The internet has been buzzing this week ever since a New York Times columist set forth the cancelation of cartoon character, Pepé Le Pew.
The Looney Tunes character has been accused of "adding to rape culture." While a lot of people agree with this character backlash, one person who adamantly does not is the creator's daughter, Linda Jones.
Come see what she had to say.
It all started when New York Times columnist, Charles M. Bow, called out Pepé Le Pew and Speedy Gonzales during his piece on racism in children's culture i.e. books and TV shows.
"Speedy Gonzales, whose friends helped popularize the corrosive stereotype of the drunk and lethargic Mexicans."
On Twitter, he carried on with his sentiments, writing that Pepé Le Pew "added to rape culture."
"This helped teach boys that 'no' didn’t really mean no, that it was a part of 'the game', the starting line of a power struggle," he wrote.
"It taught overcoming a woman’s strenuous, even physical objections, was normal, adorable, funny. They didn’t even give the woman the ability to SPEAK."
The character's scene from the upcoming film, Space Jam: A New Legacy was also cut from the film. Although this decision was made before the New York Times piece came out.
He had starred in the first Warner Bros. Space Jam movie in 1996.
She's the daughter of the character's creator, Chuck Jones.
In an interview with TMZ, she said that she doesn't believe that Pepé's actions inspired people to go out and rape or harass people.
She did, however, admit that Pepé constantly grabbing Penelope the Pussycat doesn't look good in today's culture.
But that this wouldn't be seen as normalizing rape culture during the '50s, '60s, or '70s. Regardless, she doesn't believe that Pepé should be canceled.
She also defended her late father by saying that he was a "super liberal dude" who would never intend to hurt people.
That Pepé was simply created for comedy.
She linked Pepé to Charles Boyer, a popular French actor who was known for playing suave characters.
She doesn't believe that the character meant harm when aggressively pursuing Penelope the Pussycat, who he mistook for a skunk.
Despite everything, she said that she has no problem with Warner Bros. deciding to cut Pepé's scenes from the upcoming film.
"...seeing as she's been through a lot herself working her way up as an executive of her own company," the outlet reported.
But she does hope that the character can be brought back in a different fashion down the line.
This could be possible, considering Warner Bros. updated the look of Lola Bunny in the new film to make her appear less sexualized.
What do you think of Pepé Le Pew's cancellation? Do you agree with Linda? Let us know in the comments!
