‘Karate Kid’ still Fights Hard

The Karate Kid is an older movie set in the 80s. The main character, named Daniel,
moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles, California. He didn’t want to move there, and
unfortunately made enemies with a group of karate kids. Daniel decided that he needed to learn
karate if he was going to defend himself, and found a kind man, Mr. Miyagi. Miyagi decides to
teach Daniel karate with various tasks and also that karate is used as a last resort.
“Why do you do karate?” Miyagi asked in the movie. As Daniel progressed he told him,
“So I don’t have to fight.” As the movie comes to a close, Daniel is able to defeat his all time
enemy, Johnny Lawrence.
The actors in this movie were able to portray their characters so you could better
understand their emotions. You could see the progression of Daniel as he turned from angry into
finding a balance. The actor playing Mr. Miyagi was able to portray his character in a way that
made the character likeable, rooting for him until the end.
The setting was high school students in the 80s. It tied into the bullying well, as data
from multiple different sources shows that it’s mostly high school students who get bullied. It
also was a good way of showing why he thought he needed to learn karate to stop from getting
bullied. The setting helped show this as there wasn’t any internet. So the bullies then would jump
or beat somebody up.
Another message the Karate Kid showed was that there are different types of coaches.
Johnny Lawrence’s coach was harsh, and went by the lessons, “Strike hard! Strike first! Show
no mercy!” Johnny’s coach taught him that he had to win, and you win at any cost. Mr. Miyagi,
however, went by the notion that you have to have a balance. He wasn’t teaching Daniel karate
to revenge himself, he was teaching him so he didn’t have to fight. Mr. Miyagi was teaching him
life lessons that would help him throughout his life.
Overall, the Karate Kid had actors that were able to show the characters growth and
emotions. The time period and setting went along well with what they were trying to convey, and
was able to send a message about good coaches and bad, and finding a balance.