1. What Were The Political And Social Ramifications Of Space Jam?
We don't know about you, readers, but we certainly walked away from Space Jam with a lot of questions. Like, why is Bill Murray in this movie? Who told Michael Jordan he could act? And if the Looney Tunes live "under" our world, do they technically come from Hell? What we didn't know is that there are some actual, serious "what ifs" left unexplored by this nineties classic that sees NBA All-Star Michael Jordan being recruited by Bugs Bunny and friends to win an intergalactic basketball game so they don't get enslaved by an alien Danny DeVito. With a premise like that, how can it not bring up some earth-shaking questions? At the end of the film Michael Jordan helps the Looney Tunes avoid being kidnapped by some bad extraterrestrials, and returns to basketball, having retired and tried his hand (unsuccessfully, we might add) at baseball. Surely there would be more lasting implications of his whole adventures than playing for the Chicago Bulls, though? Like, we now have evidence not only of alien life, but also that the Looney Tunes are real - implying there are alternate realities - and that major sports are being manipulated not only by bribery and corruption, but evil aliens too? Plus the existence of the Looney Tunes, and their world not being affected by mortality and the laws of physics, would kind of mess with our own world, too. One particular user who has a lot of imagination and free time went through all of these scenarios, positing that technology and trade would be greatly changed thanks to trips over to the Looney Tune universe, that national space programs and defense budgets would soar thanks to the potential for alien invasion (but might also unite the world in peace at last, against a common enemy), all the NBA players would be heroes, and then Barkley, Shut Up And Jam: Gaiden would happen. Well, that's if anybody believed Michael Jordan's crazy story. Otherwise he might just get institutionalised, and the biggest change to our universe would be that he was forced to retire from basketball a little earlier. And never disappoint us all with his horrible post-fame career and tweets.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
