacks and whites is a deep rooted problem that is not fixed by any one solution. Many strategies have been used to try to bring the two races together. Humor is one of the most effective ways to make a group of people accept an idea or a different culture. Humor has helped bridge the gap between races. The movie blazing saddles is a perfect example of how satire and common based humor, brings people together.

Blazing saddles is a movie made in 1975 that was directed by Mel Brooks. The movie is a western that portrays a "perfect" white town that has lost its sheriff and is in need of a new one. Through the corrupt white government a new sheriff is sent to the town but he is black. This reverse of rolls in authority is a common base of humor among most people. It would be as though a peasant was sent to rule a group of nobles and kings. This doesn't make much sense, and watching the reaction of the people when they see their new sheriff is comical. Another reverse in common roles is the portrayal of the white people being the stupid and corrupt ones and the black man being the smart character. The only white character that is portrayed as smart is the only character that isn't racist. This implies that racist are ignorant and dumb. That is a huge change in the way society viewed the racist men during that time period and especially a decade before. One of the most striking aspects of this film is that is was made by a white director and made for a mostly white audience. This shows that there was a significant progression in accepting one another and a definite effort by some of the white community to express to the rest of the country that they needed to accept the blacks too. For a white director, during this time period, to put a black man in the hero position of a movie and poke fun at the ignorance of white racist was a huge step toward tolerance and acceptance.

There are many things that created tension between blacks and whites prior to, throughout, and after the civil rights movement. It was perceived that black men raped white women and that they were the instigators and seducers between the two groups. One of the plots to trap the new sheriff drive and him away is to get him to fall in love with a white woman and make it look like he was causing a problem. After she finds out that it is "true how your people are gifted" she falls in love with him and the scheme falls apart. This is funny because it is the white woman that is trying to get him to have sex with her and not the other way around. This totally contradicts that black men rape unwilling white woman. This would normally offend white people of that time era but since humor is used to present it, this concept is easy to accept and the white audience doesn't get offended by it.

Another tension between the two groups is the history of the whites and white supremacy. The movie has seines including the Nazis, white bikers, and the KKK. This is funny and ironic because the movie supposedly took place in 1875, and that means that bikers from the 60's and Nazis from the 40's wouldn't have even