"I personally would never touch gas chambers or the death of children or Jews at the hands of the Nazis," he said. "Everything else is okay."
By MAANE KHATCHATOURIAN/VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT NEWS SERVICEUpdated: SEPTEMBER 26, 2017 09:10Filmmaker and comedian Mel Brooks gestures as he places his footprints in cement, with a fake sixth finger attached to his left hand, in the forecourt of the TCL Chinese theatre in Hollywood, California September 8, 2014.(photo credit: MARIO ANZUONI/REUTERS)
(Tribune News Service) - "Blazing Saddles" may be a groundbreaking comedy, but director Mel Brooks doesn't think Hollywood would make the iconic Western parody in this current "stupidly politically correct" climate.The Oscar winner discussed PC culture in a recent interview with BBC Radio 4, calling it "the death of comedy.""No, no, I mean maybe 'Young Frankenstein.' Maybe a few. But never 'Blazing Saddles,' because we have become stupidly politically correct, which is the death of comedy," he said when asked if he thinks he could get films like "Blazing Saddles," "The Producers," or "Young Frankenstein" made today. "It's okay not to hurt feelings of various tribes and groups. However, it's not good for comedy. Comedy has to walk a thin line, take risks. Comedy is the lecherous little elf whispering into the king's ear, always telling the truth about human behavior.""Blazing Saddles," a Western spoof about a black sheriff in a racist town, starring Gene Wilder and Cleavon Little, contains numerous racial slurs.However, even the Patron Saint of Going Too Far draws the line somewhere."I personally would never touch gas chambers or the death of children or Jews at the hands of the Nazis," he said. "Everything else is okay."Brooks' "Young Frankenstein" stage musical opens Oct. 10 on London's West End.Paul F. Tompkins is among the comedians who disagrees with Brooks, writing in a string of tweets, "'PC Culture' is not 'killing' comedy. There is still plenty of comedy. There always will be. Times change & so do comedy styles."(c) 2017 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
