Blogpost 8: Super Mario: What Parents Need to Know

When I was a kid, having a video game means you're a cool kid. Now, playing video games means you are definitely normal.  Most of the people nowadays have Ps3 or Ps4, Personal Computers, Laptops, or smartphones, and that only means that technology is evolving fast as much as games do. I played a lot of video games like Poke'mon, Street Fighter, Tetris, most of them are 2d, pixelated, and blurred graphics, but, there is one game that always catches my attention, or should I say, "our" attention. It is none other than the jumpy plumber, Super Mario. Super Mario is one of the most iconic video game characters of all time. Despite it's cartoonish feeling, it also renders with 3D (Nintendo's current console - 3DS). Just like a normal gamer, I'm not into details so that it surprised me to find out that Super
Mario tackles heavy issues in our society.

Based on the first article that I read entitled "From Dtoid's Golden Archives: Dec 19, 2006" , on the website destructoid.com, written by Anthony Burch, this game  tackles about how we grow up without even realizing the hidden messages of the game. Super Mario eats mushroom people. It depicts racism because of the fat Italian, Americanized lingo, Mario always portrays. Then Mario is always addicted to mushrooms and likes to murder everyone that gets in his way. As he quoted, "Actually, when you think about it, Mario's got it pretty easy: almost none of his enemies actively try to attack him, so the only thing he really has to worry about is falling down bottomless pits and getting hit by Bowser's traps. And, really, how hard is it to avoid non-sentient weaponry?"  I've been an avid fan of that game for years, but, honestly,  I have no Idea super Mario can be so gruesome. To know that he is a murderer, I'm kind of thinking that he is a psycho. Just like what I tackled back in my three previous blogs, the word 'Psycho' has been defined from psychological to scientific perception. Now that cartoons are suddenly evolving into gaming, kids are very much influenced by what they play. Anthony didn't just open another shocking revelations for cartoon-based games like Super Mario, but also opens our idea about 'racism' because of some of the jokes presented that might hurt other races. People might imitate these utterances, and unknowingly, might commit racial discrimination, too.

I've read another article entitled, "The Problem With Cartoons: They’re All Racist!", written by Amid Amidi, on the website cartoonbrew.com . The article revolves around the issue in New york Times Magazine, back in 2012. They've used cartoons to exaggerate things and ended up patronizing racism in every joke. As he quoted, "Marche seems to lack a fundamental understanding of the cartoon medium, an art form whose essence is rooted in caricature and exaggeration. He finds offensive stereotypes everywhere he looks, including Blue Sky’s Ice Age, DreamWorks’ Madagascar and Pixar’s Monsters, Inc." It is true that racism is very rampant  nowadays, especially in cartoons. But, we can't deny the fact that cartoons and games are equal in terms of entertainment value. They are both being played and watched  by the kids at the age of seven, and some, even at a much younger age. In cartoons you could watch for hours, while in games for weeks.

Racial discrimination nowadays is being opposed by many people because of its bad impact on a person's behavior. I believe that it is one form of bullying that assassinates the victims" social life. Shows on television, especially cartoons, must be carefully-inspected to avoid bad effects that might ruin the young generation's future. These children are those who easily embrace the language they watch in cartoon shows or games.  We must consider that "Values are caught, not taught". In this case, children must be well-guided by the parents in watching cartoons like Super Mario because aside from enjoying them, they can also adapt easily to the values they present.