As someone who’s always been a huuuuge Mario nerd, Birdo was legitimately my first exposure to trans people. Although the SMB2 manual description definitely caused a lot of internalized transphobia now that I think about it, seeing Birdo referred to as a woman later on also showed me that transwomen are actually just women. Really wish Nintendo did a better job representing this character as I’ve always strongly identified with Birdo as a trans person myself, but we can only hope for so much. Really good video, you deserve way more views for all the work you put into this!

@gonzomedia7991

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for telling me your story! I feel like Birdo resonates with a lot of people, even though representation wise the world hasn't always been kind to her. I'm glad you liked the video, and I appreciate all your kind words

@Yayofangamer16

4 жыл бұрын

No

@lyvekis8824

Жыл бұрын

Birdo is 100% female which Nintendo officially confirmed and was never trans to begin with. Stop making stuff up.

@gaminganimators7000

Жыл бұрын

Isn't Birdo her dead name?

@Gamebuilder2000

Жыл бұрын

​@@lyvekis8824 yeah Trans Women are 100% female you are correct

Birdo is legit goals 👌🏻💖

@gonzomedia7991

5 жыл бұрын

She is super great! Id love for her to have a more prominent role in games

@SweetBianca

Жыл бұрын

I wanna be like her when i grow up

Broke: Birdo is the first trans character in video games. Woke: *Pinky from the Pac-Man series, who debuted 7 years before Birdo, was portrayed as male in earlier games and media, but was portrayed as female consistently from the late 90’s onwards, therefore making Pinky the first trans character in video games.*

@AnotherCoyote

4 жыл бұрын

So Pinky is the first character with a gender change in game history, but still doesn't have the honor of having a very-specifically-trans description written for her in the game's booklet like Birdo, who was INTENDED FROM HER VERY FIRST GAME to be trans :) Pinky gets 2 points, but Birdo still wins the award for MOST PROUD queen! hah hah.

@jessespringer7723

4 жыл бұрын

JadeRabbit Futurist call her birdetta

@alexanderavila2514

3 жыл бұрын

no its just different versions

@cosmicspacething3474

2 жыл бұрын

Still the first trans Nintendo character

Wow, VERY interesting. Great reporting on this - it's pretty amazing Birdo is the first trans character seen in gaming. "She is glamorous and she KNOWS it." Love it!

@gonzomedia7991

5 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much! Doing research for this video was a lot of fun. Even though it did cause it to be finished MUCH later then expected lol

Very well made video, you deserve way more views!

@gonzomedia7991

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much! I'm glad this video resonates with so many people! It is constantly getting views, which feels pretty good

I got curious and decided to look for information about Vivian, specifically how she was trans in most releases of TTYD, and I ended up watching this video first as directed :) This is really cool! I had no idea Birdo was actually the first trans character. I like to think of myself as a big Mario series fan, but a lot of the video was news to me - super informative stuff. I also liked the way you approached the whole situation, especially with regards to explaining the flaws with how she's been portrayed in official material. A very thorough and informed analysis, especially compared to how people usually discuss subjects like this ;P Excited to watch the Vivian video next!

@gonzomedia7991

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for the kind words! I am also happy to hear that my advice at the beginning was taken by at least one person! I am currently in the works of making more videos like this. Hopefully I will be able to share them soon!

We stan a queen

@gonzomedia7991

3 жыл бұрын

And what a queen she is!

@princesspeach7936

3 жыл бұрын

@@gonzomedia7991 hi❤

@gonzomedia7991

3 жыл бұрын

@@princesspeach7936 why hello! 🐸

This is actually a really good respectful insight on this character. I think it's probably hard for some people to understand why the way Nintendo has treated the character, like in the SMB2 manual, can be deemed offensive. This video explains it very nicely. Great video! Have a sub, I think I gottya to 100. :P

@gonzomedia7991

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for your kind words! Understanding why something can be offensive is more difficult then it may seem. I think that is one of the reasons "polite racism" exists (watch "Get Out" if you are not sure what I mean!) I appreciate the sub! If I was a smart man I would have had the foresight to reward my 100th subber :p sorry!

