That’s the full name of arguably the most recognizable video game character of all time. His name is Mario, and with Luigi, they’re called the Mario Brothers; ergo, Mario Mario. (http://www.flixya.com/post/fordac/24720/10_facts_about_Mario_the_Plumber)
No wonder Super Mario Brothers became one of the best-selling video games ever; it brings out the addicts in us. Mario is the euphemistic image of a drugger. He starts out as a small urchin trying to run – sometimes walk, jump and crouch – through the “Mushroom Kingdom”, which is a clump of colorful, thematic worlds replete with oddly cute creatures, plants and monsters. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_Bros._3)
He eats a side-gliding spotted-brown-and-white mushroom (“Super Mushroom”) as huge as he is and instantly doubles in size. To add to that, he gets lucky once in a while, bumping onto a spotted-green-and-white mushroom (“1-Up Mushroom”) that shows up out of nowhere, giving him an extra life of game play. These are reminiscent of shrooms; the colloquial term for hallucinogenic fungi that can give you either the best or worst experiences in life, depending on the mood, setting and company you’re with. Trust that you’ll only really know what “bad” or “good” trip is after a gruesome or rapturous encounter with a spoonful or so of these.
Then Mario comes across a glowing technicolored flower (“Fire Flower”) and suddenly he’s spitting (or throwing) an infinite number of fireballs at anything that moves or comes his way. An angel’s trumpet fits this flower. Known locally as talampunay, it’s a highly toxic hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac with unpredictable effects, reportedly used by American Indian warriors to gain power and foretell the future. Every part of the plant is extremely toxic and is normally consumed as tea, but since Mario grubs it whole, he gets such a crazy hit. (http://daviswiki.org/Angel's_Trumpet)
Next, Mario touches a bouncing, flashing, smiling star (“Starman”), and for a moment, he becomes faster and invincible, even tumbling when jumping at a run, razing any moving thing in his path. Stars is a street term for a type of ecstasy, which is a synthetic chemical classified as a stimulant with amphetamine-like, hallucinogenic properties; it produces intensely pleasurable effects including an enhanced sense of energy and self-confidence. (http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/streetterms/bytype.asp?inttypeid=7)
Mario then catches a dancing leaf, (“Super Leaf”) grows a swag tail and feline ears and flies, floats and glides. This is as descriptive of cannabis as it can get, allegedly the most widely used illicit substance in the world and supposedly alluded to by Shakespeare in his sonnets as the “noted weed” and “journey in my head”. Said one junkie, “where your mind is, there you are”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannabis_(drug))
These are the real tools of Mario the plumber. He’s simply on a perpetual high, and happily so; unlike the martyr, he climbs to see heaven with an outrageously long and erect beanstalk, and even finds money there; unlike Judas, he gets rewarded with an extra life in exchange for a number of coins; unlike Polanski’s ill-fated Pianist, he plays a whistle (which looks more like a flute) that carries him across worlds; and unlike the ironman tri-athlete, he simply sports a frog suit to swim faster in water and jump higher on land; oh, and with a raccoon (“tanooki”) suit he can turn himself into stone. Unlike many of us, Mario is truly a free man.
Raul S. Grapilon: Entry No. 14
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCi1bkENVa0 for Super Mario Brothers Drug References
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