There are many people on the internet ruining kids movies like Wall-E, telling us that the residents of the ship are actually consuming their own dead shipmates. But Looney Tunes did no such thing. After fan speculation of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck being a couple, the Looney Tunesofficial Instagram posted a ‘Baffy’ edit showing the duo’s adventures and affectionate interactions. Needless to say, the internet lost its mind (in the good and the bad way).
The video came out more than a week ago on July 11, 2022, but it will be historic forever. Some people even ironically point out that historians may call the two characters best friends. This joke comes from the fact that major historians explained obvious homosexual relationships by saying they were ‘close friends,’ ‘inseparable companions’ or more recently ‘roommates.’ Most fans, though, were extremely happy that the creators had finally acknowledged the affections that were brewing between the two characters.
In fact, the admin of the account was not holding back on replying to people’s comments. When one user named, @wackypalooza, commented saying, “UR JUST TEASING US,” the admin replied, “@wackypalooza or am I?” And when another user named, @fifties.felix replied, “HELLO BAFFY EDIT ON THE OFFICIAL LOONEY TUNES ACCOUNT ??!?!!!” All the admin had to do was answer with a winky emoji and the community collectively collapsed.
However, not everyone had the same kind of reaction, especially those fan-made accounts that pretended to be the characters. One of them with the handle @_lolabunnyofficial_, commented, “WTF ?????? Bugs is my boyfriend
are page adm crazy?” and also “Sometimes it's better not to post anything if you're going to post crap like this.” Not to mention, @_bugsbunnyofficial_ also commented saying, “I HAVE A GIRLFRIEND” The kind of outrage cartoon characters face have been really common since many corporations have been introducing their characters as queer. So much so, that even Sponge-Bob received hate for being gay. As some of Instagram influencer @mattxiv’s posts show, the hate comes from a certain amount of hypocrisy. In an educational carousel, he talks about how parents are comfortable showing their kids Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and other Disney films showing two heterosexual characters getting together but the moment a gay couple is introduced, parents feel threatened.
Often, creators that stand for openly talking about sexualities are dubbed as ‘groomers’, a term that is both offensive and highly inaccurate. This homophobic stereotype is reminiscent of the 1970s, when homophobic people used the ‘child safety’ argument to keep them away from learning about queer culture. It is harmful because it lets actual predators and groomers get away with what they do. According to RAINN, grooming is “manipulative behaviors that the abuser uses to gain access to a potential victim, coerce them to agree to the abuse, and reduce the risk of being caught.” Calling queer people ‘groomers’ instills a false sense of fear and perpetuates a culture of otherisation.
While comments under a cartoon video don’t make much of a difference, it is a prong of the narrative that perpetuates hate and deep insult. It shows that audiences are unable to expand beyond a certain idea of affection. Love is love.
