The Spirituality of "Super Mario Bros."

[Serum]

Similar to my thread about the politics of Super Mario Bros., I wanted to talk about the spiritual messages in the movie, as well. From the opening scene, we're bombarded with science. Evolution and such, until we come to 1973 Brooklyn, when the Queen leaves Daisy on the steps of a Catholic church. Daisy was obviously raised in a very faith-based atmosphere, but because of little plot development on her character, we know little of her personal beliefs.

However, the same cannot be said for the Marios. The first time we see Luigi, he's watching a television program called "The Miraculous World," the word "miraculous" being key, here. But before we see Luigi, the camera pans past a picture of their father, past some plungers, the TV, then Mario, sitting at a desk on the telephone. As soon as we see Mario, a flock of doves fly by the window-- foreshadowing Mario's spiritual revelation that will come at the end of the film. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Luigi, the younger brother, represents faith and belief, where as Mario represents logic and science. Mario is skeptical of everything, particularly the ideas presented on "The Miraculous World," and he's obviously been a cynic for too many years.

Soon after they get called to the job at the River Cafe, Mario says "It's a miracle we made it alive," to which Luigi replies "I thought you didn't believe in miracles, mister tough guy." As the story progresses, Luigi meets Daisy and they go down into the dig to check out the bones, but Scapelli's goons try to sabotage the site, so Luigi and Daisy go back to the apartment and seek out the master plumber's help. Mario is seen hanging a picture on his mirror, when Luigi calls him, Mario spins around and a golden chain is seen hanging around his neck. Now, it's hard to tell, but I believe the pendant on his necklace is a crucifix-- a symbol of the Catholic faith. Daisy was raised in a Catholic environment, Mario and Luigi, being of Italian descent, were most likely baptized Roman Catholic. However, despite all of Mario's cynicism and almost nihilistic view on things, he still wears the cross around his neck-- why? He's a poser. In all likelihood, Mario is probably wearing the cross around his neck to make Luigi happy, because where as Luigi believes in everything, Mario believes in nothing.

Once again, the movie moves on, the brothers land in the alternate dimension and Mario still doesn't believe in what he's seeing. But slowly as the movie progresses, he begins to see there's more to life than just cynicism. He sees he has a reason to fight, and whether it's for Luigi, Daisy, Daniella or simply screwing over Scapelli by letting him get turned into a monkey, Mario has a revelation. And at the end of the movie, Daisy bursts in and says "You're never going to believe this!" To which Mario replies "I believe it." Now Luigi, for the first time is skeptical and asks "You do?" Mario smiles wryly and responds "I believe."

So, in a sense, the movie is about an unbeliever coming to have faith in something bigger than himself. There are many other biblical themes in the film as well, such as a chosen one (Daisy), a "serpent" (Koopa) and the theme of resurrection (the King). In a way, the idea of de-evolution being the downfall of the city is similar to the story of Eden, in which by eating the fruit of knowledge, man seals his fate-- but in this case, the "fruit" was a technology so terrible that it backfired in the man who created it's face and ultimately destroyed him. I could go on and on, but just watch the movie yourself and you be the judge.

[1upmushroom]

I agree there's definitly a "Unbeliever finding faith" subtext with Mario but the rest I'm not too sure about. Daisy's religious views have always interested me but we never delved into that.

[Redstar]

This is certainly an underlying theme to the film, though I believe it was far more developed than the political message. It's a shame, though, as you never really get a complete transmission of either theme in the theatrical cut. The film could have benefited from a more definite throughline.

[Skull Kid]

This is hilarious. Catholics don't believe in freaking evolution. Also, those are pigeons, not doves. LOL.

[1upmushroom]

This is hilarious. Catholics don't believe in freaking evolution. Also, those are pigeons, not doves. LOL.

OH now I get it! Your being sarcastic! Now everything makes a lot more sense.

[Redstar]

This is hilarious. Catholics don't believe in freaking evolution. Also, those are pigeons, not doves. LOL.

I would have to disagree. Official Church doctrine is that evolution is entirely compatible with intelligent design. The Pope himself has stated his support of the theory.

[Skull Kid]

That's actually really interesting. I've always wondered why Christians didn't fall back on that. It's always seemed to me that you can easily believe in both too.

