People love cartoon characters, but does anyone really respect them? Does anyone list a cartoon character as one of their role models? (If you think Foghorn Leghorn is a role model, you need therapy.)
Maybe that's why Eddie and Roger are drawn to each other, even if they don't want to be at the beginning of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Neither of them have jobs that garner any respect. People love to laugh at Roger, and they laugh at Eddie too. As a sleazy private eye who takes scandalous photos of private moments, Eddie's reputation is in the gutter.
But together, they end up solving one of the biggest crimes in Los Angeles, and it wouldn't happen without each man's (or rabbit's) unique skills. They're dirty jobs, but someone has to do them.
Questions about Respect and Reputation
- What is Eddie's reputation as a private detective?
- How does Judge Doom try to manipulate the reputation of Toons to turn people against them?
- In what ways is a character's reputation influenced by their looks? Would Jessica have a different reputation if she looked different?
Chew on This
Eddie's reputation's bad because he's the type of guy who takes sneaky photos of people, but it's one of those sneaky photos that ends up leading him to a pivotal clue. People with bad reps can do good things.
Jessica's bad reputation is entirely based on classic tropes about the "femme fatale," but she subverts and reverses them at the end.