Believe Care Invest: Blazing Saddles

Let’s see what James is missing!

Why Bart may be hard to care for:

• He’s pretty instantly lovable. 

Believe

• When we meet Bart, he’s working hard on the railroad, then the overseer comes up and complains that the black workers aren’t singing like in the slave days. Bart leads them in a chorus of Cole Porter’s “I Get No Kick From Champagne.” On the one hand, it’s literally unbelievable, since the song wasn’t written yet, but on the other hand, it’s so oddly specific that it makes him come alive. 

Care

• The deadly danger of Bart’s job is established right away as a Chinese co-worker passes out from heat exhaustion, only to get docked a day’s day for “sleeping on the job”. The extreme racism of his bosses is then established as they say the n-word many times and then refuse to rescue him from the quicksand. 

Invest

• He’s very clever and badass. He humiliates his racist bosses, then pulls himself out of the quicksand, then hits his boss on the head. As sheriff, he brilliantly gets himself out a deadly situation. 

Five Es

• Eat: Nope. 
• Exercise: Bart goes over to check out the quicksand by using a handcar. 
• Economic Activity: He’s working hard at his track-laying job. 
• Enjoy: He has a fun time singing, mocking his bosses, and later mocking the governor. Once he’s sheriff, he enjoys riding into town in his new duds. He enjoys drinking with the Waco Kid. 
• Emulate: He kicks up his heels on the governor’s desk. He acts like Randolf Scott once he’s sheriff. 

Rise above:

• Refuses to sing what his bosses want him to sing. After they escape from the quicksand, Bart’s boss gives him a shovel and tells him to put it to good use. As Bart picks up the shovel, his friend sees what he’s going to do and says, “Don’t do that, man.” “Uh-uh baby.” “Don’t do that.” “I have to.” Bart stands up for himself and his co-workers though it puts his job at risk. 

High five a black guy

• Hey, an actual black hero!  I promise we’ll have some more!