The Assorted Mammary and Zoological Controversies of Space Jam: A New Legacy

[therewillbeblus]

Space Jam sequel starring Lebron James to release in July

(I'm pretty sure Fox News doesn't know what Cancel Culture is)

[Brian C]

That’s a fake graphic though, right?

[therewillbeblus]

Yeah I imagine it is, tho Fox News is so ridiculous I don't even know anymore

[DarkImbecile]

That’s a fake graphic though, right?

I still have no idea whether Tucker Carlson in particular actually addressed this, but some performative cancel culture pearl clutchers apparently have, and the truth is more amusing/absurd than it already appears...

[hearthesilence]

That’s a fake graphic though, right?

I still have no idea whether Tucker Carlson in particular actually addressed this, but some performative cancel culture pearl clutchers apparently have, and the truth is more amusing/absurd than it already appears...

LMAO. Re: pornographic Looney Tunes art, this came to mind along with this.

[Boosmahn]

Pepé le Pew was also axed from the Space Jam sequel. Apparently, this was done over a year ago, but the recent online outrage/praise leads me to believe he won't be coming back for any future Looney Tunes installment. I'm fine with the design change mentioned above, but this is a development I'm annoyed by. (Watching this film was never on my agenda, though.)

[therewillbeblus]

I'm not one to affirm censorship or canceling in general, as I think I've made pretty clear here. However, wiping one's hands clean of Pepé le Pew just sounds like a sensible move beyond just business logic. The character's entire shtick is that he's an aggressive sexual predator who doesn't take No for an answer, and deafens himself to all obvious signals of resistance. Many cartoons are outdated but this needs to be shelved from any future productions, #metoo world or not

[Boosmahn]

Apparently a scene was planned in which Pepé (finally) learns about his wrongdoings, but I think it was only cut because it sounds incongruous with the rest of the movie.

I suppose the reason I'm irked by this is that skunks have been one of my favorite animals and, growing up, Pepé le Pew was one of the only skunk cartoon characters around. I just wish they had reworked his character in some way instead of completely cutting him off. But like you say, TWBB, this decision is understandable.

[Never Cursed]

...and of course the terminally online alt-righteers (including the son of our most recent former President) have already taken up aggressive defense of Pepé le Pew as the latest salvo in the culture war

Edit: Somehow I'm not too irked that they cut the "don't sexually harass people, here's what consent is" scene from the Space Jam sequel

[therewillbeblus]

Apparently a scene was planned in which Pepé (finally) learns about his wrongdoings, but I think it was only cut because it sounds incongruous with the rest of the movie.

I suppose the reason I'm irked by this is that skunks have been one of my favorite animals and, growing up, Pepé le Pew was one of the only skunk cartoon characters around. I just wish they had reworked his character in some way instead of completely cutting him off. But like you say, TWBB, this decision is understandable.

What an illuminating, compassionate response. I never even considered dignifying the skunk as anything beyond a rodent with potential to irritate humans with its olfactory weapon, but you're right, and of course eliminating his chance to reform publicly doesn't sit well with me either. I didn't know they had that planned, and this information coupled with your sensitivity to skunks has totally sobered me up to my problematic trigger-happy negating and squarely into your conscientious camp. Thanks for that thoughtful reply.

[knives]

I should say as well that the joke in the original shorts is clearly on the terribleness and obliviousness of LePew. The joke is what if Charles Boyer, but (to the above point) unlovable. The telling thing is that in the shorts they often end with him getting a comeuppance or otherwise feeling defeat.

I doubt Space Jam 2 will be good, but Le Pew isn’t completely irrelevant to the modern perspective.

[Brian C]

I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but misclassifying animals is triggering to me* - skunks are weasels and not rodents! They’re more closely related to dogs and cats than they are to mice and squirrels.

* - I blame my mom, who really made it a point to hammer home the monkey/ape distinction when I was a kid.

[DarkImbecile]

cdnchris, can we give Brian a special rank of “I hate to be That Pedantic Guy but...” or is that too many characters?

[Brian C]

The seal/sea lion distinction was also a big one in our house. Who knows why that one came up as often as it did. Thank god I was never dumb enough to refer to a whale as a “fish.”

[DarkImbecile]

My father-in-law is a big nature guy, so I’ve made a point of teaching my daughters facts about animals that are harmlessly incorrect (not like “rattlesnakes are cuddly”); the one that drove him over the edge, oddly enough, was when my infant daughter was learning animal sounds and I told her that real giraffes made a squeaky “agee” sound just like one of her toys. “Giraffes don’t have working vocal chords!” remains a recurring joke to this day.

[Mr Sausage]

Thank god I was never dumb enough to refer to a whale as a “fish.”

Don’t read Moby Dick. You’ll grind your teeth to stubs.

[Maltic]

From the Pepe Le Pew wiki

In July 2016, it was revealed at San Diego Comic-Con that Max Landis was penning a Pepé Le Pew feature film for Warner Bros.[14] There haven't been no new information since then due to sexual assault allegations against Landis in 2017 and it was confirmed to be cancelled on March 8, 2021 as the character will not appear in future Warner Bros. projects.[15]

[knives]

Thank god I was never dumb enough to refer to a whale as a “fish.”

Don’t read Moby Dick. You’ll grind your teeth to stubs.

To be fair at that time all sea animals were fish.

[domino harvey]

If we're reallly getting pedantic, shouldn't the title be Taxonomic, not Zoological?

[DarkImbecile]

Ah, but despite the recent veer of our discussion into the taxonomic realm, boosmahn's original complaint (and thus its share of the controversies of the thread title) was rooted in the denial of representation to one of his favorite species, not the classification of said species that comprised the subject of the most recent tangent. Ergo, suck it

[The Pachyderminator]

Thank god I was never dumb enough to refer to a whale as a “fish.”

Don’t read Moby Dick. You’ll grind your teeth to stubs.

As I recall, doesn't the narrator explain at one point that whales are actually air-breathing mammals?

But my favorite part is when he mentions the rumored giant "blue whale" and dismisses it as probably a myth.

[Mr Sausage]

One of the chapters is an essay arguing that whales are fish, not mammals.

[cdnchris]

I'm not the only one that found Pepe a boring character, am I? His schtick wore itself out after the first cartoon I saw way back when, and during the Looney Tune episodes on Saturday mornings I used his cartoons and the commercials as chances to go off an do something else. The only interesting thing was seeing how the cat was going to come off looking like a skunk. Hell, I forgot he existed until I read about this.

[Orlac]

One of the chapters is an essay arguing that whales are fish, not mammals.

One of the chapters has a man dancing in a whale's foreskin.

[therewillbeblus]

I'm hot and cold on Moby Dick overall, but the two things that have stayed with me are the incredibly wise words: "Ignorance is the parent of fear" from the third chapter, and The Whiteness of the Whale, one of the best chapters in any book I've read. The whale is God, even if it's not God.