When the first Space Jam movie was released in 1996 the NBA, cartoons and really the whole world were very different to what they are in 2021. NBA Jam was a hit, Snoop Dogg wasn’t streaming, no Me Too movement, no pandemic, not many argued Michael Jordan was the greatest of all-time and a film about Looney Tunes playing basketball couldn’t be a topic for controversy.
Space Jam: A New Legacy will see LeBron James captain the Tune Squad the same way Jordan did 25 years ago, but even his teammates will have undergone a few changes since they last stepped on the hardwood. In one particular Space Jam scene, once the Tunes finally get rolling against the Goon Squad, Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam literally shoot one of the Monstars’ teeth off as the camera then shifts to the pair who are sporting the iconic Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield look from Pulp Fiction and Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” starts playing.
A funny movie reference by all accounts, yet not one many kids probably caught at the time nor is it the kind bound to make it into Space Jam: A New Legacy as HBO Max notably made Elmer Fudd check his guns at the door when it launched the Looney Tunes Cartoons reboot in 2020. The move from Warner Bros. Animation was seen as controversial last year, but it was nothing compared to the waves of media attention Space Jam has drawn recently.
Despite being a kids movie, the original Space Jam is actually filled with jokes that weren’t really written for children, but rather for the adults that were taking those kids to see the movies. One area where this is also quite noticeable was Lola Bunny’s overtly sexualized character design, which is now more in tune with the uniforms worn by actual WNBA greats like Diana Taurasi.
Lola Bunny herself was part of these more adult jokes as Bugs Bunny is so lovestruck the first time he sees her that he literally goes “stiff” the moment they meet. Lola was still very much a femme fatale, she was the Looney Tunes highest scorer after Jordan and had the attitude to back up her game, but her skimpy shorts and crop top were an unnecessary element in a kids movie as has been stated by people working on Space Jam: A New Legacy.
In fact, since Space Jam is now taking advantage of the WarnerMedia corporate umbrella, Lola is hanging out with the Amazons from Wonder Woman when Bugs Bunny goes out to find her in the new film. Whatever kind of humor is worked into this, it simply is a much more fitting setting for a character that gains a lot from being reworked this way.
The same cannot be said of poor old Pepe Le Pew, who’s been cut from Space Jam’s roster after director Malcolm D. Lee couldn’t find a place for his flirtatious antics. As recent reports suggest, the character was scrapped alongside a scene that would have seen Pepe get reprimanded for his behavior towards female Tunes by LeBron James and Bugs Bunny themselves while getting a lesson on the meaning of the word consent.
Despite that, the decision does beg the question, is it truly the way to handle Pepe? According to Space Jam actress Greice Santo, a noted spokesperson against sexual harassment, by canceling Pepe all the movie does is miss out on an opportunity to teach kids a lesson.
Being horrified and cringed out by Pepe Le Pew is the normal reaction for people to have, as Dave Chappelle was commenting on the cartoon’s inadequacy around the time Space Jam premiered and by 2009, Pepe and Penelope Pussycat’s relationship had turned consensual for an AT&T ad. When LeBron James is the role model delivering that message, it simply becomes more powerful than not broadcasting it at all.
And that is perhaps one of the most meaningful differences between the first Space Jam and A New Legacy, the actual athletes that star in each film. 2020 saw The Last Dance become one of its most successful documentaries, as audiences got an up-close look at Michael Jordan, with His Airness himself making the distinction between him and athletes like Muhammad Ali by saying he simply never thought of himself as an activist.
When LeBron makes his Tune Squad debut, coincidentally also after winning his fourth championship ring, he’ll be representing that very same type of athlete Jordan wasn’t. LeBron has recently told the media he will “never shut up about things that are wrong,” he’s founded schools and is very much an activist for issues that speak to him because he simply can’t turn a blind eye to using the platform he has access to.
At the end of the day, superstar athletes are individuals just like everyone else, they get to make their own choices and whether sports figures choose to be vocal or not about social and political issues is entirely up to them, not to the public that watches them play. However, by removing Pepe, instead of having LeBron teach him a lesson, Space Jam does seem to be taking the easy way out by passing on the shot to condemn the French skunk as the relic of the past he is.
Space Jam is still just a kids movie, it can’t be expected for the film to navigate through complicated waters that society itself can’t sort out like proper representation of female characters, the dynamics of relationships between men and women, consent, or the role cultural icons and NBA players should or shouldn’t have. Space Jam: A New Legacy –just like society itself: made up of the sum of individuals, it’ll absolutely nail some of its decisions and get as many wrong, all depending on the eyes of who’s judging.
Controversies like these are not even about a film meant for kids using humor that caters to adults, as Pixar usually plays this card masterfully; like many other shows and movies from 25-30 years ago, not all of Space Jam aged necessarily well. It just so happens that Space Jam’s plot revolves around one of the most popular sports in the world, while starring one of the most recognizable athletes and cartoon characters on the planet. To put it simply, it’s pop culture at its finest and for that reason it cannot ever ignore the cultural differences that separate the 90s from now.
Space Jam: A New Legacy is now scheduled for release in theaters and HBO Max on April 16, 2021
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