Sunday Matinee #22 Blazing Saddles

There are masters to obey and masters to stand up to in life.

Hello, and thank you for subscribing to R-Rated Movie Club! Looking at a movie through a theological lens has intrigued me for quite some time, and I’m glad you’ve subscribed to this newsletter, a creative outlet for me to try something new. Thanks for participating in the poll earlier this month, let’s look at the results.

Audience Reaction Results

This month’s poll asked you to vote for your favorite of the five highest-ranked AFI Top 100 Films that are rated R. The movies are all great, but the results are clear:

The Godfather wins this one, no contest.

I have to agree. Of all of these movies, this is the one that really has the most repeat viewing mileage for me. The performances, the music, the cinematography, it's a masterpiece, Dear Reader. I mean, talk about quotable! It is long and while I wouldn't trim anything, there are parts that I have been known to skip (even "fast forward" on VHS, back in the day). Still, this movie not only has an engrossing, sprawling story, it's shot and edited well, has stood the test of time, and has been an influence on so much of modern cinema.

A close second may be one of the other movies that places, Chinatown. I haven't watched this in a while, but I definitely watched it a lot in those years that I did. While you can't keep being surprised by the twists and turns of that story, you can pick up something new about the filmmaking techniques each time you watch it.

Schindler's List got votes, too, and it is a powerful film. I will say that watching it now is a very different experience from watching it as a teenager. I can't say that I "like" the film, but I "respect" it and I "appreciate" it. Is that enough to make it a favorite?

As for Raging Bull, it's got amazing performances, but it doesn't otherwise stand out for me the way the others do. And Apocalypse Now is a movie I tend to do better with in short sips than big gulps.

Thanks for taking the poll, and happy watching!

Quotes With Notes

Genesis 12:1-2, 4a
Full Text: Genesis 12:1-9 (Revised Common Lectionary)
2nd Sunday after Pentecost (June 11, 2023)
Sign up for a free course at EnterTheBible.org to learn more.
Context: Just a few verses ago, we're introduced to Abram, the end of a long list of descendants. His generation is a turning point, though, as God is about to make a promise with him about his descendants to come. 

12 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Blazing Saddles (1974) | Warner Bros., Crossbow Productions
Starring Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, Slim Pickens, Harvey Korman, Madeline Kahn, Mel Brooks
Written by Mel Brooks, Norman Steinberg, Andrew Bergman, Richard Pryor, Alan Uger | Directed by Mel Brooks
Context: Sheriff Bart (Cleavon Little) has returned to the railroad camp where he was tortured and ridiculed with racism by the foreman and his henchmen. After being saved from the gallows to be a puppet appointee, he takes to the job with fervor and stands up to those who tried to put him down. 

Taggart: Now what the hell do you think you're doin' with that tin star, boy?
Bart: Watch that "boy" shit, redneck. You talkin' to the sheriff of Rock Ridge.

One of my favorite things to do when reading scripture is figure out who are the most obedient people in the Bible. One of the easiest ways is to read a command from God followed by the actions of a person almost verbatim. We get a bit of this with, for example, Joseph in the Gospel of Matthew during the Nativity narrative (see Matthew 2:13-15 and 19-21). Here, we see complete obedience and trust in God. God says go, Abram goes. Literally, "Go from your country... so Abram went." A vast majority of the story of Abram is about trusting God even when he doesn't understand everything that is happening. 

The repetition in this scene draws attention to it. As if the writer is saying pay attention to this, this exchange between God's promise and Abram's actions, look at them go back and forth on this promise + action pairing! Don't miss it! Look at this! See? See!

Repetitious, get it?

If you find a moment in scripture where it looks like they're saying the same thing over and over don't just glaze over it, but appreciate that someone wants you to really notice it. 

Here, the thing to notice is covenant. God promises good things will come from Abram's obedience. Abram's obedience comes from God's good promise. They go hand in hand as he and Sarai make their way in the world. He will have a name change, Abraham, and his relationship with God will be enhanced as they move forward together. This is a master worth having!

In Blazing Saddles, a Black railroad worker named Bart (Cleavon Little) returns as Sheriff and his old bosses not only can't believe it, they can't stand it. They've never seen a Black man stand up to them like this before. Well, they have, when Bart smashed one Taggart (Slim Pickens) on the head with a shovel. He talks down to him, calling him the racist "boy," but Bart bites back: "Watch that 'boy' shit, redneck." Bart may or may not know that he was made Sheriff as a setup, expected to be killed for the Governor's benefit. Even so, Bart is not backing down. He is his own master now. He is in charge. And he will not be ruled by former masters. H

In this wild west post-Civil War era, Bart has been treated with contempt and dehumanized in every way possible. There's so little regard given to him and his fellow railroad workers of many ethnicities that it's almost cartoonish how villainous these villains are. Of course, that's on purpose, for this brilliant satire. It draws big attention not just to moments in the story but the world around us, commenting on today. Satire can be easily misunderstood, but i we remember the writers are trying to get us to pay attention to the world around us through the story in the movie, we may actually change this beautiful, broken world.

Biblical obedience to God isn't about being blindly faithful or obligingly beholden, like you have to earn heaven points. It's about believing in something bigger than any of us. It's about trusting that good can come from bad, that perseverance can bear good fruit, and care and grace and love are stronger than anything life can hurl at us. God is a "master" worth being obedient to, from this point of view.

Thanks, everyone, and I hope you have a wonderful day. May you find holy wisdom anywhere you look, whether in the scriptures or even at the movies. And to today’s preachers, may worship bring you closer to the holy as you do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly in the name of God. God’s peace and good movies to you!

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