As many of you probably don't know, not that you would have any real reason to, the Library of Congress anounced today 25 movies to be added to their national registry. Why is this interesting? I'm glad you asked. Normally, this news would have warranted a big "so what?" from me, until I found out that two of my personal favorites were among the movies chosen to be saved for posterity.
My favorite Bill Murray flick, Groundhog Day, along with Mel Brooks' 1974 comic opus, Blazing Saddles, were selected from more than 1,000 candidates nominated by the movie-loving public and ultimately voted on by the Library of Congress staff and advisers from the Preservation Board. Also chosen was "The T.A.M.I. Show," which featured James Brown, the Rolling Stones and other artists in what the Library calls "possibly the greatest rock and rhythm-and-blues concert on film." (news.yahoo.com)
So why Blazing Saddles? Well, I inhereted my father's sense of humor, and it's on his list of all time favorites, so I'm biased. But the real reason this movie is so iconic is because it's not just a typical "comedy". It was a groundbreaking film in regards to content with what was once considered "shock value" material. The crude, racist and sexist film with toilet humor and foul language includes the main elements of any western - a dance-hall girl, a gunslinger, a sheriff, a town full of pure folk, and more, but it twists them around. So they become a black sheriff, a racist town, a sex-obsessed Governor, and so forth. Aside from the constant fart jokes, Blazing Saddles works as a satire on the way that Hollywood fictionalized and whitewashed American history.
Props to the Library of Congress; I give it two thumbs, way up!
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1 comment:
excellent blog, when I read that I should have used that as extra credit. Good job.
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