Video mashes Quebec protests with Super Mario

by John Bowman Posted: June 20, 2012 4:03 PM Last Updated: June 20, 2012 4:03 PM

Categories: Community

View the story "Super Mario Br'Hausse: translated and annotated" on StorifySuper Mario Br'Hausse: translated and annotatedStorified by CBC News Community · Wed, Jun 20 2012 15:52:21A group of Quebec comedians has mashed up the province's student strike with retro videogaming to support the legal challenge of Quebec's new law on organizing protests.

The Coalition des mumoristes indignés (CHI), a group of well-known québécois comedians that supports the student protests, created the video as an introduction for a fundraising event Monday night at Montreal's Théâtre St-Denis.

The video went viral overnight Tuesday and was still trending on Twitter Wednesday morning.

(If people around you can understand French, you might want to put on your headphones. There's quite a bit of swearing.)
Super Mario Br'HaussejeremielaroucheBecause the video's in French and has many local references, some translation is due.

The title is a pun on "Super Mario Bros." with "hausse" meaning "increase" as in the French phrase for "tuition hike": "la hausse des frais."

The video begins as a mock video game trailer: "This summer... The most anticipated event... Get ready for... Super Mario Br'Hausse!"

The trailer casts video game hero Mario as the student protester against the "villain" Quebec Premier Jean Charest, here shown with the body of Mario's chief adversary King Koopa. A Montreal riot police officer appears as a Koopa Troopa and fires on Mario.

"You will face frightening bosses," promises the narrator as former Quebec education minister Line Beauchamp appears. Mario defeats her with a single swipe of an anti-Bill 78 protest sign. (The attack does 1,625 points of damage, which is the dollar amount of the tuition increase.) Beauchamp resigned her cabinet position and her assembly seat on May 14.Quebec education minister quits over tuition dispute - Montreal - CBC NewsQuebec's new education minister, Michelle Courchesne, has called representatives of student groups and post-secondary institutions to two...From the ashes of the defeated Beauchamp appears a screeching monster with the head of current minister of education and president of the Treasury Board Michelle Courchesne.
New Quebec education minister meets with student leaders - Montreal - CBC News'We know that this is a crisis,' says FEUQ president Martine Desjardins Posted: May 15, 2012 10:55 PM ET Representatives of Quebec's stri...In the video games, Mario can get extra powers by donning animal costumes, like a raccoon suit.
Raccoon Mario got a new look in New Super Mario Bros. WC! Here's how he looks now! http://pic.twitter.com/1SzmViMnLucoshi ProductionsIn Super Mario Br'Hausse, Mario dresses up as AnarchoPanda, the philosophy professor who dresses in a panda costume and marches in support of the protesters. He hugs a riot Troopa, who explodes in a ball of flame. CBC Radio's The Current interviewed AnarchoPanda in May.
The unintended consequences of the Quebec student protestsThe student protest is hardly a black and white issue-- unless you're the AnarchoPanda. Since the protest's early days, a philosophy prof...Only in QC qu'on peut voir cette image sur un article parlant de politique et trouver ça normal #polqc @Anarchopanda http://pic.twitter.com/FV9vvx72Steven Gilligan"Visit worlds filled with dangers," says the narrator as Mario navigates a map of Montreal's Metro system, the target of smoke bomb attacks on May 10.
Montreal mayor livid over Metro smoke bomb attacks - Ottawa - CBC NewsMontreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay is urging people to "take back their city" after a series of smoke bombs paralyzed the public Metro system...Mario enters "Media World," and is attacked on all sides by prominent Quebec pundits and columnists. He then is bombarded in "Victoriaville," the small town about 150 kilometres northeast of Montreal that was the site of the spring's most violent demonstrations.
Student requires eye surgery after Que. protest - Montreal - CBC NewsAt least 3 police officers and 6 protesters injured Posted: May 5, 2012 3:31 PM ET One man has lost the use of one of his eyes and sustai...Mario then enters one of the "magical worlds," and frolics amid barely clothed protesters of the "ma-nu-festations" of early June.
Montreal Grand Prix met with clashes and nudity in streets - Montreal - CBC NewsHundreds of protesters spilled into downtown Montreal on Thursday night, many of them naked or barely clothed, as police used stun grenad...The video then cuts to the "Grand Prix" as Quebec-born car-racing champion Jacques Villeneuve takes the lead in a Mario Kart race. Villeneuve criticized the students as lazy during the Formula One Grand Prix on June 7. "It's time for people to wake up and stop loafing about. It's lasted long enough," he said.
Former driver Jacques Villeneuve criticizes F1 Grand Prix protestsQuebec's student protesters have a new celebrity critic - and he's firing away on all cylinders. Jacques Villeneuve, the Quebec-born car-...In the video, Villeneuve tosses a turtle shell to knock out most of his competition, only to hit another costumed protester, Bananarchiste.
@MMFlint Quebec's incredible/irrepressible sense of humor: La Bananarchiste! #cdnpoli #pnp #manif http://pic.twitter.com/oJE7CE1aChris in MontrealThe narrator continues, "But to defeat the ultimate enemy, you need the ultimate weapon!" Mario opens a chest to discover a pot and wooden spoon, the noisemakers of the "casseroles" protests.
Montreal protest resonates across Canada and in U.S. - Montreal - CBC NewsTo the boom of bass drums and the airy strains of violins, street-choking crowds of people marched through Montreal on Wednesday night in...Mario is joined by the heroes of other Nintendo video games as they chant a vulgar slogan against Bill 78 and defeat Charest.

"Super Mario Br'Hausse! A game for the whole family. For one to 49 players, no more!" This is a reference to one of the provisions of Bill 78, requiring eight hours' notice to police for any protest involving 50 people or more.
Quebec students challenge Bill 78 in court - Montreal - CBC NewsLawyers for student federations and other groups appeared in a Montreal courtroom on Friday to file legal motions against Bill 78, the go...The video ends with Leo Bureau-Blouin, leader of Quebec's college student federation, playing Mario on a Super Nintendo. His "mother" scolds him for "spending all day playing video games" and tells him to get a job or go study.

Bureau-Blouin stares into the camera, suddenly serious. "The person who would keep me from playing this game has not yet been born," he says.

Tags: education, Quebec, Storify, video, video games

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