Is Blazing Saddles relevant today?

A Black Sheriff?
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Written in 1974 by Mel Brooks, Richard Pyror, and a few others, Blazing Saddles is one of the “holy trinity” of Mel Brooks’ films, the other two being Young Frankenstein and History of the World, Part One (there was never a part two). It is, for lack of a better word, an experience I’m happy to share with you.
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Without giving away too many spoilers, it is absolutely a movie about race, racism, and their place in the American identity. The thing is, it was written in the 1970s and set in the old west, so there’s that big question over how relevant it remains, and how outdated it has become.
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You see, much comedy, maybe most comedy, has a lifespan. To paraphrase Jim Jeffries, it’s the job of the comedian to go right up to the line of what is socially unacceptable, and even slightly cross it, in order to get a laugh. The problem is that the line what is socially acceptable keeps changing, arguably for the better. Watching stand-up routines from the 1980s can be painful. From personal experience, do not show your girlfriend Eddie Murphy’s Raw if you expect romance any time in the near future. What was funny and cool back then is misogynistic and bordering on abusive by 2021’s standards.
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The thing is, not all comedy ages badly. Some bits and jokes are funny decades or centuries later. Whether this is from an ageless premise, an enduring target, or just something inherent in the human psyche is up to the joke and the analyst looking at it. I’ve shown The Odd Couple to classes, a movie based on a play in the 1960s, and students laugh. There are good bits in Shakespeare too. So not all comedy ages badly, becoming offensive or irrelevant as the years tick by.
-So that’s what I want you to figure out here with Blazing Saddles. Does it remain relevant? Does it remain funny? More specifically…
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Thesis Question: Is Blazing Saddles relevant today? (Your answer is your thesis)

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