[View the story "Inside the mind of Mel Brooks" on Storify ]Inside the mind of Mel Brooks Veteran film director gives an inside look at the evolution of comedy. Storified by AJAMStream · Thu, Feb 27 2014 11:36:50
Mel Brooks' comedy has not only shaped the collective memory of generations, but also challenged cultural taboos and forced Americans to confront their own stereotypes by pushing the barriers of political correctness. Brooks' many works have revealed truths through humor on controversial subjects including Nazi Germany and American racism.
Below, Brooks comments on how he used his musical, The Producers , to address topics that are hard to deal with:
You’ve got to know how to do it. It’s tricky. You have to have the perfect vehicle, the perfect Trojan Horse. For me, that vehicle was the worst musical in the world. And by using that vehicle, I could get across more serious topics.vanityfair.com
@AJAMStream Using comedy to examine serious subjects allows people to think about their beliefs in a new way w/out being confrontationalNick Kadylak
Below, Brooks sings a musical piece as Adolf Hitler:
The Incredible Mel Brooks - Clip 1shoutfactory
@AJAMStream being able to make fun of and laugh at such ppl strips them of their influence and power.gary mcleod
Brooks was born in Brooklyn to Jewish immigrant parents, and lost his father as a small child. He used comedy to handle his emotions:
"I'm sure a lot of my comedy is based on anger and hostility. Growing up in Williamsburg, I learned to clothe it in comedy to spare myself problems - like a punch in the face."military.com
This humor carried Brooks through his service in World War II - where he
entertained his fellow troops by serenading Germans soldiers on a megaphone- to his job as a writer for comedian Sid Caesar:
When I began writing for Your Show of Shows, human frailty was the basis of my humor or the human condition or what humans have to go through and suffer.momentmag.com
Brooks, acutely aware of how stereotypes affected U.S. minorities and their treatment by society, pushed the boundaries of political correctness using satire. His movie Blazing Saddles reflects how he used characters to force viewers to rethink their own biases. The scene below, as a black sheriff enters the town, sheds light on how African-Americans were treated off-screen:
Welcome, Sheriff - Blazing Saddles (4/10) Movie CLIP (1974) HDmovieclips
Brooks spoke about how executives on Blazing Saddles pressured him to cut material from the movie.
There was an interracial love scene between Cleavon Little and Madeline Kahn that had to be cut short. What you see in the movie is the lights go out and Madeline says, “Oh, it’s true, it’s true!” The joke we had written was for Cleavon to then say, “Excuse me, ma’am. I hate to disillusion you, but you’re sucking on my arm.” We had to tone down the racial aspect of that scene. It was too much for its time.vanityfair.com
While some might accuse Brooks of being politically incorrect, he said of Blazing Saddles that "the engine that drives the film is a message against racial intolerance," and added:
"So when your heart is in the right place, you don't have to worry about being politically incorrect."denverpost.com
Above all, Brooks finds joy in sharing a laugh with his audience:
Oh, it’s the best. The best thing in the world is writing a joke, having an audience get it. I will never grow tired of that. It’s magical.vanityfair.com
Watch some of Brooks' most famous comedic moments below:
THE FILMS OF MEL BROOKSmadworld1427
The Stream's online community posed questions to the legendary comedian using the hashtag #AskMel:
@MelBrooks #askmel Do you have a favorite film or scene from your films? The cowboys around the fire scene in Blazing Saddles was brilliant!Kaeli Conforti
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