Weirdoes on the internet are mad about how "woke" The Super Mario Bros. Movie is because it uses Rainbow Road and makes Princess Peach a "girl boss who saves the day".
Just a few days ago, Nintendo released the second trailer for The Super Mario Bros. Movie, giving us all a better look at Illumination's take on Mario, Peach, Bowser, and Luigi, as well as giving us a first look at Donkey Kong and the rest of the DK Crew. Reception to the trailer has been largely positive from Nintendo fans, who have celebrated all the references and in-jokes that are present, as well as the fluid animation.
Of course, there are always going to be idiots on the internet who take everything far too seriously and try to assign politics to it, even if the subject is something as silly as two Italian plumbers who say "let's-a-go" and smash bricks with their hands. Some particularly angry Mario "fans" are even calling the movie woke thanks to its use of Rainbow Road and the characterisation of Princess Peach and Mario.
One tweet that's already being memed to death shows one Twitter user who has clearly never played a Mario Kart game in their life getting annoyed at Mario driving along Rainbow Road at the end of the trailer. To the appearance of Rainbow Road, they said, "Disgusting they had to include woke pride flag nonsense".
This is usually the point where I'd explain what Rainbow Road is and why it makes the tweet so funny, but I sincerely believe that anyone who might click on this article has enough knowledge of gaming and pop culture to recognise one of the most well-known locations in Mario's history and see that this is a clear reference to that, so instead I'll just point and laugh again.
Thankfully, despite trying my hardest to search out more strange complaints like that, it seems that tweet is the only one that specifically has a basic misunderstanding of what Rainbow Road actually is. The tweet is so ridiculous that it's already being called an "all-timer" and generally mocked by everyone around the internet.
Sadly, that's not the only thing that's being called "woke" in the Super Mario Bros. Movie. The trailer also gave us our first look at Princess Peach, who is portrayed as a fierce leader that can and will defend her kingdom. Next to her, some are saying that Mario, who seems to just be a normal guy at the start of the movie, is "bumbling and pathetic", while Peach is a "girl boss who saves the day".
Ignoring the fact that this is clearly an origin story for Mario and that we see him actually beating the obstacle course with ease in recent adverts, Peach has always been portrayed as being just as involved as Mario and Luigi. The second game in the whole series (well, outside of Japan at least) even made her playable alongside Toad and the two brothers.
But hey, if you want to get this worked up about a film for children, that's cool too I guess.