“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was a big hit at the box office over the weekend, and some conservatives had a strange explanation for why: anti-awakening.
The animated film sold a whopping $377 million in tickets worldwide in its first five days, making it the biggest opening of 2023, despite some initial criticism for by Chris Pratt as the voice of the mustachioed Italian plumber made famous in the Nintendo video game.
Also, John Leguizamo, who appeared in the 1993 live-action “Super Mario Bros.” movie ― criticized the new movie for not including a Latino character.
“They got the inclusion wrong,” Leguizamo told TMZ last week. “They dis-included. Just throw in some Latino folk! We’re 20% of the population. The largest group of people of color and we’re underrepresented.”
Leguizamo’s frustration seemed to be a source of joy for some in the conservative media, with Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA praising Nintendo for “refused to let Mario Bros wake up!”
The uproar left some people confused.
One person tried to get specifics on what made “Mario Brothers” “anti-Awakening”, which led to this head swap:
This new conservative appreciation of the film is a far cry from when the trailers came out last fall. Then some conservative types got into a tizzy because the trailer featured Rainbow Road, the culminating course for all Mario Kart games, according to TheGamer.com.
One person accused the producers of including “woke pride flag nonsense” in the film.
Others feared the film would send the wrong message by portraying Mario as “crooked and pathetic” and Princess Peach as a “boss who saves the day”.
