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.
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.
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.
Many have mocked the conservative hand-wringing over "wokeness" in the wake of the movie's success.
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."
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