Cancel culture in theory is a good idea. Let’s hold people accountable for their shady actions. Let’s encourage the victims and detract our support from the perpetrators. There are many cases where ‘canceling’ is justified. But there are also cases where cancel culture goes too far, where the wrongdoings have already passed and been corrected. Or where the perpetrator… isn’t really a perpetrator. This may be the situation for the newest targets. People are trying to cancel Pepe Le Pew and Speedy Gonzales from the Looney Tunes cartoons.
“Cancel Pepe Le Pew”
After the announcement of Space Jam 2, discussions began about the original Looney Tunes characters. And which ones should be edited out of the new film.
Here came the reason to cancel Pepe Le Pew: In the original cartoon, his stories tend to revolve around endlessly pursuing and kissing Penelope Pussycat who fights to get away from him. New York Times writer Charles Blow began the debate about this character when he accused Pepe Le Pew of adding to rape culture. [1] Truth be told, his scenes with Penelope are uncomfortable to watch today, but he was never particularly popular. Many kids don’t know him.
Many people assumed Blow’s accusation caused Pepe’s deletion from Space Jam 2; however, he was removed a few months beforehand. In fact, the skunk wasn’t even animated yet.
Pepe Le Pew‘s Canceled Scene in Space Jam 2
The scene in question featured Pepe playing a bartender in a Casablanca-esque café. He starts hitting on a woman played by Greice Santo from Jane the Virgin and kissing her arm. She responds by pouring her drink on him and slapping him so hard; he spins around on a barstool. Later on, it’s revealed that Penelope Pussycat had filed a restraining order and that Pepe is not allowed to grab other characters without their permission. [2]
It’s sort of a happy ending to his usual storyline. Santa was a victim of sexual harassment, and she uses her platform to empower women to stand up to predators and abusers. She enjoyed acting in the scene where Pepe finally sees punishment for his actions.
A spokesperson said on her behalf, “This was such a big deal for Greice to be in this movie. 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 the scene is cut, and 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.”
Interestingly, Warner Bros. once planned a Pepe Le Pew feature film. However, it was canceled when the writer, Max Landis, was accused of sexual assault. That’s an ironic twist. [3]
The first time someone tried to “cancel” Pepe Le Pew actually occurred in 2000. Comedian Dave Chappelle spoke about watching old Looney Tunes with his nephew in his special “Killin’ Them Softly.” He noticed that the skunk’s actions weren’t quite what he remembered.
“Good G-d, what kind of … rapist is this guy?” Chappelle joked.
“Cancel Speedy Gonzales”
Pepe Le Pew wasn’t the only Looney Tune under Charles Blow’s scrutiny. He came for Speedy Gonzales — or rather Speedy Gonzales’s friends.
Speedy Gonzales was accused of perpetuating negative stereotypes of Mexicans before. However, many people in that actual demographic view him positively. In his storylines, he is an intelligent and quick-witted hero. But Blow said that Speedy Gonzales’s friends “helped popularize the corrosive stereotype of the drunk and lethargic Mexicans.”
Many people agreed that Speedy and his friends seeming like caricatures. However, many people rushed to Speedy Gonzales’s defense, including the actor voicing him in Space Jam 2, Gabriel Iglesias.
“It’s better to educate than to obliterate…“
“It’s not surprising that Fluffy is defending him, and that’s his right,” said Frederick Luis Aldama. He is a university professor at the Ohio State University and specializes in depictions of Latinx culture in media. “This isn’t the first and only time it’s come up. We’ve been saying this about the character for a while. But does that mean that we obliterate him? No, what it means is that we educate and open discussions so that our kids can understand how stereotypes have existed and how they continue to exist to become critically informed consumers. If we erase the past, how are we going to learn from the past and make it a better future?”
He adds that Slowpoke Rodriguez, Speedy’s cousin, does fit the mold of a negative stereotype, as Blow claimed.
Funnily enough, Speedy was actually canceled in 1999 when Cartoon Network removed him from their lineup. However, a successful fan petition brought him back on the air. He has since appeared in other Looney Tunes installments and reboots. Since the almost-cancelation, Warner Bros. had made small updates to the character, including hiring Latinx voice actors for him. For now, fans could be excited to see him in the upcoming film.
“We’re making change,” said Aldama about the new voice cast, “and I’m of the position it’s better to educate than to obliterate.” [4]
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Sources
- “Six Seuss Books Bore a Bias.” The New York Times. Charles M. Blow. March 3, 2021
- “Pepe Le Pew Won’t Be Appearing In Warner Bros’ ‘Space Jam’ Sequel.” Deadline. Anthony D’Alessandro. March 7, 2021
- “‘Space Jam 2’: How Cancel Culture Came For Pepe Le Pew, Speedy Gonzalez And Looney Tunes.” Forbes. Dani Di Placido. March 10, 2021
- “Why Pepé Le Pew and not Speedy Gonzales? ‘U can’t catch me, cancel culture’.” Yahoo Entertainment. Ethan Alter. March 10, 2021
- “Why you won’t see lecherous skunk Pepé Le Pew in LeBron James’ ‘Space Jam’ movie.” Los Angeles Times. Christie D’Zurilla. March 8, 2021