Whoopi Goldberg rails on cancel culture in defense of Mel Brooks classic 'Blazing Saddles'

Whoopi Goldberg railed on cancel culture in defense of Mel Brooks’ 1974 comedy classic, “Blazing Saddles” on Wednesday, during an episode of “The View.”

Goldberg’s comments came amid a fiery debate that erupted on “The View” about how classic comedy films are being viewed through today’s political lens  in 2022, a subject that arose after Mindy Kaling’s comment that “The Office” is “so inappropriate now” and would most likely not be produced by today’s Hollywood.

Goldberg said that contrary to shows like “The Office,” “Blazing Saddles” “deals with racism by coming at it right, straight, out front, making you think and laugh about it — because, listen, it’s not just racism, it’s all the ‘-isms.’ He hits all the ‘-isms.'”

The Old West comedy, which sparked laughter from coast to coast in the Seventies takes place in the post-Civil War environment of 1874. It focuses on a corrupt governor and attorney general who appoint a Black sheriff to a frontier village in hopes it will drive the White population out so they can build a railroad there. 

“‘Blazing Saddles,’ because it’s a great comedy, would still go over today — there are a lot of comedies that are not good, OK? We’re just going to say that — that’s not one of them. ‘Blazing Saddles’ is one of the greatest because it hits everybody,” Goldberg argued.

“If you’ve never seen ‘Blazing Saddles,’ you should do yourself a favor, get some popcorn, get a glass of wine, and put it on, because it’s magnificent,” Goldberg she told her audience.

Joy Behar then referenced the Seventies situational comedy series “All in the Family,” arguing that, “You take away Archie’s bigotry, you don’t have a character.”

“That’s who he was, and that’s the way you’re supposed to look at people,” she said. “If everybody was perfectly wonderful… and appropriate, then you’d never learn about these other people who exist out there.”

“That’s the purpose of art: To expose you to all aspects of human beings. Why would you want to take away the beauty of watching Archie Bunker make a fool of himself?” Behar argued. 

Sara Haines concurred with her co-hosts by saying that “laughing is literally the ultimate medicine for life and all that it brings” and that comedy is supposed to be considered a “sacred space” for Americans to express themselves.

“Leave my ‘Blazing Saddles’ alone. Don’t make me come for you!” Goldberg admonished.