Is the blockbuster success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie a victory for the “anti-woke”?

Well, according to right-wing media pundits like Charlie Kirk, Steven Crowder, and Alex Jones, it sure is, mostly because of how the film’s producers ignored public calls to cast Italian American voice actors in the cartoon roles of Mario and Luigi. Yet if you check the Washington Examiner, you can read all about “The Super Mario Bros. Movie’s Invisible Wokeness,” which has something to do with the video game’s Princess Peach being elevated from a damsel-in-distress to a goomba-kicking action heroine. For further analysis, why not consult the Daily Wire, the news site that has become something of an industry leader for conservative pop culture coverage? Here, you can find a detailed breakdown of the issue under the headline “Woke, Or Anti-Woke? The Super Mario Bros. Movie Sparks Debate Among Conservatives About Setting the Bar Too Low.”

If all of this seems like a lot, just wait for later this month when Disney releases its long-awaited live-action remake of The Little Mermaid starring Black actress Halle Bailey in the titular role. Matt Walsh, a Daily Wire contributor, already kicked off the discourse way back in September when the first teaser trailer dropped, courting accusations of racism by remarking on his podcast that “from a scientific perspective, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to have someone with darker skin who lives deep in the ocean.”