Posted by Alferd Packer at spider-wb071.proxy.aol.com on November 28, 1999 at 15:14:11:
In Reply to: Kevin and Mel posted by Slappy322 on November 28, 1999 at 06:10:32:
: I was driving in my friends car home from a great football game in K-Mart:
A football game in K-Mart?
Anyway, that's an interesting point. But look at his other movies.
Blazing Saddles (I DARE you to count the number of times the African-American, Asian, or any OTHER community is attacked).
Well, Blazing Saddles especially. Mel Brooks doesn't JUST attack Judaism. And he really doesn't attack it, he just uses it for humor. Whereas the Catholics view angels saying "fuck" as blesphemous, Jewish folk don't much find the fact that Mel played a rabbi or "Funny...she doesn't LOOK Druish!" offensive.
Perhaps MORE offensive to the Jewish community are his common references to the Holocaust. "Hitler in Ice." "Jews in Space." Hell, lookit the Producers. "Springtime for Hitler."
But, then again, Brooks had to deal with that. I'm guessing he grew up at the end (if not during) the Jewish persecution. And, while he didn't witness it firsthand, he was affected greatly.
My two cents, at least.
- Rabbi Tuckman