In LeBron James’s upcoming cash grab Space Jam 2, an attempt to fully replace Michael Jordan in the annals of history, LeBron has a conversation about consent with Pepe Le Pew, the infamously creepy Looney Tunes skunk. According to Deadline, a scene was filmed in which Pepe, a bartender, starts kissing a woman’s arm because that’s what he has done since he was first drawn. The woman retracts her arm. Pepe then comments casually that Penelope the Cat, a Tune that he frequently harassed throughout the ’90s, has filed a straining order against him. James, the hero, “remarks in the script that Pepe can’t grab other Tunes without their consent.” Incredible.
A human man talked to an animated skunk about consent because of a legal issue with a cat. Absorb that for a moment.
But it appears that conversation was for naught because Pepe Le Pew has been fully erased from the Space Jam sequel, not that he was much of a figure in the first film. This to me, seems like a conspiracy and a cover-up to protect that skunk from the cultural keyboard lashing he so richly deserves from those of us who spend all day tweeting about the morality of cartoon characters. Make the skunk suffer, you cowards!
DISCUSSION
This honestly feels like a mistake. Keeping Pepe in the movie with this single scene and keeping it a simple lesson about consent seems like a missed opportunity.