Bird Furious
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Yes, I like the Mario Movie. Yes, I rewatch it a lot. Sue me. I like animation.
Also, the Mario Movie feels like it was made by people who understand. People who realize that what fans love about Mario (and any other video game, TV show, book, franchise, anything) is the escape. The sensation of 'other'. The movie wasn't made for critics. It was made for us. Well, me.
The movie is about a man feeling small, down on his luck, and just basically like an abject failure. Then he gets dropped somewhere else and becomes The Hero. Even if he doesn't know it, he's slated to win in the end.
Deep down, whether you feel like a failure or not, I believe everyone wants that kind of Other. Everyone wants a magical, strange place made just for them--- not just to run away, but to conquer. We want twists of fate to sweep away all our problems and replace them with simple, clear obstacles with shining glory and happiness at the end. Preferably skewed in our favor.
The Mario Movie is an example of something we want.
Also, I love animation. Something about it makes me happy. And it's colorful and pretty and yeah I kinda wish I could rule a kingdom and eat flowers that make me fiery so I could... throw fire, I guess. And I'd love if that kingdom happened to have magic regions with cool ice places and lava places and why not throw some colorful gumdrop mountains too.
Besides, it's Mario. You're not going to see a complex story with tons of character development. It's a video game movie with a fairytale ending.
And yes, I want that.
Maybe that's why I watch it every now and then.
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(Long time Baptist here, here to disagree slightly because I do believe differently from the LDS org, love theology and discussions, and love talking about stories in general. Skip this post if you don’t wanna read it, but this is a forewarning just in case.)
I do think that it is human nature to feel off about getting something you didn’t earn, mainly because that’s how the world works. You work for something, you ‘deserve’ it. But Christianity teaches that we can’t be good enough ever. We have chosen to start out as crap, and as a result we die, worn out, ragged, and broken.
However, that’s what I think makes Christianity amazing and so countercultural. We literally can’t work enough to be right with God. Nothing we do can give us enough worth to deserve heaven. It literally takes a miracle to set us right with God, and that’s what He provides with Jesus.
So while I do think the Mario Movie does a good moment with an “earned” Deus Ex Machina (similar to Thor or any episode of Solo Leveling), and that it is good to have those stories encourage us, especially Christians, to work for what God decrees is good, I disagree that it is a good analogy for how God views his followers. He had to drag us, kicking and screaming, until we saw that He was the only solution to the problems in the world. We don’t deserve His help or His solutions, He offers them to us freely because He loves us, wants us to find His peace, and follow His purpose. At the very least, when I acknowledge that God needs to be the center of my life and I let Him be that, I do better mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
TLDR: I disagree that working for the Christian God’s goals makes him reward us with His presence. He gives it to us as a gift if we only will take it and let Him lead us. I do agree that the Mario movie’s climax is a fantastic ending to a good story. (Sorry for text wall, I just love this topic. If you wanna continue this just DM me or post something in my status page. I storming love having these conversations)
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