Inner Beauty Parry 12/11/21 – That Time I Messed Around with Super Mario Himself

I used to go to the Nintendo World Store a lot of the time.

Did you know Mario’s voice actor does this motion capture thing where he talks to people looking at the screen? Apparently he’s been doing it since even before Mario 64.

He does a few silly impersonations, lets kids and adults ask him questions, and sings songs in the Super Mario voice. What else would he do?

I got an idea I couldn’t resist. I’d ask him if he knew the first Mario game. The first game he was in.

The answer he gave was “Super Mario Brothers, Whoo-hoo!”.

I corrected him and told him it was Donkey Kong. The 1981 arcade game. He was a bit confused, not entirely amused.

I kind of regretting doing this for a few years after. Obviously, you can’t expect a voice actor to know everything about a character’s history in the mass media.

But I don’t cringe at very much anymore. Why? Well, this type of thing is just about fully soaked with all the behavior that makes your cheeks clench.

The kind the straddles the line between the worst and best behavior. That makes you feel beautiful to go through with. The kind I really want to change, because it’s all too common.

What I did back there was an act of testing, not necessarily humiliation or rewarding. What I was doing and what would result of it would depend upon Mr. Martinet’s knowledge. Either I’d be impressed and smile, or unimpressed and sneer.

And it’s not like I was trying to disparage anyone. This was a game, this was a silly event. Even making it look like Mario didn’t know his own games was a mischief few could resist.

And yet, there’s still an underlying urge for comeuppance in these actions. Humans are always trying to gently stick it to people they think just might have more worth…….than they’re worth. But it’s not entirely an aggressive and demeaning thing. It’s so very….game like. So very made up of what it means….to get around the platforms of a social setting.

We’re all trying to navigate in the way we think a famous, loveable, simple, crafty, spectacular hero could and would.

Jump on the head of ill will, to move to some other mushroom.

The worst and best behavior shine like power stars.

I will prefer to try and fall with the air made by a tail.

To avoid the pits even the invincible can’t.