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Is ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ a bad movie? From 'updated' Lola Bunny to WB PR overkill

A lot of social media users slammed the movie for the complete physical transformation of Lola Bunny and for canceling the character of Pepe LePew

LeBron James starrer ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ has been in the headlines ever since its announcement and the much-awaited flick finally hit the theaters across the country on Friday, June 16. As expected, the movie quickly secured a spot on the trending list on Twitter but it seems the movie which had already courted several controversies over its characters failed to impress the ardent movie lovers.

Apart from the A-lister Basketball player, the live-action/animated sports comedy movie stars Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, and Sonequa Martin-Green in live-action roles, whereas, Jeff Bergman, Eric Bauza, and Zendaya are roped-in for the Looney Tunes voice cast. A lot of social media users slammed the film for the complete physical transformation of Lola Bunny and also for canceling the character of Pepé Le Pew.

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Uproar over Lola Bunny’s look

Zendaya, who has voiced the new Lola Bunny in the ‘Space Jam: A New Legacy’ has been slammed on various occasions for not being the correct choice. But even this comes later as the makers were panned on Twitter for completely desexualizing Lola Bunny. The new Lola Bunny has been given a looser-fitting uniform instead of short shorts and crop top from the original 1996 film.  Speaking on the same, film director Malcolm D Lee earlier told Entertainment Weekly how he was caught off guard by the “very sexualized” depiction of Lola and wanted the revamped version to “reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters,” especially since she’s now considered to be the team’s “best non-LeBron player”.  

He also stated, “This is 2021. It's important to reflect the authenticity of strong, capable female characters. She probably has the most human characteristics of the Tunes; she doesn't have a thing like a carrot or a lisp or a stutter.” He added, “So we reworked a lot of things, not only her look, like making sure she had an appropriate length on her shorts and was feminine without being objectified, but gave her a real voice. For us, it was, let's ground her athletic prowess, her leadership skills, and make her as full a character as the others." 

Why was Pepé Le Pew canceled?

Pepé Le Pew is another Looney Tune character that got dragged on the Internet over popularizing negative stereotypes and normalizing rape culture. The toon character Speedy Gonzales too got dismissed under the same umbrella. NYT columnist Charles M Blow claimed in a tweet that the Looney Tunes character 'added to rape culture.' “RW blogs are mad bc I said Pepe Le Pew added to rape culture. Let’s see. 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.” It’s true … Penelope Pussycat was often in Pepe’s clutches," he said.
He added, “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.”

'Space Jam 2' reviews: ‘It felt like a nonsensical movie in the worst sense’

Social media users rushed to Twitter to slam the movie and also to discuss the Looney Tunes’ characters who had already created a lot of noise for the wrong reasons. One user stated, “Space Jam will be forever known for all this fuss rather than everything else.” Another shared, “Yo this movie sucked a**, I have a f**king head ache #SpaceJamANewLegacy” Talking about Lola Bunny, one added, “They should kept Kath Soucie as Lola Bunny instead of Zendaya.” The next one asked, “Why lola bunny sound like a dike??”
 
One individual posted, “Nothing is wrong with how Lola Bunny looks in the new Space Jam, it’s the voice. They could have brought back the original voice w/o the sex appeal. Zendaya’s voice ruined it for me.”  Meanwhile, another trolled Lola Bunny’s physical transformation and said, “Wth happened to Lola bunny’s mommy milkers her chest look like a ironing board.” One added, “This movie is terrible just capitalism at its finest much like Fortnite. A bunch of Warner Bros characters that shouldnt be next to others. Such as Pennywise next to children. A Clockwork Orange. Yet cancel small things like Pepe Le Pew such hypocrisy.” Another asserted, “Just so I understand @warnerbros….Pepe LePew can’t be in #SpaceJamANewLegacy but the rapey, violent gangs from “A Clockwork Orange” can?!?” One user concluded, “Space Jam A New Legacy: oh man…I just wasn’t into this at all sadly. It felt like a nonsensical movie in the worst sense. It was really try hard with the references and jokes. The original had a soul at least that this doesn’t. Soulless indeed."