Pepé Le Pew, a character from Looney Tunes, is the latest cartoon to get cancelled. On March 6, Columnist Charles M. Blow from New York Times tweeted how the character “added to rape culture.” Here’s a look at the drama.
This news comes after Dr. Seuss’s work was surrounded by controversy for its underlying meaning. Six of his books were pulled out for “racist and insensitive imagery.” These books were: “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” “If I Ran the Zoo,” “McElligot’s Pool,” “On Beyond Zebra!,” “Scrambled Eggs Super!,” and “The Cat’s Quizzer.”
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Pepé Le Pew cancelled
Charles took to Twitter and explained why Pepé “added to rape culture.” His tweet read: “1. He grabs/kisses a girl/stranger, repeatedly, w/o consent and against her will. 2. She struggles mightily to get away from him, but he won’t release her 3. He locks a door to prevent her from escaping.”
To prove his point, Charles also accompanied the post with a video that showed snippets from the show.
In another tweet, Charles further justified his claim and wrote, “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. 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.”
Twitter reacts to Pepé Le Pew’s cancellation
Following the news of Pepé’s cancellation, people shared a clip of Dave Chapelle’s comedy sketch where he called out the cartoon for being problematic. One tweet read: “Pepe Le Pew has been called out by Dave Chapelle for being a creep long before 2021 declared he was “Cancelled”.
On the other hand, Twitter was filled with mixed reactions over the latest cancellation. Some users expressed their support towards the cancellation, while others questioned cancel culture.