[1upmushroom]

It's because the Christians don't believe God would have a reason for using Evolution when he can make humans out of entirely new material. That and the fact that the bible they blieve in clearly states that humans were made by God and not evolution.

[Redstar]

That's actually really interesting. I've always wondered why Christians didn't fall back on that. It's always seemed to me that you can easily believe in both too.

It's because the Christians don't believe God would have a reason for using Evolution when he can make humans out of entirely new material. That and the fact that the bible they blieve in clearly states that humans were made by God and not evolution.

The two aren't inherently conflicting belief systems. Many Christians do believe in evolution as a viable form of creation, so long as God is the guiding hand. The Bible doesn't explicitly discount evolution, after all. Most theologians consider Genesis to be a parable of sorts anyways considering the manner in which it is written.

I think the important question to ask is how the film's universe would react to not only evidence of a parallel world, but one in which dinosaurs have survived and evolved. De-evolution technology alone would have serious social repercussions.

[Prime Evil]

It's because the Christians don't believe God would have a reason for using Evolution when he can make humans out of entirely new material. That and the fact that the bible they blieve in clearly states that humans were made by God and not evolution.

There's also a misunderstanding about the nature of "natural selection," in my findings. See, natural selection is often conflated with "Social Darwinism," which means "survival of the fittest" to some. Except fittest doesn't necessarily mean "strongest," but "most able to pass along one's own traits to the next generation."

When someone says "survival of the fittest," they usually take it to mean "the strong survive and the weak die," and use this as an excuse to be selfish gits. I think this is what most people found offensive about On the Origin of Species back when it was first written, but the problem is, Darwin's book only describes the mechanism by which natural selection and evolution occur. It doesn't tell you how to live at all.

The second thing is, some people just want to feel "special" about themselves, and believing that they (that is, we) were made specifically in God's own image gives them comfort. It goes back to the need to put some sense of order into this chaotic and often frightening world, but the "creation museums" thing comes off like a child clinging to a security blanket!

I myself have no problem knowing that I am a product of random chance--I'm here now, and there's no other way it could have happened.

[Serum]

I'm an existentialist. I don't believe in politics, science or God. Take that, society.

[Skull Kid]

I'm an existentialist. I don't believe in politics, science or God. Take that, society.

Says the founder of the Church of Bob Hoskins. Don't lie to yourself. You believe.

[Guest]

I'm an existentialist. I don't believe in politics, science or God. Take that, society.

Says the founder of the Church of Bob Hoskins. Don't lie to yourself. You believe.

Dude i dont know if you are messing around or you are just flaming Serum for no reason.

[Skull Kid]

Says the founder of the Church of Bob Hoskins. Don't lie to yourself. You believe.

Dude i dont know if you are messing around or you are just flaming Serum for no reason.

Wha? In another post he said he prayed to Bob Hoskins. I'm not flaming Serum, that guy cracks me up!

[Serum]

Everybody relax-- when I say "I pray to Bob Hoskins" I'm kidding. I don't run a church based on the movie, though it'd be pretty funny if I did. Anybody who knows me knows that I love to joke around. Besides, I'm an eccentric fanatic about the film. So, everyone just relax.

In all seriousness, though-- I'm an existential nihilist. If you don't know what existential nihilism is, just do a search.

[1upmushroom]

Oh thank God, you were kidding! Well, anyway to be honest I think there's a good chance you're reading a little too much into this. I mean the whole "unbeliever having faith" theory makes sense but I'm not too sure about the other stuff.

[Redstar]

You know, Serum, you might find "Trust the Fungus": Lessons in Media Literacy Learned from the Movies by Lori A. Norton-Meier to be an interesting read in regards to the film's spiritual/metaphysical themes. It's a paper written by an educator for an academic journal, if you can believe it.

The full paper isn't available online, unfortunately, though if you're interested I can provide it privately.

[Serum]

Ha, someone beat me to it, I see-- writing an article about this, I mean. Sure, I'd like to see it.

[Redstar]

The paper has been sent to both Serum and Skull Kid! Anyone else interested in giving it a read?

[1upmushroom]

The paper has been sent to both Serum and Skull Kid! Anyone else interested in giving it a read?

Sure, I wouldn't mind giving it a read.

[Prime Evil]

And me!