Super Mario Bros. sure gets dark when you really dig into it. Most of us probably don’t think twice about stomping on the various creatures in the game or blowing up castles and ships and everything else. When you really look at it, Mario is pretty destructive, but when you look at it again, it’s a game, and like it or not, people are going to play the game to the best of their ability. The parody of looking at things from another point of view is kind of funny and yet some people might actually think that it’s a serious matter and is teaching kids to be violent and abusive towards animals and the environment. If someone does make mention of that however it might be a good idea to ask them when the last time was that they remember anyone stomping on a turtle and then lobbing the shell at someone. The idea of video games causing violence isn’t total bunk, but going on to say that it’s responsible for all violence committed by kids is overkill that speaks of ignorance on a whole new level.
Those that love to go back into the past for their examples might appreciate this one. What made kids violent back in the days before video games? It’s a guarantee that there were bullies, there were psychotic kids that would be destructive and violent for no better reason than because they wanted to. What caused it though? There were actual street kids in New York that might have committed their first act of assault before they could shave or legally drink. Video game violence, especially stuff like Mario Bros. is easy to laugh at when someone says that it causes real-world violence. To be fair, there are times when video games can be the problem, and it’s when the kids playing them don’t know and aren’t exposed to anything else. Kids that are online playing games for hours and even day at a time might think that violence is how one needs to relate to people, but even that’s kind of hard to believe.
There have been games that kids have played for a long, long time that depict and promote violence of some sort, but only in this day and age are we looking at video games in this funny but telling manner, since now everything is offensive and everything needs to be analyzed to the nth degree so that we understand the motivation and backstory of the villain as well. In other words, the villains of the games are now being given the benefit of doubt, which isn’t too horrible since it makes them more interesting in terms of the overall story. But at the same time, we’re often being asked to empathize with villainous characters now in games, movies, and TV, and to understand what they’re going through since they had a rough life, or something traumatic happened to them, or something that we don’t understand is driving them. It’s no longer as simple as the hero goes and beats the villain any longer since we’ve taken away the black and white areas and mashed them together to make a gray, sappy mush that’s hard to pick apart and almost impossible to fully understand.
Getting back to when video games were about the good guys vs. the bad guys, or just one person vs. another person, is so much simpler, but being shamed for such a thing these days is kind of a given. But thankfully, many gamers still agree that Mario has a purpose, and that’s to fight Bowser and his minions no matter what, and while he probably looks like a monster while doing it, especially from the perspective of certain characters, one can’t help but remind those that want to weep over the bad guys of this one pertinent face: IT’S A GAME. Laughing at all of it is easier than sitting around and discussing the psychological aspects and themes of various video game characters until one is weeping over the state of an imaginary world that has been around longer than some of those that are currently practicing psychiatrists. What’s even funnier is some of those individuals might still enjoy a fun game of Mario Bros. now and then.
Yeah, Mario is pretty destructive a lot of the time, especially when it comes to blowing up castles, but one thing about leaving an enemy stronghold intact is that one either needs to take it over or knock it down in order to secure the place. Like it or not, you don’t necessarily leave a place that’s had so much horror happen in it in one piece if it can be helped, at least in the video game world. But again, it’s a game, and it’s a lot easier to simply get it over and done with and move on to the next level.
Follow Us
