Credit: Warner Bros., IlluminationThe two biggest movies of the year, The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) and Barbie (2023), have a surprising amount of things in common. Not only are they based on popular licenses, but they also have viral comedic songs from similar perspectives. This prompts a question: which song is better, “Peaches” or “I’m Just Ken”?
Related: ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Hit Song “Peaches” Called Sexist
2023 has been a strange year for movies. Specific genres that have proven to be continuously successful have failed both critically and commercially, like The Flash (2023), Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023), and Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023). Meanwhile, licensed movies based on video games and dolls have been the biggest success stories so far.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie and Barbie have completely blown expectations out of the water. The Super Mario Bros. Movie debuted to mixed reviews at best, with some saying that the film was borderline unwatchable. Yet, it has gone on to be the highest-grossing movie of 2023 so far, having made $1.356 billion at the global box office.
Meanwhile, Barbie was expected to be well-received and perform well at the box office, but not this well. It currently sits at $811 million and has only been in theaters for over two weeks. There is a very good chance that it will pass the billion-dollar mark this week, and it is already the highest-grossing movie of the summer.
There’s no question both of these movies are the biggest of 2023. But they have one more thing in common other than financial success. Both Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie have hilarious power ballads many critics say are contenders for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards. Naturally, this has everyone asking which song is better: “I’m Just Ken” or “Peaches”? Let’s figure it out.
“I’m Just Ken” and “Peaches” Are Shockingly Similar
While both movies are based on toys, Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie don’t really have a lot in common. One is about two people from the city traveling to a magical land they never knew existed in order to help a woman who wears lots of pink outfits save that land from a guy who wants to destroy it despite how much he loves that woman. The other is based on a game from Nintendo.
All jokes aside, these movies have a ton of similarities despite their different source materials. But the most surprising similarity is these songs. Not only are they from a similar perspective, being in love with someone who just isn’t into you, but they’re both comedic 80s-style power ballads. It’s wild that two movies from different studios would make almost the exact same choice. And they both have the potential to win the Oscar.
Which Song Has a Better Chance at the Academy Awards?
The fact that both songs could be up for Academy Award consideration is wild. After all, “Peaches” is only a minute and 35 seconds long. But this wouldn’t be the first time that comedic songs from comedic movies have taken the musical spotlight.
We live in a timeline where it is very possible that the songs “Peaches” and “I’m Just Ken” are both nominated for the same “Best Original Song” Oscar. pic.twitter.com/PgLEaO6OIG
— Ben Ginsburg (@GarlicBreadBen) July 30, 2023
Weird novelty songs at the Oscars go all the way back to 1948, when “The Woody Woodpecker Song” from Wet Blanket Policy (1948) received a nomination against such classics as “It’s Magic” by Doris Day and “Buttons and Bows” by Bob Hope, losing to the latter. Also, “The Woody Woodpecker Song” was only a minute and 30 seconds long, meaning a song’s length isn’t the issue.
Even in more recent decades, the Oscars haven’t shied away from rewarding more comedic songs. “Blame Canada” from South Park: Bigger, Louder, and Uncut (1999) received a nomination, and so did “Everything is Awesome” from The LEGO Movie (2014). In fact, a power ballad parody song, “Man or Muppet” from The Muppets (2010), actually won the award in 2011.
Related: 10 Nintendo Franchises To Follow Up ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie’
That being said, even if a film has a more comedic tone, they tend to choose more serious songs, often to their detriment. Just look at Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (2020) and Encanto (2021), which went with “Husavik” and “Dos Oruguitas,” respectively. While these songs are lovely, they should have gone with their more popular comedic tunes to stand a chance, like “Double Trouble” or “We Don’t Talk About Bruno,” Disney’s most popular song of all time.
Because these songs are comedic, dismissing them can be very easy. However, they both serve deeper purposes regarding their musical influences, the character singing them, and where they fit into the movie. Let’s use these criteria to really dissect both of these songs.
“I’m Just Ken” is Deeper Than You Think
At first glance, “I’m Just Ken” is a goofy 80s song where Ryan Gosling as Ken sings about playing second fiddle to Margot Robbie’s Barbie. But the more you look into the song, the more you realize that it’s so much more than that.
Written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, a duo who has already won a Grammy and an Oscar for “Shallow” from A Star is Born (2018), “I’m Just Ken” has the titular doll lamenting that he doesn’t know who he is without his partner. You even hear him say at the beginning of the music video. “It’s Barbie and Ken. There is no just Ken.” And if you were to ask someone in marketing at Mattel, they’d agree.
This is the type of experience that women go through every day. More often than not, they are defined by their relationship to a man. Barbieland is one of the few places where the opposite is true, but that still doesn’t mean it’s fair. It’s so easy to connect to Ken’s confusion.
One of the reasons it is so easy to connect is because of Ryan Gosling’s performance. Audiences have seen time and again that the man is talented, but there is genuine innocence, poignancy, and stupidity in his performance. When he talks about his job being “just beach,” you can feel that. And it is one of the dumbest lines of dialogue in the movie (in the best way).
