Karate Kid (1984)

There have been many version of Karate Kid but the original was the 1984 Karate Kid, directed by John G. Avildsen. The movie stars Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, Noriyuki Morita as Mr.Miyagi, Elisabeth Shue as Ali Mills and Martin Kove as John Kreese. The movie starts off with Daniel moving to California where Mr.Miyagi is the apartment janitor. After moving, Daniel becomes friends with Ali Mills and this makes her ex-boyfriend Johnny jealous. Johnny decides to physically assault Daniel using karate he learned at the Cobra Kai dojo. Mr. Miyagi intervenes and saves him. Daniel wants Mr.Miyagi to teach him karate and at first, Mr.Miyagi declines. Eventually, he agrees and encourages Daniel to participate in the All Valley Karate Championships. Mr. Miyagi’s forms of teaching are different and focus on chores but these chores build muscle memory. Mr. Miyagi and Daniel create a bond and learn more about each other and Daniel goes to the tournament. As Daniel is doing well, one of the students from the Cobra Kai dojo severely injures his knee. Daniel eventually wins the tournament.

Karate Kid was more than just a move to its audiences. It spoke to more issues such as bullying and represented an Asian character that was strong and had depth. Mr. Miyagi’s character opens up to his past and all the struggles he went through with his wife. This type of depth to a character especially one played by someone Asian is different from the type of personalities that Asians were expected to portray.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Karate_Kid

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/movie-reviews/the-karate-kid