Karate Kid Notes

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The Karate Kid (2010) General Plot: Alienation is a part of growing up. At some point, we are ripped from the warm pile of indistinguishable other humans, handed arbitrary distinctions, and made to feel like there’s no one else on the planet that feels what we feel or experiences things the way we see them. It’s this rite of passage that is the most noticeable theme in The Karate Kid, directed by Harald Zwart. Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and his mother Sherry (Taraji P. Henson) have been relocated (due to a lack of financial options) to China, where Sherry will be working in the automobile plant there. When Dre gets his eyes blackened by another boy on playground, he becomes obsessed with learning how to defend himself, and finds an unwilling mentor in maintenance man Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). The Karate Kid is about as seriously dramatic as you can make it considering that it’s aimed at a younger audience, only lit occasionally by sparks of humor. The humor comes from a sarcastic young lead, Dre, and the ubiquitous warmth of character that can be found in Mr. Han, but the moments are few and far between. I believe that this was done on purpose because of its effectiveness in making the audience feel almost as isolated as Dre. Target audience: The Karate Kid is aimed at, in my opinion, 8 to 16 year olds. I believe that it is particularly aimed at males as stereotypically males are very energetic and like to fight and go on adventures, also only males fight in this film. This is shown in the themes as they are not particularly difficult to comprehend and it is not crucial to be able to comprehend these themes to enjoy these films and understand the film. This is also shown that the karate kid is now 12 years old in comparison to the original Karate Kid where he was around 17 years old and therefore The Karate Kid is more relatable to younger audiences.

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