"There’s a joke in #BlazingSaddles, about an event that took place several thousand years ago, that maybe hasn’t aged so well.
It’s in the scene where #HarveyKorman’s conniving Attorney General #HedleyLamarr brainstorms plans to clear away the town of Rock Ridge. #Lamarr’s lackey #Taggart, played by #SlimPickens, makes a modest proposal: “We’ll kill the firstborn male child in every household.”
Lamarr considers the idea, before dismissing it. “Too #Jewish,” he says.
When I heard that quip in a recent rewatch with my girlfriend (her first time), I saw a new reason why you couldn’t make the #film today: Modern audiences, particularly those amateur critics itching to sound off online, seem to have more fluency in #bloodlibels about #Jews than the #Passover narrative #MelBrooks and Co. were riffing on. For those who think the #Epsteinfiles contain damning proof of elites eating babies, “too Jewish” might seem like an admission."