Ball’s in your court, Nintendo
January 10, 2019 1:27 PM Subscribe
Yes, it’s true: Wario is kind of an anti-Semitic caricature.
This is not to say that Wario should be canceled—he rules too hard, and is too integral to the continued existence of the Mario Tennis and Mario Party franchises. There is another solution. Rather than expunging Wario from the Mario universe, Nintendo needs to acknowledge the possibility that he can reasonably be interpreted as Jewish, accept that as part of his identity, and give him some appropriate clothing and activity options in future games. If Mario’s Italian background can be a thread of his decades-long tapestry, there is no reason the same cannot be true for Wario’s—likely patrilineal, let’s be honest—Jewish heritage. The Case for a Rabbi Wario
This post was deleted for the following reason: This essay is not doing the things it wants to do and it's doing some other things instead that will not go well. -- restless_nomad
I don't get it. I thought Wario was supposed to be evil Mario. Wouldn't leaning into his apparent Jewishness just make this connection way, way, WAY worse?
posted by chrominance at 1:39 PM on January 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by chrominance at 1:39 PM on January 10, 2019 [1 favorite]
I never read Wario as Jewish, it seems more anti-semitic to do so (esp. since the only basis are negative traits). I thought he was just a greedy sciattone in sharp contrast to the clean and professional Mario.
posted by TwelveTwo at 1:45 PM on January 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by TwelveTwo at 1:45 PM on January 10, 2019 [2 favorites]
I never read Wario as Jewish, it seems more anti-semitic to do so. I thought he was just a greedy sciattone.
Yeah I never read him as anything other than an Italian stereotype.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:49 PM on January 10, 2019
Yeah I never read him as anything other than an Italian stereotype.
posted by aspersioncast at 1:49 PM on January 10, 2019
Did Nintendo confirm Wario is Jewish or did the essay author just assume his ethnicity by calling upon negative Jewish stereotypes? Because um...
posted by Young Kullervo at 1:51 PM on January 10, 2019
posted by Young Kullervo at 1:51 PM on January 10, 2019
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posted by Rinku at 1:35 PM on January 10, 2019