
One of the things on my Summer Bucket list was to take my girls to see Karate Kid. On Saturday night, our entire family, (including grandmothers, aunts, uncles, and 1 college aged cousin and her friend), went to see the Karate Kid! What a treat! I remember going to the movies to see the original Karate Kid 26 years ago and it was great to watch my girls experience the 2010 Karate Kid.
As we all know, the Karate Kid is the classic underdog story. Jaden Smith played the main character just as Ralph Macchio did long ago. Jackie Chan starred as the Kung Fu Master living as a maintenance man, Mr. Hung, in the updated version. In the original film, Pat Morita played the loveable maintenance man, Mr. Miyagi. Although several critics have said that the new “Karate Kid” is way too long and lacks the humor of the first film, I really enjoyed it!
After working with eighth grade girls at my church, I have quickly learned that the humor from my childhood DOES NOT EXSIST for these girls. So the lack of humor may have been on point and totally realistic for today’s youth. In 1984, school was fun. Now, kids are expected to perform 2-3 grade levels above where they are. The youth of today, have access to so much—cell phones, my space, facebook, texting. When I was young, I did not have a cell phone and nobody I knew had one either! When someone wanted to call me, they had to call my home phone (aghast!). That usually meant that my Mom or Dad answered the phone! So, they KNEW who I was talking to and they would so politely clear their throat at 9pm to let me know that phone time was officially OVER! A 14 year old girl in our town committed suicide this year after she received harassing text messages from “friends”. This IS a different time.
So, without the classic humor from the first film, and not as many classic one liners, the 2010 Karate Kid still portrayed a message. When Mr. Hung (Jackie Chan), is teaching Jaden (Dre Parker), how to practice Kung Fu, he has him repeatedly put his jacket on and take it off—“wax on, wax off”. When Dre has finally had enough, Mr. Hung shows him how what he has been learning really IS Kung Fu. I just loved it when he said “Kung Fu is everything, it is how you put on the jacket, how you take off the jacket, it is how you treat people”. WOW!
Isn’t that a wonderful lesson for our children and for us? Your life will have ups and downs but it is essentially how you go about your day to day mundane tasks AND how you treat people that makes the difference.
1 Corinthians 9:19-27
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
You are so right. It scares me how much access there is for the youth right now. I hate that my 6 year old comes home telling me so and so has a cell phone or a facebook account. I miss the good ole days
My friends and I talk about this all the time. Predators have more access to our children. There are more things to say “no” to that make us the EVIL parent. What is permissible in children's shows on cable now used to be rated PG-13. I can't even start on music videos. Sometimes I really question if I want to bring a child into this world.
I just wanted to let you know before I forgot, check my blog on Thursday I have something for you
I loved the karate kid movies, granted I was a kid and that probably played into it. I'm a big believer in martial arts. I think it's important for the boys to be able to defend themselves if necessary yet learn the self control and discipline. Maybe we'll check this movie out…
Lots of yummy love,
Alex aka Ma, What's For Dinner?
http://www.MaWhats4Dinner.com
Such a great lesson!
It's kind of scary how things have changed for our kids. Everything is so serious and there are so many ways for kids to talk to each other without parents being aware.
Can't wait to see the movie!
Thanks for linking up!
What a good message!!! It is so true what you are saying. We need to guard our children from all of this worldly junk! Thanks for the great review!
I totally want to take my kids to see this too! I can picture the old “wax on wax off” scene in my mind now…I agree that it's so crazy the world our children are growing up in. Technology has made them so accessible. Yet, the irony is, they don't have any neighborhood friends to just go “play” with…weird!
Hi,
I'm participating in the Lady Blogger Tea Party. Good post. I wanted to see this movie with the kids.