16 News Times Newspapers, Friday, September 30, 2016
A LOOK On THE LIgHTER SIdE
I
Go see ‘The Magnificent Saddles’
was seeing double. I was watching Denzel Washington, as he introduced himself to the Western townspeople he is about to save — but all the while, I was waiting for them to recoil, saying something like, “The new sheriff — he’s a N……!” In point of fact, I was watching the new “Magnificent Seven,” just out in movie theaters — but in my head, for most of the movie, I was really seeing and hearing “Blazing Saddles.” Of course, “Blazing Saddles” is No. 1 on my list of movies. I think it’s the greatest movie of all time, with the only possible competition being Mel Brooks’ “The Producers.” No matter how many times I watch it, sooner or later I bust a gut laughing. One time it’s Mel Brooks in war paint as an Indian chief, commenting in amazement (and in Yiddish) about black settlers: “Schvartzes!… They’re darker than I am!” Another time, it’s Madeline Kahn as Lili Von Shtupp, doing a priceless send-up of Marlene Dietrich as she sings “I’m Tired!”
And every time, it’s Harvey Korman as the delicious mustache-twirling villain whose evil plot is to send a black man as the new sheriff to the town of Rock Ridge, so the townsfolk will run away and leave valuable land up for grabs. In fact, my double vision actually started before I even got to the movie theater. It began the moment I heard director Antoine Fuqua being interviewed about his new “Magnificent Seven.” “Personally,” he said, “what (made) me really want to make this movie is to see Denzel Washington on a horse in all black as a cowboy.” Immediately, the image sprang into my mind, too — but it wasn’t Denzel I was seeing. No, it was Cleavon Little as Black Bart, Brooks’ sheriff. In “Blazing Saddles,” the townsfolk are all incredibly racist, and just about to lynch their new sheriff, when my absolute favorite scene in the movie arrives: Bart takes his own gun, puts it up to his face, and yells out, “Nobody move, or the n……r gets it!”
Judy EpsTEIn
A Look on the Lighter Side Much to everyone’s surprise, the gimmick works! I went to see the new “Magnificent Seven” to see if I could get the double vision out of my head… but it only grew stronger as the movie went on. I can even cite spots where I think Brooks must have based his movie on the original “Seven.” For example, in the original (which I watched, purely in the interests of research), there’s a moment early in the film where you see the name “Wm. Johnson”
painted on a wooden wall behind the character “Vin,” played by Steve McQueen. It feel sure that this was the inspiration for Mel Brooks’ Johnson brothers, whose scene eating beans at a campfire is probably the single most unforgettable (dare I say “incendiary?”) part of the film. I also re-watched “Blazing Saddles” recently. It was as hilarious as ever, but I found myself wondering if it could even be made today. The Daily Beast asked Mel Brooks the same question, recently, and his answer was a resounding, “No!” Not that he’d had it easy in 1974. “I actually got notes from the studio head in vivid detail who said, “Lose the fart scene, cut out any racial and ethnic jokes, edit scenes where a horse and an old lady get punched,” and my favorite note: “Can you reshoot Black Bart with a white actor?” If I had made their changes the film would have been just 14 minutes long!” Finally, there were some moments when “The Magnificent
Seven” parted company with “Blazing Saddles.” They came, in fact, when I braced myself for the townspeople’s racist reactions to Denzel Washington the gunslinger… and… nothing! Things just went on as a matter of course. I have no idea what white — or black — people were really like in the actual Old West. But if here and now, in spite of everything going on in our nation today, we can have Denzel Washington as the hero in a remake of “The Magnificent Seven” — and no one bats an eye, either in or out of the movie — at least there has been some progress. In my final analysis, “The Magnificent Seven” is a fine movie, and if a Western with lots of shootin’ and killin’ is what you want, then by all means go and see it. But if you want a Western that will make you laugh all the way through — at the world, at prejudice, and at yourself — then “Blazing Saddles” is still your No. 1 bet.
REAdERS WRITE
Resident’s claims about village untrue
A
t the most recent Village Board meeting, a resident expressed concern regarding ADA access to the station platforms at the LIRRFloral Park Station. This concern is not new. The village’s concern has been enunciated to the LIRR by this board and each board with whom I have served. How could the LIRR continue to ignore this glaring deficiency and neglect an important population’s access to the trains? The LIRR identifies handicapped access on the Hempstead Branch to be at the Stewart Manor station where there is a ramp. This has been and continues to be an inadequate response. This same resident also stated that an unidentified representative of the governor’s office
stated that the village has not raised the concerns about handicap access at the Floral Park Train Station since the LIRR resurrected the third track project this past January. If this is in fact what the governor’s representative stated, this is clearly factually inaccurate. In early January, Gov. Cuomo asked that we meet with his representatives and keep an open mind. Out of respect for the governor and his office, we undertook these meetings in good faith. We made it clear that although we would approach this with an open mind, we had very deep skepticism of their proposals, due in no small part to the LIRR’s past record. At our first meeting attended by Trustee Fitzgerald, myself, Village Administrator Gerry Bam-
brick and the governor’s highest ranking Long Island staff we asked that the station be renovated and that handicap access be addressed immediately, not as our price for accepting the third track, but because it should have been done already. The LIRR president and each of the governor’s representatives responded that all work would begin at the eastern edge of the platform and no renovations to the station are included in this project. During my and Trustee Cheng’s subsequent meetings with the LIRR officials and the governor’s staff we continuously advocated to remedy this necessary and fundamental need. Further, the LIRR’s moral obligation to provide handicapped accessibility to its entire ridership
LETTERS pOLICy Letters should be typed or neatly handwritten, and those longer than 300 words may be edited for brevity and clarity. all letters must include the writer’s name and phone number for verification. anonymously sent letters will not be printed. Letters must be received by Monday noon to appear in the next week’s paper. all letters become the property of Blank Slate Media LLc and may be republished in any format. Letters can be e-mailed to news@theislandnow.com or mailed to Blank Slate Media, 105 hillside ave., Williston Park, Ny 11596.
was addressed and contained in Trustee Lynn Pombonyo’s Scoping Hearing comments and is available along with all the board’s Scoping Hearing statements on our website. Our position continues as before. This process is replete with glaring and materially significant problems. We do not believe that the justification for spending billions of dollars and possibly devastating our village for this third track project has been set forth, especially when the LIRR itself has already articulated a seven point plan to improve main line service. Nor are we satisfied that questions as to the funding for this project has been answered. Further, the environmental review process is premature and proceeding at an irresponsible pace. This is especially true because the LIRR has failed to provide sufficient details of their proposal to make a meaningful review possible, as legally required. The failure of the LIRR to provide details of the Proposal makes it impossible to completely
identify the impacts of the proposal. The concept of “mitigation” in the environmental review context relates to avoiding or diminishing specific impacts of the proposal. Without an ability to fully identify the impacts of the LIRR’s third track proposal it is not possible to properly discuss mitigation with the LIRR. The resident who came to the Village Board meeting is correct in that the handicap accessibility of the FP LIRR Station needs to be addressed. We believe, and have repeatedly expressed to the LIRR and the Governor’s staff, that this is true whether the third track proposal proceeds or not. I ask that you stay informed and feel free to ask any questions of myself, LIRR Third Track Task Force Chairman Trustee Archie Cheng or any member of the Board anytime. We love this village and its future is our shared concern. Thomas J. Tweedy Floral Park Mayor