I think The Producers gets around it in two ways. One way is that it’s an absurd comedy which makes it harder to co-opt. The other is that it is meta textual about the problems of making fictional depictions of fascism.
Also, he was very specifically making fun of Nazi Germany. You could not just make the Producers but simply replace the Nazis with any other fascist movement. He specifically took Nazi imagery and made it look absurd. Like, that part in Springtime for Hitler where they dance in a swastika shape? That was a thing that Mel Brooks took directly from Nazi rallies, they actually did that.
True it is impossible to mistake who the parody is about. Which is quite important given that the general audience is predisposed to reading depictions of fascism as authoritarianism.
Mel Brook’s The Producers is the only one I can think of off the top of my head unfortunately.
I think The Producers gets around it in two ways. One way is that it’s an absurd comedy which makes it harder to co-opt. The other is that it is meta textual about the problems of making fictional depictions of fascism.
Also, he was very specifically making fun of Nazi Germany. You could not just make the Producers but simply replace the Nazis with any other fascist movement. He specifically took Nazi imagery and made it look absurd. Like, that part in Springtime for Hitler where they dance in a swastika shape? That was a thing that Mel Brooks took directly from Nazi rallies, they actually did that.
True it is impossible to mistake who the parody is about. Which is quite important given that the general audience is predisposed to reading depictions of fascism as authoritarianism.