Blazing Saddles is the comedy movie that received the highest ratings. It was directed by Mel Brooks, Stanley Kubrick, Billy Wilder. Each movie addresses social issues. Nancy Goldman explains in Comedy and Democracy: How Humor Can Help with Social Justice. She has learned from many actors that humor can be “challenging an audience’s assumptions and present alternative perspectives, generate discussion, and broaden our scope of thought” (3). The movies all use humor to reinforce their messages. If Some Like It Hot questions the perceptions of gender identity and gender, and emphasizes the perpetuation and maintenance of social class through gender, Dr. Strangelove seeks to bring humor to an audience that is fearful of nuclear bombs. Blazing Saddles also mocks racism.
Some Like It Hot combines comedy and humor. This movie challenges our notions of gender and sexuality. The film’s male characters cross the line between genders. Jerry and Joe dress up as women and join a girl band. Prior to this, they viewed women only as potential love interests. Jerry likens women as pastries or cakes from bakeries. They are more comfortable with women in drag because the wind blows their skirts up. They must catch colds all of the time.” Their inability walk on heels imitating springs jello helps them recognize women’s struggles. Jerry complains, “I feel naked.” It’s like everyone’s looking at my face. This image and the camera’s shooting angle reveal a drag-queen’s self-consciousness over her unfeminine attributes. Nancy Goldman’s article quotes George Carlin about comedy and the effect it has on women: “No one is ever happier than when they laugh.” They are unable to defend themselves. . . When that message hits the brain, they are fully open and themselves. Then the laughter begins. These are the times when new ideas may be implemented. A new idea can be born if it is discovered at the right time. (2)
During the run of Some Like It Hot, homosexual people were discriminated against and stereotyped by the public. The movie shows drag queens as a way for people to accept homosexuality.
The movie also discusses gender issues and social classes. Sugar Kane and Jerry are both poor musicians. Joe and Jerry are heterosexuals but will sacrifice their lives to protect themselves from the mobs. Jerry feels the need for Osgood to marry him, and he dances and sings in his hotel room when Osgood proposes. Jerry envisions the end result of his marriage and celebrates it in his bed. Jerry doesn’t care about the current “laws”, conventions, and laws that oppose gay marriage or homosexuality. Joe reminds Jerry he is still a man. Jerry transforms into someone else when the moment of being safe turns Jerry around. Sugar Kane fantasizes about marrying a Wall Street Journal-reader millionaire. Sugar Kane considers marriage a security measure. Sugar Kane believes her mother would see her now if she could. Sugar Kane fears Sugar’s mother discovering that Sugar lost her innocence as well as her sense of security. Sugar was raised with her mother. Jerry plays Daphne, a poor girl who is pursued and beaten by the mobs. Sugar shares a similar thought with Sugar regarding marrying for security and material gain. This movie is lighthearted and exposes both men and women’s insecurity in a funny way.
Dr. Strangelove is dark, sarcastic comedy that combines humor and farce. The movie’s music speaks for itself. The soundtrack plays “When Johnny Comes Marching Back” from American Civil War. It is when Captain King Kong dons his ten-gallon hat to carry out the bombing plan that General Ripper sent him from Burpelson Airforce Base. The song is played again as crews fly to the new objects. Ironically, it glorifies mass murder and compares nuclear war to the last century’s war. As the tanker plane extends its rod to fuel a bomber below, the sound track plays “Try a Little Tenderness”. The song depicts the love between two aircraft. The famous World War II song “We’ll Meet Again Some Sunny Day” is played at the end. It shows the contradictions between the nuclear bombs of Russian Doomsday Machines and the global explosions. Ironically, the song plays as background music and ridicules Cold War.
