Why The Space Jam 2 Clockwork Orange Cameo Is So Controversial

Warning: The following contains discussions of sexual violence and other potentially triggering content.

Controversy arose in the wake of the release of the first trailer for Space Jam 2, which included a cameo by Alex DeLarge and his droogs from A Clockwork Orange. It’s a strange addition to a family-friendly movie that caused a number of people to ask why these characters would be featured in the trailer, particularly after a recent controversy regarding the Looney Tunes character Pepe Le Pew and his removal from the movie.

The controversy began with a March 3, 2021 editorial by New York Times writer Charles M. Blow, who made an offhand remark about how Pepe Le Pew “normalized rape culture” in the midst of discussing how many older works once approved for children were problematic by modern standards. A few days later, Warner Bros. announced that Space Jam 2  director Malcolm D. Lee had cut the film’s one scene containing Pepe Le Pew, which had been partly recorded by the film’s previous director, Terence Nance. The scene would have spoofed Casablanca and shown the overly amorous Pepe, who has never worried much about boundaries, being taught about consent after pursuing an unreceptive Greice Santo. This decision had been made over one year earlier, after Lee took over the directing duties on Space Jam 2. Warner Bros. went on to announce that there were no plans to use Pepe Le Pew in any future Looney Tunes projects.

The controversy arose again in the wake of the release of the first trailer for Space Jam 2, which featured a number of cameos by characters from various Warner Bros. properties. While many of these characters were from movies and television shows that would likely be considered inappropriate for a younger audience, such as Game of Thrones and Mad Max: Fury Road, the one that seemed to gain the most attention on social media was a group of gang members from Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. Many questioned how Pepe Le Pew could be retired because of his problematic behavior and yet a group of gang members who had done much worse in their iconic movie was being presented as an Easter egg in the same creative work.

Released in 1971, A Clockwork Orange remains one of the most controversial movies in cinematic history. The film is set in a dystopian future and is centered around a juvenile delinquent named Alex DeLarge, who leads a gang of similarly thuggish teenagers in committing various crimes, including rape, robbery and assault. While the movie has been highly praised for how it adapted the original novel by Anthony Burgess and tackled some heavy philosophical questions about free will and the nature of good and evil, it is also full of intense violence and a number of disturbing scenes, including graphic sexual assault. Indeed, the final film was so shocking that it was banned outright in several countries. Given that, it’s not surprising that many are stunned to see Alex and his droogs enjoying a basketball game in the Space Jam 2 trailer.

It should be noted that the characters can’t be truly equated, as Pepe Le Pew was created to be a sympathetic (if not quite heroic) being whose lack of boundaries and inability to take “no” for an answer were meant to be silly, whereas the gang in A Clockwork Orange were outright villains. This makes any further use of Pepe’s character problematic and it would do nothing to change the Looney Tunes cartoons of the past. Moreover, setting up Pepe’s redemption as a subplot in Space Jam 2would only serve to distract from the central storyline, which seems a likely reason why Malcolm D. Lee cut Pepe’s scene in the first place. While it might be possible for Warner Bros. to find some way to revamp Pepe Le Pew, it shouldn’t be done as a secondary storyline in a larger work that will likely be a new generations’ first introduction to the Looney Tunes characters.

About The Author

Matt Morrison
(1835 Articles Published)

Matt Morrison has been writing about comics since before the word
“blogging” was coined. He got his start writing for the
legendary DC Comics digital fanzine Fanzing,
before receiving his own column, The Mount. Since then he has gone on
to write for over a dozen websites, including 411
Mania, Comics
Nexus and The Cult of Nobody. He holds both an MS in Information
Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the
University of Texas at Arlington. Known as a font of comic book
history trivia, he has delivered lectures on the history of American
Comic Books, Japanese Manga, Doctor Who, and Cosplay at over a dozen conventions
and served as an Expert In-Residence for a course on Graphic Novels
for Librarians at the University of North Texas. In addition to his
work for Screen Rant, Matt is currently the Editor In Chief of
Kabooooom.com and writes reviews for No
Flying, No Tights – a graphic literature and anime review site
aimed at teachers and librarians. He also maintains a personal blog –
My Geeky Geeky Ways –
which hosts his extensive episode guide for the television series
making up The Arrowverse as well as his
comedic Let’s Play videos. What little spare time he has is
devoted towards acting, role-playing, movie-riffing and sarcasm. You
can follow his adventures on Twitter, @GeekyGeekyWays.

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