No Wonder The Loyal Opposition Sat Stone-Faced During The 2018 SOTU Address — The Words Being Read From The Teleprompters Smelled Like Offensive And Nauseating Skunk-Spray

Jennifer Finney Boylan has found an apt fictional character bearing a remarkable resemblance to the current occupant of the Oval Office — the Looney Tunes skunk-lothario — "Pepé Le Pew." In fact the aural odor of the sounds that ooze from the current occupant's black hole beneath his nose is the equivalent of the smell of the spray from a skunk's anal scent glands beneath its tail. The current occupant not only imitates the cartoon lothario, "Pepé Le Pew." The cartoon character pretends to be French and the current occupant pretends to be a billionaire. The opening of the current occupant tax returns would reveal a fake-billionaire. If this is a (fair & balanced) description of psychotic self-delusion, so be it.

[x NY Fishwrap]
Who Said It: "Pepé Le Pew" Or Donald Trump?
By Jennifer Finney Boylan


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age american animated answers appears attracted away better bros bugs bunny cartoons cat chain character daffy donald era exploded failed female french inner kisses kitty le looney love magnitude name odor-able pepe pew president pussy road runner smell sometimes state trump tunes usually virtually warner watching white wife won workings

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He grabs pussies. He kisses females without concern for the revulsion and horror they feel for him. Does he ever experience rejection? He does not. “Most men would get discouraged,” he says, referring to those he comes on to. “Fortunately for her, I am not most men.”

He is "Pepé Le Pew." Does he remind us of anyone else?

In advance of Valentine’s Day, and to better understand the inner workings of a man who appears to have no inner workings, I bypassed last week’s State of the Union address and spent the evening watching all 17 "Pepé Le Pew" cartoons, from his 1945 debut in “Odor-able Kitty” to 1962’s “Louvre Come Back to Me!” And I can now share what I have learned — about love, the French, narcissistic personality disorder, men, women, the president of the United States and the smell of Limburger cheese.

But first, for younger readers: "Pepé Le Pew" is a Warner Brothers cartoon character, part of the Looney Tunes stable during the golden age of American animation, alongside "Bugs Bunny, the Road Runner, Daffy Duck" and "Porky Pig."

He was never a marquee star of the same magnitude of, say, "Bugs Bunny" or the "Road Runner." He appeared in just 17 stand-alone cartoons, virtually all of them directed by Chuck Jones. Still, he made a fragrant impression: “For Scent-imental Reasons” (1949) won the Academy Award for best animated short film.

If it seems surprising that there were only 17 "Pepé Le Pew" cartoons, it may be because they seem so similar. Each begins with a cat, usually but (interestingly) not always female, getting a stripe of white paint on its back, usually (but not always) by accident. This makes our hero, Pepé, mistake the cat for one of his own kind — and his response to those of his own kind is always deep and passionate love.

He has a curious way of expressing it, though. Even though he is French (which in the Looney Tunes world is shorthand for relentless amour), his terrible smell repulses the objects of his affection, who struggle valiantly to get away, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. “Odor-able Kitty” ends with "Pepé" with a chain around his ankle. “Now we are inseparable, are we not, darling?” he says. The shot follows the chain across the room to the cat, whose leg is also bound. The last we see of the pussy, she is desperately hacking away at the chain, trying to get free.

That’s all, folks.

It is fair to say these cartoons have not aged well (not a rare quality; see also Disney’s “Song of the South”). But in the #MeToo era, "Pepé Le Pew’s" antics make you want to cover your face with your paws. Virtually his whole oeuvre is a series of jokes about males who — no matter how clearly the point is made — cannot possibly comprehend the magnitude of their own disgustingness.

Which leads us back to the president, who is kind of like Pepé Le Pew with neither French nor stench. This inspires me to ask you to join me in a game, which we’ll call Who Said It — Donald Trump or "Pepé Le Pew"?

1. “You know, I’m automatically attracted to beautiful.”

2. “She thinks that by running away she can make herself more attractive to me. How right she is!”

3. “I just start kissing them. It’s like a magnet.”

4. “I am stupid, no?”

5. “I’m like, smart!”

Answers below, if you actually need them.

There is one thing that I did not know about "Pepé Le Pew" before watching his collected works: He’s not really French. In his very first appearance, "Pepé’s" lovemaking is interrupted by his wife, who calls out his name, “Henry!” Behind her are "Pepé’s" two little children. He tries to explain himself, and as he does, he speaks in his real voice, which has an American accent. His wife responds — not by taking a plane alone to West Palm Beach but by whacking him on the head with an umbrella.

"Pepé’s" entire persona — the French accent, the image of a carefree bachelor, his very name — is a delusion. Just like Donald Trump and his failed university, and his failed steak company, and his failed casinos. "Pepé Le Pew" is fake meows.

It’s worth noting that "Pepé Le Pew" isn’t the only Warner Brothers character who provides a model for the Looney Tunes era we live in now. In “Show Biz Bugs” (1957), "Daffy Duck" and "Bugs Bunny" are engaged in a talent competition; all of "Bugs’s" performances succeed while "Daffy’s" fail. At the conclusion, in a last-ditch attempt to win over his audience, "Daffy" swallows gasoline, nitroglycerin, “a goodly amount of gunpowder” and uranium-238. He lights a match and explodes. The crowd goes wild.

Is there a better metaphor for the election of 2016? There we were, mouths agape, as the most craven soul ever to aim at the White House ran, and won. Ratings went through the roof as everything we ever thought we knew about our country’s decency exploded.

But one wonders whether Donald Trump has the same insight on the consequences of this stunt that "Daffy" does. When "Bugs" asks him for an encore, "Daffy," now a ghost, slowly floats toward heaven.

It’s a great trick, he agrees sadly, “but I can only do it once.”

Answers: 1. Trump; 2. "Le Pew"; 3. Trump; 4. "Le Pew"; 5. Trump. # # #

[Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of thirteen books, is the inaugural Anna Quindlen Writer in Residence at Barnard College of Columbia University as well as a professor in the Department of English at Barnard. Boylan received a BA (English) from Wesleyan University (CT) and an MA (fine arts/writing) from the Johns Hopkins University (MD).]

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