‘Anti-Woke’ YouTube Is Confused By ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’

YouTubers seem confused by the simplicity of the Super Mario Bros. Movie, unsure whether to label the children’s animated film “woke,” or “anti-woke.”

You might be wondering why anyone would even view a movie like Super Mario Bros. through the lens of the culture war, but the online media ecosystem has become exceedingly divorced from reality; even silly kid’s movies spark melodramatic reactions.

Whenever a new adaptation of a beloved IP is released, like Super Mario Bros., YouTube is flooded with video essays earnestly discussing the politics of said adaptation. This phenomenon is by no means exclusive to the reactionaries of “anti-woke” YouTube — “LeftTube” is brimming with essays dissecting the politics of, like, SpongeBob SquarePants — but “anti-woke” reaction videos have proved immensely popular, with many boasting millions of views.

Over-analyzing kid’s media can make for an entertaining video essay, but at its worst, “anti-woke” YouTube fuels reactionary backlash against diverse casting and strong female characters, explicitly framing these qualities as intrusive and damaging to storytelling.

When attempting to analyze Super Mario Bros., things got pretty silly, because there’s simply nothing there to analyze. The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a great bit of fun, better than it has any right to be, but the film is pretty much a series of colorful action sequences that mirror segments of the games.

Super Mario games are almost completely devoid of plot, lore and character development (although, with a franchise as diverse as Mario, there are exceptions, such as Paper Mario). Generally, there is no story; Mario is tasked with defeating Bowser, rescuing Princess Peach, and, well … that’s about it.

In the film, Princess Peach is an agile fighter, brimming with confidence (she has been depicted this way before), while Mario is introduced as a fish-out-of-water who has to learn how to be a hero. However, Peach is very friendly and supportive of Mario, and doesn’t really outshine him; hence, “anti-woke” YouTube wasn’t sure whether to be angry about it, and reactions were amusingly divided.

Super Mario Bros. scored a record-breaking opening weekend, which isn’t particularly surprising; it’s an entertaining movie, starring one of the most iconic video game characters of all time. The film’s success inspired many right-wing culture warriors to run with the “anti-woke” narrative, as a way to “explain” the film’s popularity.

Assigning any political perspective to Super Mario might be a desperate reach, but justification for the “anti-woke” label seemed to stem from the criticism of John Leguizamo (who appeared in the 1993 live-action Super Mario Bros. movie), and recently expressed disappointment that the new film failed to include a Latin actor.

“They messed up the inclusion,” Leguizamo told TMZ. “They dis-included. Just cast some Latin folk! We’re 20% of the population. The largest people of color group and we are underrepresented.”

The backlash against the casting of Chris Pratt as Mario was cited as another piece of evidence, as Pratt is disliked by a segment of the internet for allegedly attending a homophobic church, and generally for his “out-of-touch uncle” vibes.

The Rotten Tomatoes divide between audiences and film critics was cited as “proof” that critics were blinded by their hatred of Pratt; even Elon Musk took the time to comment.

Keep in mind, this is a movie made for 8-year-olds, and their nostalgic parents. Everything, it seems, has become fuel for the culture war, especially children’s movies.

For what it’s worth, I thought the Super Mario Bros. Movie was cute, and my kids loved it; there really isn’t anything else to say.