Revisiting Space Jam

We all remember "Space Jam". We remember the McDonald's marketing tie-ins, the lunch boxes, the celebrity cameos, the rise of R. Kelley, the return of Michael Jordan to basketball and the brief resurgence of jock jams on the radio. "Space Jam" sparked one of the most unlikely cultural trends as suddenly images of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck plastered over-sized tee-shirts and hats donned by inner city youth, rendering their "otherness" as animated jesters into the "otherness" of urban ethnicity. The soundtrack, featuring the hottest R+B singers of the day, went six times platinum, peaking at #2 on the billboard chart, and established the career of R. Kelley, who in recent years has proven himself to be just as loony as his animated collaborators.

In the broadest sense, "Space Jam" is a celebration of individualism and the American free spirit. It is an ode to the greatest athlete of the 20th century, as well as a benchmark in the self reflexivity of Loony Tunes not just as a cartoon past time, but as a post-modern pinnacle of comic abstraction in modern art. What grounds "Space Jam's" enjoyability is its acknowledgment of the importance of Tex Avery and Chuck Jones' creations as USDA certified prime genius. Michael Jordan knows Bugs Bunny the same way that America knows Michael Jordan. We watch Jordan fly towards the basket the same way we watch Bugs Bunny befuddle Elmer Fudd, with white knuckles gripping our seats and smiles on our faces. When, in the film, Jordan comes home to find his kids watching an ESPN report about Jordan's poor baseball skills, he immediately switches the channel to Loony Tunes because Jordan knows, just like the rest of America, that Loony Tunes are a trustworthy staple of our television. Nearly every single American alive today has been thoroughly exposed to Bugs, Daffy, and Tweety enough to know that these characters are the least offensive characters to be welcomed into our living rooms; and what "Space Jam" knows, which the rest of us already subconsciously knew, is that Jordan himself has also entered this Pantheon of Positive Public Persona. Michael Jordan, as "Space Jam" dictates, is the most good-natured superstar in the world, so caring and philanthropic that he's willing to play basketball with cartoon characters to save them from becoming slaves.

The great punchline behind this entire set up, the kicker that turns the entire film into a questionably offensive spectacle, is the very fact that despite the masquerade of Americana, "Space Jam" is nothing more than the greatest marketing commercial ever created, yet even more befuddling, is the fact that the movie is aware of it's own ploy, and wears its foul heart on its sleeve. When Wayne Knight tells Jordan to "Slip on your Hanes, lace up your Nikes, take your Wheaties and your Gatorade, and we'll grab a Big Mac on the way to the ballpark", we can see the snide grin behind these words, we're expected to scoff at the shameless product placements, because after all, Michael Jordan is an athlete, the greatest victim of endorsement deals and a virtual slave to corporate America, just as Bugs Bunny is a slave to Warner Brothers - his continuous existence is only fueled by his ability to generate more profit for a mammoth company. This self-reflexivity is only Warner Brother's attempt to appear to appeal to the "Cool", by highlighting their own greed, they think they can deflect the backlash from Americans who would otherwise be offended.

"Space Jam" also serves as a time capsule, not specifically of the 90's, but of a time when American athletes like Michael Jordan could still be placed along side icons like Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe, and media moguls still maintained enough insanity to think that if Michael Jordan could be a star on the court, then he could also be a star on the Big Screen (a fulfillment of any Agent's wet dream who ever saw the cross-over potential in Joltin' Joe and Norma Jean). The mid-90's saw the crossover of many athletes into cinema, most notably Shaquille O'Neil, and more humorously, Hulk Hogan. "Space Jam" overflows with Athlete cameos; some of the funniest scenes in the movie take place between Bill Murray and Larry Bird, both playing themselves ("Larry's not white, Larry is clear"), and the Monstars steal their basketball talent from Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Muggsy Bogues, Larry Johnson, and Shawn Bradley, all of whom lampoon themselves by playing "talentless" versions of themselves. It appears that the mid 90's marked the golden age of athletes and cross-over appeal, or more specifically, athletes who even possess cross-over appeal. Today's athletes just don't possess the charisma or the positive public persona to ever be accepted, or even allowed, in a childrens movie. Michael Vic is a convicted felon, half the baseballs players are on steroids, Kobe Bryant was accused of sexual assault and settled out of court, the Pacers and Pistons are brawling with fans, and R. Kelley, though not an athlete, has since been accused lewd acts with a minor.

"Space Jam", if nothing else, will forever remain a monument of American self-praise. Released during Clinton's first run off office, long before sex-scandals became a national past-time, before 9-11 and economic disaster, "Space Jam" represented America as it sold itself to the world: Individual, impressive, innovative and important . The movie was a monolith of Americana for future generations, designed to say "I am America, king of kings, look upon my works ye mighty and despair!" Alas, nothing beside remains. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away.