Charles Blow angered the internet when he wrote Pepe Le Pew ‘normalizes rape culture’
A columnist for The New York Times published an opinion article that claims that the French skunk Pepe Le Pew of the Looney Tunes ‘has normalized the culture of rape’.
Charles M. Blow made his critical comments in an article entitled ‘Six Seuss Books Bore a Bias’ published in Gray Lady after news that certain beloved children’s books by Dr. Suess were being ‘canceled’ by racist representations.
In the article, Blow wrote: ‘Some of the first drawings I remember included Pepé Le Pew, which normalized the culture of rape; Speedy Gonzales, whose friends helped popularize the corrosive stereotype of drunken and lethargic Mexicans; and Mammy Two Shoes, a burly black maid who spoke with a heavy accent.
The Times article did not pay much attention to Le Pew, instead choosing to focus on other characters perceived as racist, but it sparked a strong online reaction.
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Blow argued that Le Pew, pictured on the left, grabs and kisses strangers without consent while they fight to escape
In the drawings, the French striped skunk relentlessly chases a black cat named Penelope Pussycat
Charles Blow used Twitter to defend the statements in his column and expand them
The debate over Pepe Le Pew is not entirely new. Comedian Dave Chappelle called Le Pew a rapist in 2000 on his first HBO special, Killin ‘Them Softly
‘[Right-wing] blogs are crazy [because] I said that Pepe Le Pew added to the rape culture. We will see. 1. He repeatedly grabs / kisses a girl / stranger, [without] consent and against their will. 2. She tries very hard to get away from him, but he doesn’t let go. 3. It locks the door to prevent it from escaping. ‘Blow tweeted on Saturday.
‘It helped to teach the boys that’ no ‘didn’t really mean no, that it was part of the’ game ‘, the starting line of a power struggle.’
He continued: ‘He taught that overcoming a woman’s strenuous and even physical objections was normal, lovely, funny. They didn’t even give women the ability to SPEAK. ‘
Blow later added: ‘Misogynists – as well as racists and homophobes – will defend to death their’ right ‘to exercise their harm and, in fact, excuse the harm as harmless.’
The debate over Pepe Le Pew is not entirely new. Comedian Dave Chappelle called Le Pew a rapist in 2000 on his first HBO special, Killin ‘Them Softly.
“They use TV to program us from an early age. Have you ever watched it like a cartoon you used to watch when you were little as an adult? This is wild shit, ”said Chappelle.
Chappelle said he watched Looney Tunes with his nephew and told him to pay attention to Pepe Le Pew ‘because he is funny’.
‘I’m like, good God, what kind of shit rapist is this guy? Take it easy! That guy [his nephew] I was sitting there laughing, like ‘look, sometimes you have to touch that stick like Pepe’, ‘joked Chappelle.
‘I had to turn the canal really fast and turn into Sesame Street.’
In a 2018 article published by Vocal Media, the author argued that: ‘Pepe Le Pew is the mascot of sexual harassment.’
‘Anyone familiar with Pepe Le Pew from the cartoon zoo Looney Tunes will have the same image in his head. A male skunk jumping happily towards a terrified black cat who had the misfortune to somehow have a white stripe painted on her back, ‘said Vocal Media writer Richard Wright.
Wright continued: ‘Pepe Le Pew provided just one of the many clues I received when I was a teenager in the 1980s that normalized the culture of rape and patriarchy.’
Twitter critics came to Pepe Le Pew’s defense after Blow’s comments in The New York Times
“In retrospect, now that I think of several messages that I have absorbed from the entertainment media, there was a lot that I had absorbed and internalized.
However, critics said the design was designed to lampoon the concept of ‘love at first sight’ and not to promote the culture of rape.
In 2019, a Reddit user came to the defense of Le Pew, writing on the subreddit r / FanTheories: ‘I think Pepe’s story is about whether a woman is simply not interested, she is not interested and you should not continue to chase. because Pepe never stays with the girl and when the table turns he is uncomfortable. ‘
‘So I think Pepe’s moral is actually to respect women and not be a skunk.’
– It seems to me that they are missing the fact that the reason for being funny is that Pepe is delusional. It is not being offered as a role model, ‘tweeted @HiddenPinky.
Jerry Dunleavy, an investigative reporter for the DC Examiner, wrote: “Even as a child, I thought Pepé Le Pew with a French accent was the target of the joke.”
‘He thinks he is soft and affable and that women are lucky to get his attention, but he is an idiotic loser and literally a skunk from which the cat runs away. Pepé also hates it when roles are reversed, ‘Dunleavy tweeted.
Wajahat Ali, a columnist for The Daily Beast, tweeted a reference to Martin Niemöller’s poem First They Came, which shows the cowardice of German intellectuals during the rise of Nazism.
– First they came to get Potato Head and I didn’t say anything. So they came to get Dr. Seuss and I said nothing. Now Pepe Le Pew, ‘Ali tweeted.
Jack Posobiec, the far-right political activist, tweeted: ‘If the NY Times says Pepe Le Pew contributes to the rape culture, what will they say about the coming 2 America sequence, where the whole plot is based on the character of Leslie Jones , who raped Prince Akeem? ‘
Actor Michael Rapaport joked that he was calling for the cancellation of Elmer Fudd for ‘animal abuse’.
– I’m asking for the cancellation of Elmer Fudd! This lunatic animal abuser has perpetuated and inspired the lack of treatment of animals for decades. Does he also have a license for the Fire Arms? Rapaport joked.
In another tweet, Rapaport said, ‘No, you didn’t teach the boys anything, you’re BUGGING.’
Some came to Blow’s defense and argued that people try to classify Pepe Le Pew’s actions as ‘romance’
Pepe Le Pew, a Warner Bros. character. ‘The Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series were first introduced in 1945
Another Twitter user joked that Le Pew ‘should have asked for affirmative consent before this kiss, like a real skunk’.
“I shudder to think how this genius will react when he finds out that Wile E. Coyote inspired ISIS suicide bombers,” tweeted @thehankrose.
Others said that cartoon characters should be taken as role models, writing that Blow has ‘a lot of free time’.
‘I never took the Looney Tunes characters as a role model or tried to emulate them. I just enjoyed them as entertainment ‘, tweeted @ J1tten.
In a similar tweet, @BudFugate wrote: ‘Cara is right. Pepe def taught me that, and the coyote taught me that if I tied a boat’s engine around my waist and threw the propeller into a bucket of water while on roller skates, I would go forward very fast.
Some, however, came to Blow’s defense – including blogger Tinu Abayomi-Paul.
‘And they call it romance to try to trick girls into holding on before they become women,’ Abayomi-Paul tweeted.
She added: ‘Again I ask how he is wrong about this type of cartoon that we see AS KIDS contributing to the rape culture. EVERY episode is about your unwanted advances on someone. ‘