My husband and I finally decided we could brave the movie theater again, and we went to check out Super Mario Brothers. My husband grew up playing these games and has much more nostalgia for them than I did. I appreciate the franchise and respect it, though since I didn’t grow up with it, it doesn’t quite hit me in the feels as hard. However, I wanted to check it out, because I was curious. After seeing how many movie critics should just get over themselves, and how many families actually enjoyed this family-oriented movie, I realized that this was going to be worth supporting. We were thrilled with what we got – this is how movies should be. Imagine a family movie for children is fun, colorful, and exciting.

There also seems to be a debate from Woke vs. Anti-Woke crowd, with some saying that Peach was not boss-girl enough, and some thinking she was over the top. I don’t think she was over the top, and anyone who actually thinks that she was too downplayed and not girl-boss enough is someone that exists to kill vibes at parties. The audience would have been perfectly fine if she WAS a damsel in distress, but also likable and not stupid and annoying. But we are also perfectly fine with her not being a damsel in distress, because she’s still likable and not stupid and annoying. Imagine an encouraging, kind, and wholesome female character…who knew it was still possible.

Because the internet exists, we have to overshare and talk about minor things until the well runs dry. A simple, fun, and family-friendly movie has to be debated and scrutinized over and over again. I think this is largely because of one main thing, and that is family films declining. Disney films have been disappointing lately (from what I’ve researched, since I will not give money to Disney). What the positive reviews are saying about this movie is that it did its job. It entertained and didn’t push agendas. People are hungry for entertainment, and that’s what is so obvious to everyone except Hollywood. Nintendo had to save this movie, because the original script supposedly had Peach completely taking over the movie. If the Woke side had their way, we wouldn’t even get a Mario movie, we would get a Princess Peach movie and she would have Me-too’ed Bowser into the sun. Maybe Mario would have shown up to get stomped on by Princess Daisy, who would have been redesigned as a lesbian. That is basically a picture of Western entertainment right now, and it took Nintendo to set it right. This is why people flock to Japanese anime, because they are not afraid to portray feminine women and good characters in many of their shows.

All that aside, this is a positive turn that I hope sets a trend, and maybe sets an example for the studios like Disney. Take your good ideas, talent, and budget, and make something to entertain people. I’m glad that we got this movie, this is the movie that kids deserve to see, this is the sort of movie that should be made for families. And it scores points for having lots of game references, even if I didn’t quite understand them (though I did catch the musical Mario musical themes). But according to my husband, they were there, and they did a great job with the nostalgic material. Good for them, and good for everyone involved – let’s keep this trend going.