NOTE: This post is an expansion of an argument originally made in episode #87 of MovieChatter, which can be found here. It is not meant to be read as an attack on Space Jam, Michael Jordan, or capitalism, but simply as an exploration of how historical and cultural attitudes can unintentionally affect the production and content of art.
For young boys growing up in the mid-90s, Space Jam was the equivalent of a cinematic wet dream. Whoever decided to take Michael Jordan and Bugs Bunny and put them together in the same movie was a genius. I’ve never been much of a sports fan, but even as a child I had seen enough commercials for Nike and underwear to know about Michael Jordan. I knew that he met the American standard of “cool.” And I was already absolutely certain that the Looney Tunes were one of the most brilliant artistic creations of all time. So any film that put them together in the same frame, let alone for 90 minutes, automatically deserved an honorary Academy Award for Best Motion Picture Of All Time.