The Karate Kid: A defense of Johnny Lawrence and why Daniel LaRusso was a jerk, and the real antagonist of the film

[Forehead]

This thread has been a long time coming and necessary. The catalyst for me writing it was the thread about the guy punching a woman over a parking space. I'm not sure how it derailed into a discussion of the Karate Kid, but the fact remains, Johnny Lawrence was brought up in a bad light. I've seen this happen many times and it needs to stop. The truth is, Johnny Lawrence was a good kid, was pretty much justified in everything he did during that film, and frankly, Daniel LaRusso was a real *******. It's time to set the record straight.

I wasn't sure how to go about this at first. Would a list do? No, probably not convincing enough. I have today off from work and it's raining out, so you know what, I'm re-watching the whole film and doing a running diary, which will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Johnny Lawrence was justified, and yes, even a brave teenager.

*Spoilers beyond*

The first four to five minutes are a boring opening montage to allow the viewer to know that Daniel and his mother are moving from Newark to California. Why? Who the hell knows. Supposedly, it's for a job, yet it never comes through. Dubious at best. And really, does anything good ever come out of Newark? That place is a dump. One point against LaRusso already.

5:02 First act of violence. Daniel LaRusso unnecessarily kicks open a gate. He was moving a bike with a bag over the handlebars. He couldn't do that with one hand? Of course, the gate swings and hits another kid in the skull. You just know that story is getting back to the local high school. This new kid is not to be ****ed with. This my friends, is how a bully starts to build a reputation.

8:15 First meeting between LaRusso and Miyagi, otherwise known as the evil Okinawa mastermind. Side note, it's incredible that Pat Morita went from being on Happy Days to being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the space of a year. That's a hell of a jump.

10:00 We first meet Ali (with an I) at the beach soccer gathering. I might add, looking might fine in an 80's way. And yes, I checked before I wrote that, she was 20 when this movie was filmed. Also, this is some of the worst soccer playing I've ever seen. Can anyone explain to me why everyone got in a circle and appeared to just be kicking randomly? Atrocious.

11:30 - 14:00 And Johnny Lawrence enters the picture. Now let's start showing you how stand up this kid is. His first action in this movie is to REFUSE A BEER from his friends as he doesn't want to drink and motorbike. This is a kid who is responsible. Plus which, he talks about how this is his senior year and he wants to make everything work. Responsible and goal oriented.

And it's time for confrontation #1. Now look at this through Johnny's eyes. You can tell from the tone of the conversations that his breakup with Ali is very recent, and it's always a difficult phase. He is refusing beer, setting goals for himself, one of which is to win back the girl that he cares for so much. He arrives to talk to her, and the first thing he sees is a new kid pawing at her. After all, from his point of view, they had just fallen to the sand. So you can imagine there's a little blood rush there as he sees his plans hit a snag. Especially when you consider that he risked getting sand in the engine of his bike just to see her. He is making sacrifices.

Now let's examine the confrontation itself. Johnny asks Ali to talk and she says no. He turns off her radio (probably because it was interfering with her ability to hear how much he meant it) to ask again. Instead of answering, she just turns the radio back on, minimizing his worth. Now I'll admit, he acted a little immature here by taking the radio from her, but again, his heart was hurting and he just wanted to talk, dammit.

And then she just pushes it by taking the radio, smirking at him (look closely) and then turning it on again. It's as if she was saying "That's right buddy, you saw me rolling around with the new kid and I'm glad you did." At this point, I can't blame him for smashing it, he was antagonized by this vile temptress.

And I can't blame him for his next action. He tells Daniel LaRusso not to touch the radio and yet LaRusso does anyway, prompting Johnny to grab it away. Well of course he would, Daniel was ABOUT TO STEAL THE RADIO! Mid-80's New York was a crime hole, and Newark still is. Everyone from there was probably a thief. I have no doubt that if Johnny hadn't grabbed the radio, LaRusso would have run off with it. And the radio shove...well, he's trying to talk to his ex, to win her back, and this new kid who he saw pawing her is interrupting. Seriously LaRusso, take a hint and go roast another hot dog.

