For what it’s worth, HE agrees with the cancellation of Pepe Le Pew, the sleazy French skunk who’s been putting lechy moves on reluctant cats since 1945, or 76 years ago. “Constantly on the quest for love” isn’t the half of it — he’s a masher, an obnoxious creep, even a “normalizer of rape culture,” as Charles Blow recently wrote. American culture chuckled along for decades**, but no longer.

One presumes that Speedy Gonzalez is next on the chopping block. And then that racist Jack Benny-Mel Blanc Mexican band routine that I wrote about on 4.28.18:

“Obviously built on dismissive racial stereotypes, this Mel Blanc-Jack Benny routine was regarded as hilarious back in the day. If I were to really let my guard down I’d admit that it’s still half-funny now, albeit in a lame, stupid-ass way. Four years ago a YouTube commenter named Armando Vertti said “I’m Mexican, and I find this SO FUCKING FUNNY!” It shows how different American attitudes were back in the Eisenhower-Kennedy days. (The sombrero-wearing guy was Mel Blanc, who voiced all the big WB cartoon characters — Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, etc.) Will I get into trouble for posting this? I’m just saying ‘this is how it was.'”

The tide began to turn in the mid to late ’60s. Bill Dana dropped his Jose Jimenez routine in 1970.

** Pepe Le Pew was originally conceived as a parody of Charles Boyer’s Pepe Le Moko, an amorous thief, in Algiers (’38).

March 8, 2021by Jeffrey WellsNo Comments