Along with Super Mario Odyssey hitting the shelves this week, a Japanese Mario comic has been unearthed in which we can see the hero’s doodle. The Internet is abuzz with allegations of childhoods ruined, but does seeing this picture really destroy innocence?
For many gamers Mario and his friends were prominent childhood figures like Genie or Kermit the Frog. They were there in times of need to provide hours of entertainment and innocent fun. The Super Mario Nintendo games have continued to flourish over the years with the characters jumping from console to console: Nintendo 64, 3DS, Switch. With the release of Super Mario Odyssey this week, a Japanese comic has been unearthed showing Mario’s doodle and the Internet is abuzz with wails of ruined childhoods.
True, nostalgia is a powerful thing and of course we don’t like to have beloved items of our childhood tarnished. Consider the episode of The Big Bang Theory where Amy points the gaping plot hole of Raiders of the Lost Ark out to Sheldon and he spends the rest of the episode scheming and moaning. Of course, being told that Raiders would have had the same outcome without Indi is much worse than seeing a cartoon character’s doodle, particularly this one, and I can’t help but think that all this Internet buzz is coming from people who like using strong words to describe mediocre problems. Seriously, does this image of a cartoon character really destroy innocence?
Image credit: Super Mario Boards
Not only is Mario’s doodle itself kind of cute in its manga style, but the context is perfectly innocent too. Mario is bitten in the bum by a horrid little piranha creature with such force that it blows his pants off. The fact that Peach is there to see the whole thing gives the comic a bit of a high-school boy’s-nightmare feel, but the entire scene is honestly very innocent and actually quite funny and cute. It’s easy to argue that a penis of any shape or form is not for the eyes of children – despite the obvious fact that most kids will see one before they enter kindergarten – and pains are taken to prevent nudity from reaching said audience: e.g. the Crazy Frog music video. But as far as ruining childhoods go, there are much stronger contenders worthy of achieving that feat. How about the recent release from Cards Against Humanity? The “party game for horrible people” released a Disney-themed deck earlier this year and I personally think it takes the cake!
Image credit: Pedestrian TV
Or how about the constant stream of fan and conspiracy theories that people concoct around childhood movies, or the real facts behind those movies for that matter? Remember how much you loved The Wizard of Oz as a child? Well, best then to not think about Judy Garland being unable to breath because her breasts were taped, or the horrific allergic reactions the Tin Man had to his makeup, or the fact that the Wicked Witch was almost burned to death, or how the dog that played Toto almost died…
When you really think about it, as kids we’ve been exposed to far more complex and taboo things than a boy’s downstairs. Anyone who grew up with Disney and The Muppets will have seen Ariel getting married at 16, Big Bird constantly talking to a figment of his imagination, and Animal the drummer doing a spot-on impression of a sex-maniac. Pokémon is about a ten year-old boy who leaves home to capture wild animals and force them to battle each other! This tweet was prominent on my Facebook feed for a while:
“Harry Potter is a story of a white boy who is told he is very special, gets into a prestigious public school because of his parents, inherits vast sums of wealth, takes credit for his friends’ works while nearly getting them killed multiple times. It ends with him becoming a cop.” -@illegalhex.
Oh and I dare you to go back and check out some of those ‘90s kids shows you used to watch. Plasmo, Round the Twist, Rocko’s Modern Life, Ren & Stimpy, Catdog, The Ferals… some of those shows were seriously messed up!
Unless you’re Pheobe from Friends, everyone grows up knowing that Old Yeller gets rabies, Bambi’s mother gets shot, and Charlotte the spider dies. Considering all this, can we honestly say that such an innocent thing as a cartoon character having his pants bitten off ruins childhood?
What are your thoughts on the subject? Leave us a comment below!