‘Don’t make me come for you!’ Whoopi Goldberg defends Blazing Saddles amid racism spat, says Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy ‘hits everyone and makes you think’
- Goldberg, 67, defended the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy on The View Wednesday
- He advised viewers to decide for themselves and watch the movie.
- The conversation came from Mindy Kaling saying that The Office would not be accepted by modern audiences.
- Blazing Saddles (co-written by black comedian Richard Pryor) discusses racism with its protagonist, the black sheriff.
Whoopi Goldberg has defended Mel Brooks’ 1974 film Blazing Saddles amid online backlash calling the Western satire racist.
Appearing on The View on Wednesday, Goldberg, 67, declared: ‘Leave my Blazing Saddles alone, don’t make me go for you!’ in a chat shortly after Mindy Kaling said in an appearance on Good Morning America that The Office would not be accepted by modern audiences.
The EGOT winner said the film, which features racism with its leading black sheriff, “deals with racism by approaching it right, straight, straight, making you think and laugh about it, because, listen, it’s not just racism, it’s all the isms, it hits all the isms.’
Hitting back: Whoopi Goldberg has defended Mel Brooks’ 1974 film Blazing Saddles amid an online backlash calling the Western satire racist.
She added: ‘Blazing Saddles, because it’s a great comedy, it would still be repeated today, there are a lot of comedies that aren’t good, okay?
‘We’re just going to say that, that’s not one of them. Blazing Saddles is one of the best because it reaches the whole world.’
Goldberg advised viewers to decide for themselves and watch the film, which features the late stars Gene Wilder, Cleavon Little, Slim Pickens, Madeline Kahn and Harvey Korman.
The film’s story centers on a corrupt politician who appoints a black sheriff to preside over a town in 1874.
“If you’ve never seen Blazing Saddles, you should do yourself a favor, buy some popcorn, grab a glass of wine, and put it on, because it’s magnificent,” Goldberg said.
The show’s Sara Haines said that “laughter is literally the best medicine for life and all that it brings”, and that comedy should have a “sacred space” for performers to work in, as such.
Iconic: Goldberg advised viewers to decide for themselves and watch the movie, which features the late stars Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder.
Said Goldberg: ‘Blazing Saddles is one of the best because it affects everyone’
The topic was discussed on the show after Mindy Kaling said in an appearance on Good Morning America that The Office would not be accepted by modern audiences.
Joy Behar cited the iconic television series All in the Family and its leading man Archie Bunker, played by the late Carroll O’Connor, as a character whose “bigotry” should be included in the show’s content.
“If you take away the bigotry from Archie, you have no character,” he said. That was him, and that’s how you’re supposed to look at people. If everyone was perfectly wonderful…and appropriate, then you’d never learn about these other people out there.
She continued: ‘That is the purpose of art: to expose you to all aspects of human beings. Why would you want to take away the beauty of watching Archie Bunker make a fool of himself?
On Good Morning America earlier this month, Kaling explained why he felt The Office wouldn’t resonate with viewers in 2022.
“Tastes have changed and honestly what offends people has changed a lot now,” he said. “I think it’s actually one of the reasons the show is popular, because people feel like there’s something fearless or taboo about what he talks about on the show… most of the characters on that show would already be written off.” . .’
The View can be seen Monday through Friday on ABC at 11/10c.
The film’s story centers on a corrupt politician who appoints a black sheriff to preside over a town in 1874.