Movies - TV
The NSFW Joke Mel Brooks Wishes He Didn't Cut From Blazing Saddles
By SHAE SENNETT
Comedy legend Mel Brooks is no stranger to controversy, with many of his films pushing the boundaries of the genre. While some argue that Brooks has taken some jokes too far, the comedian responded, “[There’s] not one I would take back. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty upset about some jokes that I took back [...] that I thought, well, that’s a little too risque.”
One gag that Brooks ended up cutting from his Western “Blazing Saddles” satirized how some white women objectify and fetishize Black men. The scene had Ms. Von Shtupp going into Bart’s dressing room and saying, “Oh [...] how are you built? Oh, you’re — oh, how beautiful [...] the way you’re built, your people are built.”
The joke’s purpose was to make the audience uncomfortable with Ms. Von Shtupp’s treatment of Bart, but Brooks felt the scene was too complicated and sexually charged for the intended audience. Brooks has been embroiled in many controversies, but he’s never regretted any of his gags, explaining, “Forget about correcting your past. You learn from your past as you go along.”