There's such a phenomenon that I've deemed cultural blasphemy. Some aspects of popular culture harbor a sacred quality. They've become entrenched in the cultural zeitgeist, embedded in the fabric of our social dealings, and intertwined with our personal stories. These hallowed memes deserve veneration (sometimes expressed only in jest), yet some cavalier individuals don't understand this. It's Miley Cyrus covering Yesterday, Schwarzenegger in Terminator 3, The Day the Earth Stood Still rebranded as an environmentalist screed, and LeBron appropriating the Jordan symbol. (Note: the Miley and LeBron ones haven't actually happened.) Some things should just be off limits.
With that in mind, I give you the following movie trailer.
Update: Some commenters have discussed this remake in the context of race. While the choice of a black Karate Kid probably has political undertones, that was irrelevant to my critique of this remake. Simply, The Karate Kid is an all-time classic that shouldn't be tampered with.
20 comments:
The villainization of Asians (with a black as the victim/hero, of course) has begun.
It was only a matter of time since Asians are a high intelligence group that succeeds everywhere on the planet, thereby exposing the failures of Africans, who cannot seem to compete in any modern society anywhere in the world.
Agree this remake is ridiculous, but the original Karate Kid was anti-white (Northern European) garbage and ridiculous in its own way.
So Will Smith ruined one of my favorite sci-fi stories (I Am Legend) and now his kid is messin' up Karate Kid?
I agree with John and Anon. The mulatto Negro in China is definitely fish out of water and so does make for juicy conflict, a much greater expansion on the theme in the original (a working class Italian up against a swarm of high-standard, cliquish WASPs). But it'll likely turn into more of an American individualist, slightly ghetto-tinged, critique of the uniformity and 'soullessness' of China.
Good show to the Chinese kid who was right in trying to cut off contact between the girl and the mulatto boy. But he'd be better off learning some Game and wearing baggy pants, and some fresh new scent, instead of acting all hard.
I wonder how much the foreign distribution rights are for this film in Asia or China in particular?
I guess Hollywood has partially solved it's piracy problem. Unlike the West, I suspect Asians don't like to see themselves egregiously villified in films thru the unside-down PC-prism of race, gender and class.
I don't see bootlegged DVDs selling well on the streets of Hong Kong before the premiere.
Oh god, I never thought I would say this, but you guys are being racist and weird. It is just the Karate Kid. For one the movie has Jackie Chan, who is pretty cool even in the dumbest of films. While I agree with most concepts of human biodiversity, I have no problem with the new karate kid being black. And he is black, not mulatto. He is Jaden Smith, Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith son, the annoying kid from "The Day the Earth Stood Still" remake.Actually, that is maybe my only problem with this new Karate Kid. My opinion on the miscegenation aspects of the new movie is that I personally find blasians sexy, so I like this new angle of a black boy getting an asian girl. I hope it starts a new trend of black asian relationships. I think blacks and asians should merge as one race.
PS: I really do believe in human biodiversity, and I'm not a liberal troll.
Honestly, my critique of this had nothing to do with race.
As I've stated before, I mostly try to ignore underlying PC themes when watching movies TV, etc. Well unless it's shoved in my face like Freedom Writers.
But anyway, The Karate Kid is simply a classic that shouldn't be tampered with. Nothing to do with race guys.
(But while we're on the subject: Until I was around 11, I actually thought Asian people had some magical powers because of Mr. Miyagi.)
"So Will Smith ruined one of my favorite sci-fi stories (I Am Legend)"
Really!??!? I actually thought he was fantastic. Well until about 2/3 into the movie, then it was atrocious.
The villainization of Asians (with a black as the victim/hero, of course) has begun.
It was only a matter of time since Asians are a high intelligence group that succeeds everywhere on the planet, thereby exposing the failures of Africans, who cannot seem to compete in any modern society anywhere in the world.
Um, no.
But hilarious. I like how the black kid with dreads has a voice like a white teenager. They never do in real life.
"But hilarious. I like how the black kid with dreads has a voice like a white teenager. They never do in real life."
That is so true, Hoste.
It would be a lot easier to stomach if the central character were white.
Hopefully this movie is the start of the productive minority-unproductive minority split.
And will lead to the realization that racism is everywhere and isn't an excuse to not succeed in the US
I really do not mind the main character being black, but why Jaden Smith? Jaden Smith is so annoying. I wish they could have found a better actor.
I don't know why it's even called the "Karate Kid." Since it takes place in Beijing, the boy is learning kung-fu, not karate. And since the story is a huge departure from the original, why the same name?
I'm only slightly offended at this remake though. I've come to expect this type of non-sense out of Hollywood. After they cast Will Smith as Jim West in the remake of one of my favorite childhood shows, "The Wild Wild West", nothing surprises me anymore.
Maybe it was going to be called Kung-Fu gangster, but realized that the story was a ripoff of the Karate Kid, so they decide to make Kung Fu Gangster a Karate Kid remake.
We're talking about them changing it from Japanese to Chinese, right?
Oh for anyone who has seen 8 mile:
8 Mile, a rough autobiography of Eminem, is essentially the same movie as The Karate Kid.
The paralells are so incredibly obvious once you think about it. I don't feel like hashing them out though.
Well, I did some research and found out that Will Smith is a producer of the film. Also is wife is going to have a role in the film. I believe this film is simply a vehicle to start their kid´s career, and not serious project. The film also had the working tile Kung Fu Kid, before they decided to call it The Karate Kid.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1155076/fullcredits#cast
PS: Will Smith is going to star in an Afrocentric history film about Egypt as a Pharaoh.
http://jam.canoe.ca/Movies/Artists/S/Smith_Will/2008/03/23/5078376-sun.html
(But while we're on the subject: Until I was around 11, I actually thought Asian people had some magical powers because of Mr. Miyagi.)
Which explains how you grew up to be such a dumb racist douchebag.
"Which explains how you grew up to be such a dumb racist douchebag."
Which this statement explains how you are a political correct asshole with fascist tendencies.You are the reason why people like me have such hard time taking on these pale supremacists. You do not help the cause for racial equality, when start calling people douchebags, instead it makes you look like a douchebag.
It's not really a big deal (though that kid can't act), but it does seem like always about Black people being oppressed, even when they're First World people moving to a Third (well, Second) World country. Leftist English Lit types could probably write reams of theory about this and on cultural appropriation and marginalisation, provided that they could find a way to twist it so it says something about the dreaded omnipresent "White Supremacism" (I expect they'd run with it being just a clever way for White Americans to appropriate Chinese culture).
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