The Karate Kid: the age old tale of fitting in

So as a 90's kid I've had my share of excellent films to grow up with, such as the sandlot and the original spider-man trilogy(feel free to debate me on this if you must). One of the films I always had in my childhood was The Karate Kid, originally released on June 22, 1984. The films stars a young 22-23 year old Ralph Macchio playing the young 16-17 year old Daniel Larusso. The Film begins in September, Newark, New Jersey as Daniel and his mother leave their home to move to California. They have to move because Daniel's mother recently got promoted to a better postion in her company. All the same Daniel isn't too hyped on the idea of leaving his friends and family, until he meets....you guessed it, a girl. 

  

 

 The girl's name is Ali, and Daniel immediatley sets out to impress her. He is suceeding until he is confronted and pummeled by her ex-boyfriend, Johnny lawrence of the cobra kai karate dojo, in fight on the local beach. The next scenes of the movie focus on Daniel's attemps to fit in to his surroundings and continual beatings by Johnny and his gang of karate bullies. Daniel eventually meets and trains under a wise old man named Mr. Miyagi to fight his bullies in a karate tournament. I feel that for an 80's movie, the subject matter is incredibly relevant.

 So many teens feel the pressures of fitting in and being cool, but not everyone can accomplish that task. Anyone who has ever been bullied can look at this young kid, who has no car, lacking fashion sense,a wimpy physique, a bit of a clumsy dispostion and next to no friends(other than Ali and Mr.Miyagi) and say, "hey I know how you feel bro." This is the kind of connection we as filmmakers/animators should strive to extend to our audience. It lets them know that we understand them and want to entertain them with their fantasies of victory(saving the day, getting the girl, etc) so that at least through our characters/situations they can be the heroes they've always dreamed of.