MovieChat Forums > Blazing Saddles (1974) Discussion > worst line: 'I like rape'

worst line: 'I like rape'

posted 17 years ago by davidmmiller
205 replies | jump to latest

I'm talking about the scene where all the outlaw baddies (and bikers and klansmen) are lining up to get a job on Hedley's gang, and one of them is asked by him to explain why he wrote "rape" twice on his resume, and the outlaw smiles and says "I like rape."

Of all the edits BS has undergone over the years, this line is the one I first noticed to go. In 1986 I watched this for my millionth time on video with my white flatmates in New Zealand (I'm a Yank), and the whole movie was met with a studied silence. When the "I like rape" line was delivered, my female flatmate turned to me and said "That's a joke?"

And as much as I hate to see movies get sliced to ribbons, that line always did make me wince. Call it politcal correctness or whatever, but I don't miss it. Fortunately the rest of the movie is hilarious. Side note: I ushered during this movie in the early '80s. We were showing Woody Allen's "Stardust Memories," and apparently it wasn't a big enough draw, so they added "Blazing Saddles" and made it a double feature--kinda like pairing wine with grits!

[–] thomas_e_clarke69 15 years ago

The line is not as funny as the other mention inthis classic movie...."YOu spare the women?

"Nope, we RAPE THE *beep* OUT OF THEM!!

"A man drinks like that, and he doesn't eat, he is GOING TO DIE!"-Sheriff Bart
"When"-The Waco Kid

[–] the_dude6789 14 years ago

I find it odd that nothing else in the movie offended you up until that point.

[–] vprice94 14 years ago

I quote "I like rape!" all the time.

Usually in court.

--"It's not what you're sayin', it's what you're not sayin'. Insinuendos!"--

[–] TCall2004 14 years ago

I didn't like that line, either.

The movie didn't need it.

That was the only thing I didn't like about that film, which is hilarious!

[–] MickBarr-1 12 years ago

The movie didn't need it? Did it need "Up yours, Nig***!"? The movie is pretty near perfect as it is. All of those lines are appropriate in the overall context of the movie.

[–] MuchToBeGratefulFor 12 years ago

The movie didn't need [the rape line]? Did it need "Up yours, Nig***!"?

Yes, it did. It was early on in Bart's efforts to be accepted by the townspeople. The movie needed to show SOMEONE saying something racist to him, to get him demoralized and to show what an uphill fight he had. (The movie also needed the later scene where that woman brings him a pie and says sorry.)

The rape line was not needed. It did not move the plot along at all; the scene has already established that Hedley is recruiting a bunch of creeps.

You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi

[–] MickBarr-1 11 years ago

The "rape" line showed, to an absurd degree, how foul the cattle call of henchmen were. So yes, the movie needed it.

[–] 11 years ago

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[–] liquidgardener 14 years ago

Probably mentioned in the many pages of this thread, but aside from Mel poking fun at everyone and everything, there was also a "cleaned-up" version of this scene used for TV broadcast in which the line "I like rape" was omitted.

[–] HijodelCid 14 years ago

,,Studied silence''.
You should have watched it in Puerto Rico; my compatriots truly loved BS, YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN and SILENT MOVIE.
!Viva Puerto Rico Libre!

God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)

[–] LightningLad 14 years ago

I think some might be offended to see a line-up of horrible criminals, and to not see rape acknowledged as a horrible crime. To have it just white-washed out would be an offensive exclusion, perhaps. There'd be a thread "Why no rapists?"

-----
Reason is a pursuit, not a conclusion.

[–] Dream_Demon 14 years ago

I agree with Lightninglad here. Not having even one rapist among a group of thugs, outlaws, bikers, banditos, nazis, Klan members, etc. would seem out of place.

Welcome to my Nightmare- Freddy Krueger

[–] 14 years ago

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[–] Bavarian 14 years ago

Remember Mel Brooks History of the World: Part I ?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082517/quotes

King Louis XVI: "Knight jumps queen! Bishop jumps queen! Pawns jump queen! *Gangbang*!"

I like that. ^^

[–] homestar_is_cool 13 years ago

I laughed at the "I like rape" line. It's so insulting at the same time while being just plain absurd. And to me, that's what Mel Brooks does best.

Yes, rape is crazy bad, but so are the other crimes that are represented in that scene.

[–] HijodelCid 13 years ago

And the whole movie was met with a studied silence.

Many people react that way today; did I watch the same movie as them?

God is subtle, but He is not malicious. (Albert Einstein)