"He begins kissing her arm, which she pulls back, then slamming Pepe into the chair next to hers. She then pours her drink on Pepe, and slaps him hard, sending him spinning in a stool, which is then stopped by LeBron James’ hand. James and Bugs Bunny are looking for Lola, and Pepe knows her whereabouts. Pepe then tells the guys that Penelope cat has filed a restraining order against him. James makes a remark in the script that Pepe can’t grab other Tunes without their consent...."
From "Pepe Le Pew Won’t Be Appearing In Warner Bros’ ‘Space Jam’ Sequel" (Deadline Hollywood).
The actress, Greice Santo, is unhappy to have her big scene cut: "Even though Pepe is a cartoon character, if anyone was going to slap a sexual harasser like him, Greice wished it would be her. Now... she doesn’t have that power to influence the world through younger generations who’ll be watching Space Jam 2, to let younger girls and younger boys know that Pepe’s behavior is unacceptable."
If I remember the old cartoons correctly, the other cartoon characters always let Pepe know his behavior was unacceptable... though I think that was mainly because they were cats and he was a skunk.
I don't know if that read as racism — Was the problem that he was a different species? — or were we to think their objection was simply that he smelled bad — which really was, I think, an insult intentionally directed at the French.As for this new movie, maybe instruction about sexual harassment didn't fit the mood of whatever the story was or maybe LeBron James doesn't have the acting chops to pull off a sincere warning against sexual misdeeds.
From the Wikipedia article on Pepe Le Pew, under the subheading "Reputation":
Pepé's reputation suffered in later years. Comedian Dave Chappelle, in his 2000 stand-up film Killin' Them Softly, called him a rapist. In a 2021 column in The New York Times, Charles M. Blow wrote that Pepé "normalized rape culture". Amber E. George, in her essay "Pride or Prejudice? Exploring Issues of Queerness, Speciesism, and Disability in Warner Bros. Looney Tunes", characterized Pepé's actions towards Penelope Pussycat as "sexual harassment, stalking, and abuse" and noted that Pepé's qualities mock the French people and their culture. On March 7, 2021, it was announced Pepé Le Pew have been removed from Space Jam: A New Legacy.
If you're interested in reading that Amber E. George essay, it's in "The Intersectionality of Critical Animal, Disability, and Environmental Studies: Toward Eco-ability, Justice, and Liberation." That will cost you $73 even just to download it in Kindle!
As for Charles Blow, the Le Pew bit is just a line in his column about the Dr. Seuss problem: "Six Seuss Books Bore a Bias/Racism must be exorcised from culture, including, or maybe especially, from children’s culture."
Racism must be exorcised from culture, including, or maybe especially, from children’s culture. Teaching a child to hate or be ashamed of themselves is a sin against their innocence and a weight against their possibilities.Exorcised?! I think the word he was looking for the word "excised." Or are we possessed by an evil spirit that can be driven out by performing some ritual? If you're talking about editing things out of the culture — which is what is really going on — the word is"excised."
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224 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 201 – 224 of 224This is not original with me, but I agree with an anonymous commenter on another blog that Pepe le Pew doesn't really make rape acceptable; instead it reinforces the American stereotype that Frenchmen are basically a--holes.
Pepe may have been cut, but I'll bet there was never a scene with Speedy Gonzales.
fake but accurate,
https://babylonbee.com/news/biden-defends-pepe-le-pew-he-was-always-my-favorite-character
Spooney Melodies, which featured popular songs of the day. These shorts included segments with a popular artist singing along with appropriate background sequences.
They finally got MTV right in 1981.
I own the box set of Warner Bros cartoons.
Yep.
Everyone knows girls love the bad boys. Go ahead and deny it, at the risk of your credibility. Pepe is a cultural icon. A child learns all she needs to know about acting when Pepe opens his eyes wide, tucks his chin, and softly says "Be gentle, this is my first affair."
The fact is that Pepe was portrayed not as a villain, but as a fool. When I was an adolescent, I wouldn’t have minded being perceived as a villain, but I couldn’t have stould being perceived as a fool. If you don’t want young boys to assault young girls, promote Pepe cartoons
The fact is that Pepe was portrayed not as a villain, but as a fool.
Yes, his excessive libido and liberal social manners were a turnoff to potential mates. If anything, Pepe was presented as an example to normalize awareness of masculinists. Women need to be aware of how some men respond to their feminine virtue and social presentation.
Speaking of masculinist, who would be suited to portray his feminist counterpart? Miss Piggy was known to be quite aggressive when courting Kermit the Frog.
It's Tintin guest-hosting on Fox.
Somehow this has been misinterpreted as promoting rape culture, instead of opposing it.
Not "somehow." It's by design. That's the way cancel culture works: you don't have cautionary tales; you don't keep instructive reminders of the unfortunate or reprehensible past. The things you disapprove of - at this moment - you simply disappear. It's as if they never existed. And the world is born anew, pure, unstained by the various original sins you erased.
Of course no one freaking learns anything, but since we're creating the New Humyn here, no one has to.
For fuck' sake-
Define rape culture.
After you define it, give us living examples of this culture wherein rape is acceptable, and is the norm.
Then you can go forward in, in your moral judgement, what is and what is not a member of this culture.
Until then, think about the words and terms you use. Words mean something. Quit repeating words, phrases, and slogans the commies convinced you are normal.
Shouldn't this have the "That's not funny!" tag? Or has that been cancelled?
"If you're interested in reading that Amber E. George essay...."
You're kidding, right?
Or maybe I just preferred Boris 'Bad'-enov.
You zed, it keedoh!
Of course, Boris Badunov is a pun on this guy. Not so much fun, though.
Quaestor: I did know that but not as a child. I knew little to nothing about Russian history until my teens but enjoyed the cartoons nonetheless. The tsars of Russia make entertaining reading, at least. Have never heard Pushkin's opera Boris Godunov. Is it worth the effort?
Regarding the cancel culture: The Left will continue to feign outrage at some new target daily. Count on it. The supply of potential 'offenses' is infinite. It would be amusing if we didn't have to actually live with it.
I mainly remember Pepe as making fun of the French and being a stinky skunk, which I thought was again making fun of the French with that whole "French Shower" thing. Also the French had a reputation for being overly amorous. In fact there were a few cartoons where the lady cat is at first enamored with the enamored Pepe Le Pew. Until the stench is shown caressing her nostrils. But part of the joke has always been that Pepe is clearly in the wrong and clearly not seeing it, despite clear evidence the lady cat is not interested. The joke itself has always been advocating against "Rape Culture".
Pepe's mistake was in forgetting to ask "Do you Rish?" before putting his moves on that poor cat!
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It's a cartoon. For children. That my life were so empty of real challenges that I could spend the idle hour deconstructing Warner Brother animated featurettes.
LOL! Our man Rusty, above, puts it ALL in perspective!
First they came for the skunks, and I did not speak out—because I was not a skunk.
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