Daniel Larusso was sort of an asshole

[pokerfan]

Not a copycat thread but inspired by the Skywalker thread...

Karate Kid was on cable the other day and it seems to me that Daniel created most of his own problems by failing to think before acting.

1. The beach. He picks a fight by inserting himself into an an emotionally charged argument between a couple he doesn't even know. He gets his "fair fight" one-on-one with Johnny and gets the shit kicked out him, losing what few friends he has made up to that point.

2. Soccer practice. He gets thrown off the team by throwing a punch at Bobby. Yeah, Bobby gave him a hard tackle but Daniel decided to escalate matters. This leads to the Cobras running him and his bicycle off the road.

3. The dance: The hot cheerleader asks him to go outside so they can be alone. What does our hero do instead? Decides to play a prank on Johnny in the boy's room by soaking him with a hose. Amd then running away! This
leads to the five-on-one beat-down by the fence where he is rescued by Mr. Miyagi.

4. Spying on Ali at the Country Club, leaping to conclusions. Almost blowing the relationship.

5. Taunting the Cobras at school after they had promised their sensai that they wouldn't touch the "prima donna" until the tournment. Basically taking credit for Mr. Miyagi's actions during the rescue just so he can impress the girl.

Not making excuses for the juvenile Cobras, but it seemed to me that, throughout the movie he acted like a snotty little brat.

I understand the callow youth mentor/protege aspect but it didn't seem to me that he learned any of the "life balance" Miyagi was supposedly teaching him. All he did was win a tournament.

Hell, Rocky had more character development.

[DerekG]

1. Our childhood heroes---exposed!!

I wish I grew up with the Lord of the Rings flicks. Frodo is someone you can really love. He had no ambitions, no horniness, no delusions of grandeur. He just wanted his pipeweed. And when shit was thrown into his lap, he cried about it, cried some more, got it done, and went back home. Just an average, decent joe.

Mr. Baggins, I salute you!

[pokerfan]

4. We still had the books

I first read them back in the seventies. And the film really dumbs down a lot of the novel.

Yeah, Frodo, the relunctant hero and christ figure. What's amazing about the hobbit's character development is that it happens so gradually and in front of our eyes that we don't really notice it. It isn't until they return home only to discover that the Shire had been taken over by "rough men" that we see how they've grown. Of course, Peter Jackson didn't have room for the Scouring of the Shire. It's only in the books.

[Strawman]

2. Funny

That's been on either Vs or HDNET a couple times recently and I was sucked into watching.

In Daniel's defense, you have to give him credit for doing a shitload of work on the Miyagi property (stains fence all around the yard...both sides, a beautiful wooden deck that seems to snake around Miyagi's entire yard, and paints his previously dilapidated house) before finally complaining. I think my first question would have been what does this shit have to do with karate?

They have to make the character a little immature so that he has something to learn about life from his teacher.

And if I had my mom driving me around on a date with Elizabeth Shue in a station wagon that we had to push to start, I might act out a bit too.

Come on give him a break!

[pokerfan]

3. Don't forget about the classic car

he essentially steals from a senile old man (after gettign him drunk) who probably shouldn't be in charge of his own affairs.

But seriously, there was surprisingly little character development. Mr. Miyagi tells him, :learn karate so not have to fight" while Danielsan is picking fights in every other scene snd (as I said) taunting the bullies right up to the tournament.

No wonder Elizabeth Shue dumped him in the next movie.

The one saving grace of the film is the performance of Pat Morita. Loved the scene where he toasts the memory of his wife and unborn son who died at Manzanar while he was earning a MOH fighting with most highly decorated military unit in the history of the Armed Forces:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/442nd_Regimental_Combat_Team

"No doctor came!"

[Cush]

7. he also picked the ugliest car

[petronius]

5. Well, he WAS from Jersey, wasn't he?

:evilgrin:



(I kid, I kid...)

[pokerfan]

8. LOL

Yeah, he had that Jersey take no shit from nobody attitude. He just lacked the brains or brawn to keep him out of trouble.

Another interesting point is how Daniel derailed Johnny's attempt to rehabilitate himself. Early in the film Johnny is shown with his buddies. Johnny even passes on a brew saying that he's a former degenerate and as a senior, he wants to make it all work. Then Daniel has to get in his grill and proceed to provoke him for the rest of the movie.

[Lethe]

6. Yes i totally agree

I watched the KK a few weeks ago and was thinking the same exact thing.