Long time readers may recall my occasional references to bell curves for measuring desirability of behaviors. The extremes of any given curve indicate undesirability, while the middle of the curve is the desirable, as in having positive consequences, portion. I’ve talked about this directly as well as in terms of extremism vs. moderation, or taking things to the nth degree – and how that leads to undesirable consequences.
So while I was recently watching The Karate Kid (1984), it struck me that this is primarily a comparison / contrast of moderation vs. extremism – or where you’re located on this bell curve. This leisurely-paced and conventional movie follows the travails of 16 year old Daniel, whose mother has moved him and herself from Newark, NJ, across the country to a suburb of Los Angeles, CA. He swiftly becomes the target of a gang of teenagers at his high school, and as they are karate students, Daniel has trouble effectively defending himself.
When he looks into the local karate dojo, he discovers his tormentors train there, and that the teacher has no concept of the utility of mercy – opponents are to be rent and destroyed. Daniel is destitute of hope.
But a local man, Mr. Miagi, rescues him from a beating after Daniel plays a trick on one of the gang members, and, upon discovering there is no reasoning with the karate teacher, agrees to teach Daniel the form of karate he knows; the agreement is that they will face the gang members at a local tournament.
Mr. Miagi is from Okinawa, near Japan, but when World War II rolled around, he had moved to the United States and married; leaving his pregnant wife at a relocation camp, he volunteered for the nisei battalion of Americans of Japanese descent who fought for the United States during the War. Daniel is gradually introduced to the art of karate, the importance of patience, and the importance of caring for others. Between an off-again, on-again girlfriend, and Mr. Miagi, it’s a period of rapid learning.
And Mr. Miagi is an important sub-theme in and of himself. He may be a karate master, but that does not mean he is flawless. He is a reminder that the highest have their flaws, even if they are not the fatal flaws of theatrical yore. He drinks to mourn his late wife, who died in childbirth, along with their child, while Mr. Miagi fought for his adopted country. He’ll go out on the town, or out fishing, leaving Daniel to do important training.
The pace accelerates when the tournament begins. I liked this sequence, for though I’ve never been to a karate tournament, it reminded me of fencing tournaments, volunteers and refs working hard, competitors and all threading their way between ongoing matches, looking for where they will be fighting. It’s well-filmed and, even on the small TV I viewed it on, both exciting and clear enough to see the action.
And we really begin to see the consequences of the gang members’ training, as they become the roughnecks of the tournament; a loss results in shunning, rather than proper team support. But when Daniel gets on a roll, the opposing karate teacher orders one of his students to deliberately break the rules and cripple Daniel – an important transitional moment when we see how extremism, the absolute desire to triumph regardless of the rules, leads to the moral ruin of those characters involved – we’re at one extreme of the bell curve. The blow is delivered, along with an almost desperate apology as the student realizes he’s gone beyond the pale, and this may cost him in the future.
But Daniel stubbornly refuses to withdraw and is now in the gold medal bout, facing the defending champion and arch-tormentor. It’s a rich and tense scene, full of narrow escapes, comebacks, moves that skirt the rules, and a final roll of the dice. The opposing karate teacher is destroyed by the loss and may rain disaster on his students.
And leaves the audience wondering if that’s really the way to build community, through fear and shame.
The Karate Kid may be a bit too leisurely paced for today’s audiences, but for those who are willing to wait and put up with some squirmy high school scenes, it has its rewards.