Birdo is one of my favorites next to the original SMB2 Bobombs that make me happy just seeing them on screen, since I was a big mario fanatic back in my childhood, memorizing the names of very monster from SMB1 up to SMB 3 and making paper cut outs of them all. (I felt betrayed by the horrible art design of hammer brothers in Super Mario world and i stopped being a fan at that point) I think it's interesting that Birdo is the only mario character who is comfortable, not afraid, and PROUD of her sexuality, and doesn't just act dainty like a princess but goes above and beyond. The only thing Gonzo missed in this video that is important to mention on this topic, is that gay and trans characters are part of normal accepted comedy and culture in Japan. Japan doesn't hate birdo for being trans or want to see the character treated badly, they just get light-hearted laughter out of seeing Birdo be Birdo. It's a different culture and I'm glad to say whether or not Nintendo is being bad about censoring trans stuff IRL because they consider it being super super squeaky nice clean family friendly? They absolutely do not have any hatred towards trans or gay people in their media or culture (don't get me started on the man-boy love stuff part of Japanese sub culture over there that would have excited Michael Jackson) We have to be careful here in the west to not attribute to malice what is simply a completely different view then Americans can understand. Japan is afraid of how we will over-react to trans and gay characters in their media so they have to censor and not even release some of their own Pokemon cartoons because they're afraid the Granny's Association (Republican censors) will scream and throw a fit if they see James from Team Rocket dressed as a princess and acting girly for an entire episode. This is a massive mis-understanding on both sides of two cultures. Please remember that. Edit: I would SO buy a birdo game where you actually play as her!

@gonzomedia7991

4 жыл бұрын

Really good point on how cultural differences effects what we consider "good or bad" in how a character is portrayed. I feel like at some point I should make a video that is focused on why these differences exist in the first place. Thank you for sharing a bit of your past with me!

I was never that huge of a Birdo fan, but she’s really started to grow on me over the years. Her and Daisy both deserve their own games.

I am a Transgender girl and I love Catherine so much! And also the Mario franchise ^u^

I believe that the original description towards Birdo, while wrong nowadays, was forward-thinking for the time in 1987. The devs could have easily just made her a man, great video btw. I sincerely believe that a dev had someone in their life who was trans, but didn't understand the situation to well.

@gonzomedia7991

4 жыл бұрын

I can see your theory being true! Even if she was made trans just for the "joke" of it all, it was still progressive that they included that characterization in a game marketed towards children. While Nintendo shouldn't have that behavior supported by any means, but they get credit for the inclusion just the same!

@RBunctious

4 жыл бұрын

It's really sad, but especially in 1987, you can't expect a family-friendly company back then to put a trans character in a game at risk of their jobs. Even though it's important and can give hope to some children/families.

She's also playable on Fortune Street were you can see more of her cute, filtrous personality💗

This is such a nice video!! Ty

@gonzomedia7991

2 жыл бұрын

Thank You for watching!

i suprised you dont have more subs, your vids are on par to very big youtubers

@gonzomedia7991

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you very much for the kind words! I am glad that you enjoy my content, I put a lot of time into my videos so I love hearing that people enjoy them. Getting subs seems to be kind of a gamble, so I just got to keep on going and try not to get discouraged!

@nofiniteanswer1123

4 жыл бұрын

thats great to hear, i hope you get alot more subs

I love Birdetta!

love the video. birdo is iconic. love her

@warmslurm

4 жыл бұрын

also (hope this doesn't come off as shitty) but your video production quality is A+. sometimes you don't expect this from someone with so few subs. keep it up and hope you get more subs/views soon 😁

@gonzomedia7991

4 жыл бұрын

@@warmslurm I am glad you enjoyed the video AND thank you for the kind words! I've had a few people say since my channel is so small, I should spend less time on production. However, I feel with videos presentation is important, and I don't want to be just another guy who talks in front of a camera for a 10 minutes. Hearing your words definitely encourages me to keep it up!

The vibrator thing from captain rainbow has me dying

A 2019 video that doesn't even know that it was only in the Western localisation that she became trans? This is such a big important thing, that the Japanese manuals NEVER mention this "he thinks he is a girl" thing. The Americans switched her to trans like they did with Poison because they were worried about letting you hit women in games. In saying that it was okay to hit trans women, they unintentionally gave representation to trans people way ahead of it's time. I love that irony. Japan heard about what was going on with Western Birdo and adopted it into canon. And now, her trans identity is being hidden and ignored in the west, because the hate hasn't gone, it's just changed direction. It's really embarassing to see the West falling behind Japan on LGBT representation. We're supposed to be better with that. But at least the fans are great and we are all embracing this canon part of Birdo, even if Nintendo of America wont. But whilst this was missing that info... Which I am pretty sure is the case, but as I can't read Japanese I just had to trust other people about it. This video did have quite a bit of new info I'd not seen before. Mostly of that SMB2 2 game. I never knew SMB2 had a sequel, or that they ever confirmed the other birdos were other characters. Makes me wonder what became of them. I'd really like a modern Mario game that instead of reliving the nostalgia of the first game over and over again, finally gives us more SMB2 style goodness. I want more chucking and throwing and Birdo! Perhaps make Cathy a playable character, and use the other two as enemy birdos. Definitely a lotta potential there. Or heck, just give Cathy a bigger role in the next Yoshi game. Wait... Did she suck that guy into her mouth? In that RPG game? IS SHE PART KIRBY?

japanese manual of doki doki panic says "omoikomu",meaning wrongly believes. This is the most transphobic way of saying that a character is transgender

Birdy!

