On September 23, 2021, Italians everywhere suffered the worst setback to the Italian civil rights movement since the shooting of Joseph Columbo at the Second Columbus Day Italian Unity rally in 1971. The casting of Chris Pratt as Italian icon Mario Mario is nothing short of an outrage, an offensive and cowardly evasion of changing social mores that have allowed Italians and Italian-Americans to tell their own stories. Mr. Pratt does not have an Italian bone in his body; his mother is of Norwegian descent, and he has demonstrated no understanding of the history of the role he has so callously adopted.

While he was created in Japan, Mario sits on an Italian Mount Rushmore with icons like Tony Soprano, Spaghetti, Roberto Benigni, and the Bicycle Thieves. He deserves to be played by an actor who will understand the true breadth of the Italian experience, not a mere pretender like Pratt. Illumination and Universal Pictures should strip him of the title effective immediately and issue a full apology before recasting the role with proper consideration.

Try to imagine Mr. Pratt uttering Mario’s iconic catchphrase “It’s-a me, Mario!” The thought alone should send a shiver down your spine. We as a culture have grown past such shameful caricatures, and it is high time the filmmakers caught up with that progress. Thank you for your consideration.