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The success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie led some conservative media personalities to credit its box office success to being anti-woke, while also criticizing the film's perceived lack of diversity. However, this sentiment seems to be misguided and misplaced.
To start, the idea that the success of a film can be attributed to its anti-woke message is a simplistic and reductionist way of viewing the world. It also fails to consider the other factors that may have contributed to the movie’s success, such as the nostalgia factor that attracts fans of the classic video game, the star-studded voice cast, and the overall quality of the film.
However, the conservative reaction to this issue seems to be more about pushing back against the idea of diversity and inclusivity rather than a genuine concern for representation.
Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk called out actor John Leguizamo—who'd starred in 1993's Super Mario Bros.—for criticizing the film's lack of Latin characters and suggested the film had grossed $377 million" because "Nintendo refused to let Mario Bros go woke."
You can see Kirk's post below.
\u201cMario Bros just grossed $377 million\u2014a new record for animated features\u2014despite John Lequizamo boycotting the film because it \u201cmessed up the inclusion\u201d casting two white men, Chris Pratt and Charlie Day, as the Italian American leads. Nintendo refused to let Mario Bros go woke!\u201d— Charlie Kirk (@Charlie Kirk) 1681095474
InfoWars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones pointed to the success of Top Gun Maverick as another example of a film that eschewed "wokeness" and suggested leftists are trying to use it to control the population.
You can hear what Jones said below.
\u201cThe anti-woke Super Mario Bros movie just set a global record. https://t.co/QfhIcHdvF8\u201d— Steven Crowder (@Steven Crowder) 1681137219
Meanwhile, the alt-right activist Jack Posobiec claimed the Mario series' creator "insisted" the film "have as little plot as possible and just feel like one of the games" in a dig against "woke narratives."
You can see his post below.
\u201cThe original creator of Mario, Miyamoto, was heavily involved with the production of the animated film and insisted that it have as little plot as possible and just feel like one of the games\n\nIt has no woke narratives and all the characters are exactly like the original games\u201d— Jack Poso \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Jack Poso \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1681091463
Many have mocked the conservative hand-wringing over "wokeness" in the wake of the movie's success.
\u201cConservatives: \u201cThe Super Mario Bros. Movie did great because it\u2019s not woke!!\u201d\n\nNobody tell them about Birdo!\u201d— Josh P - ELON MUSK IS A FRAGILE RACIST MANBABY (@Josh P - ELON MUSK IS A FRAGILE RACIST MANBABY) 1681220308
\u201cAlex Jones waiting for the Super Mario movie opening weekend gross earnings to roll in to declare it \u201cwoke\u201d or \u201canti-woke.\u201d\u201d— The Emo Dragon (@The Emo Dragon) 1681216126
\u201cApparently the Super Mario Brothers Movie is simultaneously woke for having a powerful assertive woman as a lead character and anti woke for casting two non Latines actors as Italians.\n\nThis is what we in theoretical race theory refer to as Schrodinger's Wokeness.\u201d— Arturotron (@Arturotron) 1681228591
\u201cThe 'is Super Mario Movie Woke" discourse is proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that Big Joel is correct in defining "woke" as just "any liberal or progressive idea or belief"\u201d— Kim Stiens (@Kim Stiens) 1681225136
\u201cI saw Super Mario Bros last night & not once did I think the movie was \u201canti-woke\u201d or \u201cwoke\u201d or any other term people like to use to prove some sort of point. \n\nIt\u2019s just an animated movie, Steven.\u201d— EP (@EP) 1681157482
\u201cif they made super mario sunshine today, tucker carlson would go on a 20 minute rant saying that a game about cleaning up the beach is woke environmentalist propaganda\u201d— zach silberberg (@zach silberberg) 1681147673
Oddly, some conservatives were saying the opposite about the film just last week.
Right-wing commentator Anna Perez became the subject of brutal online mockery after she complained that the film is "brainwashing" girls "to be a feminist" by showing a "badass" Princess Peach.
Perez claimed the film's supposed rhetoric has actual ramifications on society and is "ruining" our collective "culture."