Cold War terrorized people all over the globe, particularly in America & Russia. This is a central theme in Dr. Stranglove. The movie portrays leaders who lack the skills to resolve conflict. The warroom is also reminiscent of a playhouse. The president and his advisors meet urgently at a large, big table. However, the meeting is limited to a small number of participants. The rest of the attendees fill in the gaps and are not involved in the discussion. The leadership is thus dysfunctional. The Big Board has blinking lights on one side that look like a pinball screen. The buffet table is a great place to eat, as it’s the center of the war negotiation. The meeting’s setting, which suggests indulgence and pleasure, is not in keeping with its purpose. Additionally, President Muffley’s monotonous voice is a detriment to his leadership skills when he talks on the phone with Russian Premier. The Premier is unable to understand his idea, so he struggles to communicate it to him.
“Well, Dmitri, what do you think my feelings about it are? Dmitri! Can you see how it makes me feel? You think I am calling you? You just wanted to say hi? You are welcome to contact me. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Dmitri, not now but at any time. . . . It’s all right! You’re more sore than me! But I’m sorry too. Dmitri I am sorry. Don’t pretend that I’m worse off than you. Because I’m capable of being as sorry and as humane as you. Are you okay? It’s all right.”
The whole conversation between heads of the nuclear weapon-controlling countries is filled with crude and childish language. Goldman shows that humor can block fear and anger. This is because it blocks our tendency to be reactive rather than proactive, rigid and flexible. The fear of hydrogen bombs is overpowered by incompetent leadership, and the casual setting of war rooms (5).
Dr. Strangelove’s leadership and setting up the warroom trivialize nuclear warfare. Sex, however, also serves to diminish the destructive effects of wars. Sex is what created the conflict in the movie. General Ripper begins the bombing plan, believing that Russians have attempted to fluoridate Americans’ water. . . During the act of physical love . . A feeling of deep fatigue followed, as did a sense of emptyness. . . Females. . . Find your life essence . . But I do not deny their essence.” For him, protecting his sexual power is more important than any other issues. The dangers of war are distracting the attention of the audience. The popularity of sexual matters is amplified by the love affair between General Turgidson, Miss Milky Way, and other war veterans. Turgidson is called by his mistress at the end of the crucial meeting. . . . My president requires me. Bucky would be glad to be there. . . It’s not just physical. You are a person I deeply admire. . . Turgidson is adamant that the President needs his advice, but he still makes time for his personal affairs during the negotiation. The comedy of war and sex is combined with the distressing threat to create a distraction for the audience.
Blazing Saddles satirizes America’s racism and is a parody on Western movies. The film mocks racism’s rhetoric. The Indians stop Bart’s family from moving to the West but let them go when they are ready. Bart’s family’s skin is darker then theirs. This makes it seem like the Sioux are safer. Because racism is founded on skin color, this reasoning is absurd. This argument implies that Indians are afraid of European Americans. The Europeans drove Indians off their land and forced them all to migrate west on Trail of Tear. Indians who see people with darker skin can be reassured that they are safe.
The movie also mocks racism. The residents of Rock Ridge point their guns at Bart when he arrives to Rock Ridge to become a sheriff. Bart had to threaten to poison the town by pointing his gun at his head. The nigger will grab it the next time a man moves… Drop it! I swear, he’ll be all over the town. Oh Lordy-lord, he’s desperate. Follow his lead. Don’t do what he tells you. Bart saved Mongo town but the discrimination continues, though to a lesser extent. Bart is greeted by the old lady who expresses gratitude. She visits him furtively and gives him a slice. She asks him to keep the secret about her visit before she goes. The movie uses humor and satire to expose racism’s absurdity.
The movie parodies Western movies. Bart and friends built a fake town, mocking Western movies with typical cowboys and farmhouses. Bart is portrayed as a cowboy sheriff. However, he doesn’t know how to fire his gun. Bart persuades the townspeople that he plans to build the fake community by comparing him to Randolph Scott. The film mocks the public’s obsession with Western heroes and movies.
Humor can be both a social corrective and a great entertainment tool. Some Like It Hot uses comedy as a way to increase acceptance and understanding of sexual identities. Dr. Strangelove is trying to lower public fear about nuclear weapons. She trivializes the War Room negotiation and satirizes leadership. Blazing Sleds mocks racism as well as the absurdity of its rationale. Comedy is a powerful tool for bringing about change in society. It makes people laugh and engages them in discussing social issues.
