Am I only person on the planet that hates Mel Brooks?

[chaska]

Dumbest stuff (and not in a good way) I've ever seen. And yes, I have seen young Frankenstein ... and Blazing Saddles, and Spaceballs, and the Producers. Each one is just dumber than the last. I was forced to watch all of these against my will.

"But I don't like Mel Brooks."

"Don't worry, you'll like this one, it's really good."

Wrong.

The last one, The Producers, I saw just a few years ago. I sat there dying, wondering how grown up adults could find this stuff funny.

I've had this conversation many times. I know everybody loves Mel Brooks. I just don't get it. It's strictly junior high level, if you ask me. Flame away.

[TheWizardOfMudd]

1. You're the only one

You got problems.

[BigMcLargehuge]

2. How the hell could you not enjoy The Producers??

I swear I've seen it 100 times and I still laugh like it's the first time everytime I see it.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

3. No, I think he has 2 ex-wives and an estranged daughter

or, maybe you are one of them?

[maveric]

14. He's married to Anne Bancroft

Has been for 30 years or so.

[TexasBushwhacker]

27. 40 years in August!

They've been married for so long I didn't realize it was the second marriage for both of them. He was married to his first wife for 10 years and they had 3 children. He has one son with Bancroft.

[fryguy]

4. yes

next question please....

[yorgatron]

6. you ARE the only one

please seek professional help,thank you.

[jobycom]

5. Anyone he cast in "Men in Tights" should hate him

I don't like him much. He has moments, of course, but he's just slapstick with lots of flatulence and circumcision humor mixed in. Not my cup of tea.

But he's easily avoided.

[TrogL]

7. Can't stand him

but then I have wierd ideas about humour.

Can't stand Dick Van Dyke either.

[HEyHEY]

15. No Van Dyke? - You commie!

[Rabrrrrrr]

8. Yes, I think you ARE the only one

While he may at times be overrated, when he hits and scores, that man really hits and scores, cf. Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Producers.

[HEyHEY]

9. You were watching blazing saddles weren't you?

I don't hate him, but some of his humour is a bit cheesy

[Elidor]

10. I know how you feel

His recycled vaudeville schtick is old. But he has had moments of genius. I was just commenting on "Springtime for Hitler" on another thread.

Anyway, you're taking him too seriously. If he can't make you laugh, it's your loss, not his. He is a hack, no doubt about it. But he has his moments.

May the Schwartz be with you.

[ConservativeDemocrat]

11. I generally agree...

Brooks started out extremely funny, but went downhill fast.

And now he's a caracture of himself, doing little more than sight gags, and physical humor about body functions. Pure 11-year old boy humor.

The Producers was one of his first. That's why it's good.

- C.D.

[chaska]

12. Ha!!! I love you guys. Now THIS is funny. eom

[chaska]

13. Night all. Chaska needs his beauty sleep. See ya'll in the morning.

[Zomby Woof]

16. only one bad movie in his career

"Dracula: Dead and Loving It". It was truly disappointing and dull.

No one else mentions a sweet little movie he did with his wife back in '83 or so, called "To Be Or Not To Be", which was based on a real-life Jewish theater company escaping Nazi persecution in the days leading up to war. It is NOT the typical Mel Brooks movie. It may not change your mind about him, but you would HAVE to admit it is a heartfelt tribute to artists who did what they did for the love of their craft. The only non-satire or farce of his career.

Also underappreciated is "High Anxiety", his Hitchcock tribute. He did an excellent job of capturing the look and feel of a Hitch flick.

[tedoll78]

21. YES!

"To Be.." is one of my favorite Brooks movies! The mixed identities theme really worked for me. And the moment with the little dog being chased by the doberman pinschers will forever be burned on my mind.. :)

[Gildor Inglorion]

28. I LOATHED "Spaceballs"

Many of his other movies are works of comic genius, IMHO. My favorite is "Young Frankenstein."

