I Watch Films: The Karate Kid (1984)
The Karate Kid (1984) Daniel LaRusso’s mother moves them from New Jersey to Los Angeles, so he has to start again at high school. They live in an apartment block, whose handyman is an eccentric Okinawan immigrant, Mr Miyagi. He’s kind and helpful. It turns out there’s a definite class element to groups at school, and Daniel’s on the poor side and gets bullied. He makes friends with Ali Mills, and this makes things worse as her ex- Johnny Lawrence makes him a target. Johnny is the top student at the Cobra Kai karate dojo run by John Kreese, a Vietnam War veteran who makes strength and winning the only virtues. At the Halloween dance Daniel squirts water on Johnny as payback for the bullying; chased back to the apartment block by Johnny and his friends they’re confronted by the short, elderly Mr Miyagi who effortlessly defeats them with martial arts. Mr Miyagi takes Daniel to talk to Kreese who is aggressive, saying that Daniel should look after himself. Mr Miyagi retorts th...