@gonzomedia7991

4 жыл бұрын

I really adore her design! I fell in love with the character ever since I first played Super Mario Bros. 2 back in the 90's

4:31 Adam Sandler can actually be genuinely funny. He’s a good actor, it’s just that every movie he’s the main character in has a curse of being terrible.

Its still 50/50 if Birdo really is trans as they say. But interesting video none the less

Also at this time, origami king

i love her so much

The stuff the devs say like he thinks he is a girl and all that other stuff even if is not directed to me it hurts

nintendo is probably not gonna give us that respect she deserves in favor of being "safe" with LGBT+ antagonistic people because what's better than spreading the message of acceptance and losing hateful fans but gaining more respect with the queer community? money apparently :/

Yoshi lays eggs, is he not Trans also?

@gonzomedia7991

5 жыл бұрын

I feel like an argument can be made that Yoshi's are sexually ambiguous. Since every single individual has the ability to lay eggs, they are all similar sexually, and individuals likely choose where to inhabit on a spectrum of masculinity/Femininity. The New Mexico Whiptail is a good real-world representation of what I mean. They are a species of all female lizards that still exhibit mating habits (ex. mounting) to help increase the chance of bearing offspring. A lot of reptiles also sometimes do a thing referred to as "shelling" where they lay unfertilized eggs.

@carrolllee6875

5 жыл бұрын

You should really do a follow up video for Yoshi. www.mariowiki.com/Yoshi_(species) one of the blurbs mention that in one game the player is corrected to use it rather then he or she when referring to Yoshi.

@gonzomedia7991

5 жыл бұрын

I definitely will be having Yoshi be the main feature in a video I plan on doing later on!

then call her birdette.

but it was later confirmed that it's a girl

@nickk3077

3 жыл бұрын

I refuse to accept that. They can’t just take back their words like that!

Birdo was created to be a joke on men who dress up like women. Official Nintendo games have even poked fun at her. I really don't think you want this as your icon.

@allie7619

2 жыл бұрын

ya know u can reclaim stuff right

I dont think this is what they where going for

@ariaaaaaa

Жыл бұрын

is*

Nintendo never said she was trans

@gonzomedia7991

4 жыл бұрын

While you are correct in that Nintendo never has said the word "trans", she was described and portrayed as such. The Word for transgender wasn't really a thing at all back in the 80's, especially for an extremely traditional Japanese company. Just because they never used the term, it doesn't mean she wasn't designed to be trans.

@genderlessgoon_9292

4 жыл бұрын

@@gonzomedia7991 actually the manual shows them being more of a femboy than trans.

@gonzomedia7991

4 жыл бұрын

I actually address that in the video and include a scan of the manual. It word for word says Birdo "is a boy who thinks he is a girl, and would rather be called Birdetta." Characters who fit the "femboy" description don't actually feel like they are women, and are just men who like to dress and act very effeminate. That is why Birdo was actually described as being trans, because it states, in a very cruel way, that Birdo identifies more as a women then as a man. Someone that chooses to identify as the opposite gender is trans.

@genderlessgoon_9292

4 жыл бұрын

@@gonzomedia7991 actually their are femboys who feel like women. You cant just say they arent just because you say so

@gonzomedia7991

4 жыл бұрын

@@genderlessgoon_9292 They wouldn't be "femboys" at that point. If they were born male but feel like they're female and choose to identify as such, they would technically be trans. Being trans doesn't mean it's a person who has under gone surgery or hormone replacement. It's a person whose identify does not align with their assigned gender at birth. It seems like you have more of a problem or misunderstanding of the term "trans" more than anything else.

It’s just a video game damn

@gonzomedia7991

3 жыл бұрын

Just because it's a game doesn't mean there isn't any value in it. Representation in media is super important

@jimmy_os

2 жыл бұрын

@@gonzomedia7991 No it doesn’t matter

@gonzomedia7991

2 жыл бұрын

@@jimmy_os I don't know you, but you saying that makes me assume you do not belong to any marginalized groups of people. For some people, representation doesn't matter because people like them are featured in every type of media. For people like me, finding a character in anything that wasn't a super offensive Bisexual stereotype was super inspiring and helped make me more comfortable. It helped make me realize that I wasn't alone. So I think what you really mean is that representation doesn't matter to YOU; I am glad that you aren't a person that needs it.

@ariaaaaaa

Жыл бұрын

ew

Birdo is not trans

@spearmintpony7105

4 жыл бұрын

@Witch's Brew Views No he isn't. He's a boy who thinks he's a girl.

@X_Theweirdone_x

4 жыл бұрын

Yes she is 😑

@jesusramirezromo2037

2 жыл бұрын

She is acording to the manual

@maxjames2261

Жыл бұрын

@@X_Theweirdone_x only in western places