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

31. One of my all time favorites

High Anxiety

[Bridget Burke]

17. Well, he is a Jew...

Perhaps you're too young to remember Sid Caesar (Mel was one of the writers), or all the Borscht Belt veterans who entertained us all on TV back in the 50's. Uncle Miltie, Jackie Vernon, etc.

Guess you don't like the Daily Show, either....

So, who do you like?

[Rhiannon12866]

25. I love "The Daily Show,"

but Mel Brooks just leaves me cold. I don't think religion, of all things, has anything to do with it. We just appreciate more sophisticated humor than Mel Brooks has to offer.:shrug:

[AlFrankenFan]

18. omg

i can't believe it! but i can understand why you do.

[Angelus]

19. He was alright when he did Tom and Jerry.

:shrug:

[Rhiannon12866]

20. I saw "Blazing Saddles" with some friends

They contended that I spoiled it for them because I didn't laugh. I didn't think it was funny.:shrug:

[bushneedstogo2]

22. Your the only one

[Rhiannon12866]

26. No, he's not

I just don't find fart jokes and ethnic humor that funny.:shrug:

[hyphenate]

23. You must be one of only a few

Mel Brooks is a genius. He's had some rotters--all producers do, but he has consistently had hits for almost 40 years. Just think--The Producers was make in 1968! Blazing Saddles was done in 1974, 30 years ago!

The think you need to remember about Mel is that most of his films are intended as parody and satire. When you produce genre entities such as he does, a certain amount of hamming it up is normal, and not unusual. When he does a film which is not parody or satire, such as Life Stinks, or To Be or Not To Be (which is a remake, BTW), he can allow for greater subtlety.

If he doesn't hit a mark in a particular movie, perhaps it's because you might not have seen the original on which it's based. It is more funny if you've seen the original Frankenstein, for instance, or any one of a hundred western films like High Noon, or Star Wars in the case of Spaceballs. On the other hand, it's not totally necessary, but certain more subtle elements of humor can be pulled from the films like inside jokes. There are guides online, for example, that give you a blow by blow account of all the jokes in Blazing Saddles that people might miss because they might not be familiar with the source material.

Then again, some people just don't like Mel Brooks's sense of humor, period. I personally can't stand Lewis and Martin, the 3 Stooges, the Little Rascals, Charlie Chaplin, Howard Stern, Andy Kaufman, or any one of a dozen other guys like that. So there is likely a whole subset of people who don't like something I like, and vice versa. :)

[Shopaholic]

24. Humor is subjective. . .

I was going to say that you must have a severely impaired sense of humor but then I remembered that I don't like Monty Python and some people just think that they were the funniest things ever. Sure some of Mel's works are better than others and some just aren't that funny. But did you know that Mel Brooks was a producer for The Elephant Man? He was the one who got David Lynch hired for the movie, he was the one who got permission for the film to be in black & white but he didn't take a production credit because he was worried that people would see his name attached and get the wrong idea about the film. He also produced another outstanding movie "84 Charing Cross Road" with his wife Anne Bancroft & Anthony Hopkins.

[Rhiannon12866]

29. Maybe his genius lies in producing

I happen to agree that Mel Brooks is just not funny. You can flame me, but I agree. As you said, humor is a subjective thing. I also really hated "Forrest Gump," and the damn thing won "best picture." Go figure?!:shrug:

I do agree that "84 Charing Cross Road" was excellent. I am a fan of both Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. If she is married to Mel Brooks, he must have something, but I cannot see it.:shrug:

[Kenneth ken]

30. I'm not a big fan

I did like Young Fankenstein.

Didn't think all that much of Blazing Saddles. I watched part of The Producers a few months back. I was to the part where the writer of the play is introduced, and realized I hadn't laughed, or even cracked a smile at anything that had been on to that point, so I turned it off.

I do sort of like the 2000 year old man skit though, the underlying point more than the actual skit.