Well, I'm not talking about the use of the n-word, I'm talking more about the commonality of an oppressed black protagonist (one pre-war, one post-war) that becomes part of the law and eventually uses that position to address a bigger issue.  Blazing Saddles seems to put a weird happy ending on the whole thing when you watch them back-to-back.

They're both fantasy, let's be honest, and in movies you do have to exaggerate things (which is why it's used WAY more than it probably would have been at the time, but what do I know/), but in Unchained and Saddles, it seems that the N-word is used mostly by the bad guys, not just bad guys but usually the most ignorant, backwards-thinking idiots who use it, the stupidest guys in the room in the case of Saddles.  I'm more offended by the use of the N-word in Tarantino's short "The Man From Hollywood" (despite being said by a black actor) because it didn't fit there, but in "Unchained," the way that black people are treated in the movie is just horrific, you're sort of drenched in this negative association between that word and these atrocities that are going on.  It's powerful stuff.

The word... "Unchained" says if you use it you're a racist f_ck, in "Blazing Saddles" it says you're a f_cking idiot.  And most people would agree with that, even before either of these movies came out.  So I'm not offended by that.   It's offensive when you use the word for no reason or for shock value, or to lash out and hurt someone.  That's offensive to me.  Especially because ANYONE in the world who knows the word KNOWS better.  You only use it when you have something potent to say about it (it's the atom bomb of words: it's extremely powerful, harmful, and you don't wanna face that fallout).  And you really don't need to say any more than George Carlin's bit or Richard Pryor's bit.