‘Blazing Saddles’: HBO Max Adds "Proper Social Context" Intro to Mel Brooks Classic | THR News - video Dailymotion

‘Blazing Saddles’ is currently streaming on HBO Max, along with a new introduction that automatically plays before the Mel Brooks classic begins.

Transcript

00:00HBO Max has added a disclaimer before Blazing Saddles, similar to the one the streamer added before Gone with the Wind.

00:07It's unclear exactly when the intro was added to the 1974 Mel Brooks comedy classic starring the late Cleavon Little and the late Gene Wilder,

00:15but it was sometime after the film premiered on the streaming service in July.

00:18An HBO Max spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter,

00:21the intro was added to ensure that the film was put into the proper social context.

00:25TCM host and University of Chicago Cinema and Media Studies professor Jaclyn Stewart provides the intro to Blazing Saddles.

00:32A little more than three minutes long, Stewart's intro puts the bigotry and racist language in context, saying,

00:37As the storyline implies, the issue of race is front and center in Blazing Saddles,

00:42and racist language and attitudes pervade the film.

00:45But those attitudes are espoused by characters who are portrayed here as explicitly small-minded, ignorant bigots.

00:51The situation is similar to that of Gone with the Wind, which was pulled from HBO Max not long after the streaming service was introduced

00:57due to outcry over its outdated and racist story and themes.

01:00The 1939 war classic returned in June with additional context and a disclaimer attached.

01:06Stewart also did the intro for Gone with the Wind.

01:08For more on this story, head to THR.com.

01:10For The Hollywood Reporter News, I'm Neha Joy.