All of that commitment to Ken is most felt when Gosling performs “I’m Just Ken” in the movie. He makes this power ballad as cheesy as humanly possible while still being genuine. When Ronson first wrote the song, he didn’t think it would make it into the movie. After all, the concept is incredibly silly. But both writer/director Gret Gerwig and Gosling wanted it in the film.
In an interview with Vulture, Ronson revealed that Ryan Gosling’s performance is what made the song work. “In the studio with Ryan, it was really his performance that lifted the whole thing. All these lines that felt a little bit throwaway-ish, delivered by him, suddenly took on much more.”And while you don’t see it in the released music video, there is a dance break with all the other Kens joining Ken, and it is the perfect combination of boy band choreography and “Greased Lightning” from Grease (1978).
The icing on the cake is the incredible production value. Ronson and Wyatt kicked the quality up to the next level with some huge names working behind the scenes, including Slash from Guns ‘n Roses on lead guitar, Wolfgang Van Halen from Van Halen on rhythm guitar, and John Freese from Foo Fighters on drums.
“I’m Just Ken” is the type of song that many people may think is just a joke, but it’s so much more than that. It perfectly sums up Ken’s entire ethos in Barbie and serves as an anthem for people who don’t know who they are because they define themselves based on their relationships. It just does this with some awesome 80s music backing it up. And that’s Kenough.
“Peaches” is More Than a Joke
Much like The Super Mario Bros. Movie, “Peaches” success came out of left field. Bowser’s tribute to Princess Peach reached 56th on the Billboard Hot 100 and has sold over one million units so far. That’s especially impressive for a song about a minute and a half long.
Written by Jack Black, Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond, and John Spiker, “Peaches” is unbelievably simple. It only uses piano, and half of the lyrics are just the word peaches over and over again. While this has served as most people’s main criticism of the song, that’s what makes it such an earworm.
Ever since the movie was released, “Peaches” has been stuck in children’s brains everywhere. Anyone can instantly learn the words and have fun with it. Also, it’s deeply emotional, letting whoever sings it really wail when they get to the part about “Mario, Luigi, and Donkey Kong, too.”
It’s very easy for a song like this to grate on people’s nerves, and it can be argued that this song has done precisely that. But “Peaches” has one thing separating it from every other song that repeats the same words over and over again: Jack Black as Bowser, King of the Koopas.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie sports a pretty impressive voice cast, with Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Seth Rogen, and Fred Armisen all delivering outstanding performances. But the highlight is easily Jack Black’s Bowser. Most well-known for School of Rock (2003) and the Jumanji series, Black has been one of Hollywood’s most consistent comedic actors for over two decades. However, most hardcore fans know him for his stint in Tenacious D, the most excellent comedic metal duo that has ever lived.
Despite being an evil turtle-dragon monster, Black makes Bowser one of the most likable characters in the movie, and a big part of that is his performance of “Peaches.” He takes the song to the next level with his vocal strength alone. And despite how stupid and silly this song can get, his charisma and commitment make you believe that Bowser really loves Princess Peach.
It’s good that it works because the only thing supporting Jack Black is a piano. There’s no one else singing and no other instruments accompanying his performance. Because of his roots in heavy metal, co-director Aaron Horvath wanted to put a metal song into the movie. However, the piano ballad fits the story much better. It’s hilarious to think that Bowser, the most famous video game villain of all time, is a classic singer-songwriter in the style of Elton John, Billy Joel, or Joe Cocker.
“Peaches” doesn’t really work into the plot of The Super Mario Bros. Movie (you see Bowser work on the song near the beginning, and you hear the whole thing during the credits), but it doesn’t have to. It’s the best bit in a movie filled with lots of jokes and tributes to Nintendo history. And even more than that, it gave us Jack Black dancing in the Hollywood Bowl wearing a bright green suit with red plumage. What’s not to love about that?
And the Winner is…
Honestly, it wasn’t even really a competition. When it comes down to it, “Peaches” from The Super Mario Bros. Movie is a brief moment that works perfectly for the movie it was in. Is there more to it than being just a joke song? Yes. But it still has that feeling of a song someone made on accident, not the embodiment of an entire character.
“I’m Just Ken,” on the other hand, takes the joke of Ken not really having any identity to himself and turns it into the most 80s song to come out of the 2020s. The song isn’t just about Ken being upset that Barbie doesn’t like him. It’s the character actually questioning his purpose alongside every other Ken in Barbie Land. It just also happens to have electric guitars, synthesizers, and an incredible dance break.
Related: 20 Best Disney Songs According to the Billboard Hot 100
If “Peaches” was expanded and turned into an Elton John or Billy Joel-esque piano song, then we’d be having a different conversation. But that is not the case. Because of this, “I’m Just Ken” is clearly the superior power ballad written by an antagonist about a woman who isn’t interested in them but fuels their every decision.
Which song do you prefer? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!