Speaking with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), comedy legend Mel Brooks said our current “stupidly politically correct” culture will be the “death of comedy.”
“It’s OK not to hurt the feelings of various tribes and groups,” the comedic giant told the BCC. “However, it’s not good for comedy.”
“Comedy has to walk a thin line, take risks,” he said. “Comedy is the lecherous little elf whispering in the king’s ear, always telling the truth about human behaviour.”
Brooks added that there’s no chance his 1974 comedic hit Blazing Saddles, a Western parody which features a black sheriff in a racist town, could be made today due to such hyper-sensitivity.
Brooks explained that the commentary on racism within the film is what made it so significant.
“Without that the movie would not have had nearly the significance, the force, the dynamism and the stakes that were contained in it,” he said.
The Young Frankenstein producer argued that nothing is off limits in comedy, though he would never personally touch the Holocaust.
“I personally would never touch gas chambers or the death of children or Jews at the hands of the Nazis,” he said. “Everything else is ok.”
As noted by The Telegraph, “Brooks — whose directorial debut The Producers won him an Oscar for best original screenplay — is one of only 12 people to have scooped an Emmy, a Grammy, an Academy Award and a Tony.”
The 91-year-old said he has no plans of retiring and one day hopes to present Blazing Saddles on stage.
When asked how he’d like to be remembered, the talent answered in true Brooks fashion:
“Taller, if possible. I don’t want to be remembered as me, because I’m too short,” he said. “I would like to be remembered as six foot two.”
