The Karate Kid (I, II, III): There's hope for all of us Part I

The year was 1984. It was the summer and time for another group of would-be blockbusters to be released. Little did everyone know; an epic trilogy would begin. With all the fanfare surrounding trilogies today, I am speaking of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and The Matrix; it is amazing that this one has been lost in the annals of great trilogies of the 20th century. At this point some of you may say I have lost my mind, but truly, the Karate Kid movies have a very simple theme, “Hope Springs Eternal”, and for this reason, these films should be watched and absorbed by anyone who has ever had a bad day, felt depressed, or had the feeling that their life will never get better.

For the purposes of our discussion we will focus mostly on the events in The Karate Kid, however, we will be touching on the significant portions of the 2 sequels as well. But to the 1st Karate Kid, you knew you were in for something special when you saw the preview in the theatres. Who wouldn’t be intrigued, when a young Ralph Macchio tilts his head slightly, blinks his eyes, and looks longingly in Mr. Miyagi’s eyes and says, “You’re the best friend I’ve ever had”. This was all it took to get the teenage masses to the theatres and rental counters.

Let’s look at our pre-viewing analysis of this one. You have “Karate” in the title, immediately appealing to the adolescent male, because, what teenager doesn’t want to watch a movie involving Karate. Then you couple that with the star, Ralph Macchio, his name just drips with macho-ism, even if it is just his name. You also must realize at this point in time, Ralph was a big heartthrob to the adolescent girl, not to mention the heartwarming friend comment in the preview. Again, masterful marketing to both male and female audiences, appealing to both equally.

So, now we start on our ride, literally, the movie begins with our hero leaving the rough and tumble streets of Jersey, to a “better life” in that suburb-meeca, Reseda, California. Already we see that this guy has luck on his side. Here you have a single mom from New Jersey with a teenage son, being moved across the country to Sunny California, for what is the equivalent of a telemarketer job. How is that for amazing! Not that our hero notices it, oh no, he longs for the dreary days of New Jersey. So, out of frustration he kicks in the apartment complex gate, only to knock down a menacing looking teenager from the east side of L.A. You say to yourself, he’s a dead man, but no the teenager merely dusts himself off and is actually interested in the techniques he used to kick the door down, as if he has never seen anyone actually kick a door down before. Let’s stop for a minute, if you are like me, you are wondering why, A) our hero isn’t dead at this point or B) why the teenager from the East Side hasn’t called his sidekicks to threaten his life. But that goes to show that even on your worst days good things still happen.

I forgot to mention something else that’s working against our hero, his name is Daniel, not the best name when you are trying to come off as a Karate tough guy. None the less, the guy Daniel almost maimed with his foot, not only helps him move in, but invites him to a beach party the next day to meet a lot of “hot” girls. Here is proof that even you can be Big Man/Woman on Campus. Up to this point in the movie, there is nothing remotely appealing about Daniel, all he does is whine and complain, but lo and behold here he is going to a beach party with a bunch of “hot” girls. Finally, Daniel shows his first redeeming quality and decides to go to the party. I almost forgot, in the middle of this scenario he goes and meets Mr. Miyagi for the first time, and he is scared of him. So much for the New Jersey tough guy image.

Now we are at the beach, the day goes along and they are playing that game of games, Soccer. We find out that Daniel is quite the soccer aficionado, not only that, but his soccer prowess has drawn the interest of a certain girl. Not just any girl, but the most popular and attractive girl in school. Can I get an Amen! If Mr. Personality, Daniel Larusso, can cause the best looking girl in school to swoon with his soccer skills, then there is hope for everyone! Night falls at the beach, the ghetto blaster plays sweet rock n roll music, and Daniel and “the girl” begin flirting over a soccer ball. I pause here for the heavy romantic sigh I know everyone is making. Little does our hero know, that this girl recently broke up with the most popular boy in school, who also happens to be a karate expert, and leads a gang of motorcycle riding, karate menaces. I think we all know what happens next, Johnny, the ex-boyfriend arrives at the beach and confronts the girl, Daniel, not knowing when he is ahead, tries to step in as a mediator. Note to everyone reading, when good things happen to you, accept them, don’t go looking for a way to screw them up. I think we all know what happens next, Johnny gets mad and beats the cookies out of Daniel. But this not all bad, sure the teenager from the apartment complex thinks he’s a geek now, and he’s made enemies of the toughest, popular dudes in school, but strangely, his ability to be beaten to a pulp endears him to the most popular girl in school. I am not suggesting that to get a girl one needs to go and get beaten senseless, only proving that even in your darkest hour the strangest things can happen. Of course, Daniel ignoring my warning above, decides to rebuff her advances, normally a fatal move.

Tomorrow: Daniel continues his triumphant climb up the ladder of success!

**Trivia Note for my Comic Book Saavy Readers: The Karate Kid was the name of a character in DC Comic's "Legion Of Superheroes" who was a member of the Legion. DC Comics, which owned the name, gave special permission for the title to be used. There's a thank you to DC Comics for allowing the use of the name at the end of the credits

VCR's and the 1980's

Growing up in the 1980’s, I was a witness to the growth of the Video Cassette Recorder as a common household appliance. I can still remember the story of my Dad purchasing one for one thousand dollars and having my mother wondering if my dad had lost his mind. Granted at the time I was only 6 years old and had no idea how this box would influence my life and the lives of every young child from then on. But it is this simple piece of technology that has taught me as much, if not more, then all the classes in all the schools I have attended in the last 20 years.
Long before my dad bought our first VCR and even before you could go to your local cinema to watch a movie on the big screen, the stories we call “movies” now, were contained in a more primitive form, books. Vocabularies increased, eyesight would worsen, and controversies would erupt over the content within the books! Now, it seems vocabularies are worse, eyesight is still getting worse (for different reasons), and now the controversies exist over content in movies.
Sure, movies have existed for years, but it wasn’t until the VCR came along that such a huge number of children have had access to these movies. As a result, the movie has become a great source of knowledge and influence on the kids of today. It is a shame that when the influence of movies are discussed, the focus tends to be on sex, violence, and bad language. While these exist as a part of movies, it is a small portion of the films as a whole. It is this grandiose vision of films that I will discuss here. For within many of these films there are many lessons to be learned and positive influences to absorb.
In any case, movies are a huge part of young people’s lives. At the theatre, on cable, and most definitely at the video store. I ask you to pop some popcorn, grab your favorite drink, unwrap some candy, sit back and enjoy these lessons from a darkened theatre.