16 & 17 year old girls face criminal charges for Mario

Brian Boyko · Post by **Brian Boyko** » April 3rd, 2006, 12:27 am

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/04/02/tiny- ... rio-prank/

America has gone insane.

Evilpandabear · Post by **Evilpandabear** » April 3rd, 2006, 2:03 am

i have come under the impression recently that america has NOT gone insane, but has ALWAYS been insane. your average american has a high school education with a low paying job and lives no where near a big city. small town america IS america. i can't for next year, when then paint all the fire hydrants like mario.

Wesley · Post by **Wesley** » April 3rd, 2006, 9:57 am

Yep. Sadly, you can't judge the rest of Texas, or America, by Austin, where you probably could get away with something like this. But yes, America is running scared, her people shackled by fear and boogeymen lurking around every corner. If you do something that can possibly be mis-interpretted, it will (especially if that misinterpretation can be used by those in power to further justify and secure their claim to that power).

Thank god they were stopped before they turned City Hall into Bowser's firey labyrinth of doom or started throwing fireballs at the local turtle petting zoo, as was their master plan.

fbillac · Post by **fbillac** » April 3rd, 2006, 10:39 am

If it were me pulling off that prank, I would have loaded a couple of the boxes with "magic mushrooms". I am all about video game realism and hallucinogenic drugs.

-Dav

sara farr · Post by **sara farr** » April 3rd, 2006, 9:25 pm

This -- seeing middle-class America respond under the influence of terror propaganda with stupidity -- makes me very sad. I wish there was more tolerance, open-mindedness, and level-headed-ness today. And it is not just the "hicks" in small town America. It is happening in big cities too. I get frustrated when people WHO I THINK ARE INTELLIGENT act like idiots.

Yet I think you will agree that creating a fear-driven state can be a very effective way to control the population and submarine free-speech.

And if you haven't seen it yet, "V for Vendetta" -- the new, Wachowski Bros action flick -- addresses this with a certain amount of activist-evangelism.

Also, I have to say I was overly impressed with the amount of physicality that Hugo Weaving ("V") put into his performance so we, the audience, could easily read his character's emotions without having the benefit of facial expressions. It may have been too much, but I don't care. I liked it anyway. Plus this guys voice is captivating.