Pa ‘from the character of Pepé Le Pew

Pepé Le Pew, the smelly skunk of French origin created by Warner Bros. in the animated stories Looney Tunes and characterized by chasing a cat to kiss her convinced that he cannot resist his charms, is out.

The cartoon is one of the newest animated characters to receive a review for the inappropriate messages it “normalizes”. In his case, violence against women.

In recent days, Warner announced a decision to properly store the character for “normalizing” incorrect messages. And now “Space Jam: A New Legacy” director Malcolm D. Lee has edited the scene where that character appeared.

According to what had happened, Pepé Le Pew would be part of a series of the animated film that will premiere on July 16, in which he mimics the movie “Casablanca” in which he represents a bartender who flirts with a woman. In a sequence that has been repeated since its inception in 1945, the skunk begins to kiss the woman’s arm, but she pushes him away and hits him with a chair; He tosses his drink at him and slaps him, spinning him around in his chair.

It is then that LeBron James and Bugs Bunny arrive, looking for Lola Bunny. Pepé tells them he knows where she is and casually tells them that the cat Penelope (the character who is being harassed in the dolls) has issued a restraining order against her. Then LeBron James warns him not to touch others without their permission.

The decision to delete the scene was not to the liking of Greice Santo (“Jane the Virgin”), who portrays the character of the woman who confronts Pepé because, as a victim of sexual harassment, she believed that the skunk in the scene was finally getting her. earned.

While it is certain that it is not a related decision, the truth is that the news of Pepé Le Pew’s elimination from “Space Jam 2” coincides with the publication of an opinion column in The New York Times last weekend, in the one that Charles Blow assured that Pepe Le Pew “normalizes rape culture” and that he has sparked a discussion about the social representations of dolls in popular culture.

In recent days, Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced it will stop selling six of its books that “misrepresent people in hurtful and wrong ways.”

In his column, Blow claims that Le Pew repeatedly tries to kiss the other character without their permission, and no matter how hard she tries to run away, he doesn’t budge and even locks the door.

The columnist also criticized representations of puppets like Speedy González, which help “popularize the biting stereotype of drunk and lethargic Mexicans”; or the secondary character that appears in “Tom and Jerry”, known as Mammy Two Shoes, stigmatized as “a burly black girl who spoke with a strong accent”.

The elimination of Pepé Le Pew isn’t the only change in the next “Space Jam,” as Lola Bunny’s character will have a less sexualized image.

Director Lee was responsible for the change, because while the rest of the anthropomorphic drawings had a childish aspect, Lola Bunny’s attributes and clothing emphasized her sexual characteristics.

“Lola Bunny was very sexualized, like a Betty Boop paired with Jessica Rabbit,” the filmmaker explained to Entertainment Weekly magazine.

One of the details that surprised Lee from the previous movie, released in 1996, is that the rest of the characters named Lola Bunny with nicknames like ‘hot’ and ‘the heartthrob of the baskets’, and her wardrobe was noticeably shorter. than the rest.

“We are in 2021. It is important to reflect the authenticity of strong and capable female characters,” said the director.