Now as to the fight itself. LaRusso was the aggressor. Who charged who? LaRusso charged at Johnny. Twice. And Johnny, being the patient, non-violent sort, only stepped aside and tripped him. He was trying to end this as peacefully as possible, but LaRusso would have none of it. After the two trips, LaRusso gets up and PUTS UP HIS FISTS! He was the first one to do so. At this point, Johnny knows he can't get away from this aggressive Jersey kid and tries to end things with a kick to the gut, which will knock the wind out of you but is hardly a debilitating blow. Again, trying to end this with as little violence as possible; he just wants to talk to his ex.

Next, Johnny asks Daniel if the fight can end, only to be sucker punched in the nose. Note this again, Daniel not only put up his hands first, he was also the first one to throw a legitimate punch. At this point, Johnny has to do what is necessary, and I'll note that he did it quickly and at a minimum amount of blows. And mentioned to Ali that none of this would have happened if she would have just talked to him. And he's right, not that he started any of it. The blame lies squarly on her and Daniel.

18:50 Set to "Cruel Summer" by Bananarama (an awesome song, and yes I'm defending Bananarama here, shut up) Daniel continues to hit on Ali (looking great in this scene) in front of Johnny, and gets kicked off the soccer team. How does this occur. One of Johnny's friends trips him on a breakaway. Now note, it wasn't Johnny who did this, it was a friend of his. Fouls like this happen in soccer all the time. You take your free kick and play on. What does Daniel do? He gets up and tackles him, and then PUNCHES HIM IN THE FACE while the kid is lying on the ground. What an over-reaction! I'm beginning to think Daniel has anger management issues. And no father figure at home, obviously.

Not much happens for awhile other than Daniel continuing to hit on Ali, and invading the karate studio where Johnny trains. Daniel just will not leave this kid alone, now he can't even train without being harassed by this Newark street punk. Oh, we also learn that Johnny's karate trainer is an *******. More on this later.

Another note, we learn that Daniel's mother didn't really have a job in computers, now she's entering a "management program" in a "restaurant." Combine this with the move from Newark and the Italian names, and I think it becomes fairly obvious that not only is Daniel a bully, but his mother is connected to the Mob and is setting up some sort of sham business to launder money. Now, not only does Johnny have to deal with Daniel's bullying, but the possibility of Salvatore showing up to put two in his skull.

26:00 Confrontation #2, if you can call it that. Daniel again antagonizes Johnny's friends. Look at where he's biking...it's a dirt track. Probably where they race their bikes. So Daniel just decides to put his stamp on yet another area of their lives. This is getting ridiculous. And let's examine his fall down the hill. For one, not a single member of Johnny's group touched Daniel. They were riding next to him, but no one touched him. He went down the hill on his own. Not only that, they were trying to help him. One of them told him that if he wanted to learn karate, the first lesson was to learn how to take a fall. Well I've got news for you, when I studied martial arts (Jiu-Jitsu) learning to fall and get up properly (to avoid hurting or exposing yourself) is one of the first lessons I was taught. When you look at it closely, they were almost trying to welcome him. They can't possibly be blamed for him falling off his bike and tumbling down the hill like a spaz.

Around this time, Daniel realizes his bullying way may not cut it in California, and throws his first "Sand in Vagina" fit.

...Daniel continues to push it, hitting on Ali and rubbing it in...

38:00 And Daniel goes off the deep end, deciding an appropriate course of action is to drench Johnny in a bathroom stall while Johnny is trying to roll a joint. Ruining perfectly good weed is a pretty serious offense. Especially considering Johnny wasn't going to smoke it himself...remember his speech at the beginning of the movie. He was rolling the joint for his friends, and now it's ruined, so he has to answer to them as well for the loss of the weed. When is Daniel just going to leave these poor kids alone? Oh, and Ali gets a negative mention at this juncture for tripping Johnny's group when they just wanted to ask Daniel why he would do such a thing.

39:20 Daniel causes a car accident due to his negligence and stupidity, running into the street. Then disrespects another person's car by jumping on the hood. You'll note that in chasing him a few seconds later, Johnny and his friends ran AROUND the car and didn't mess up the paint job.

40:20 Confrontation #3, where Daniel deservedly gets smacked around. And note, one of the group actually wanted to let him off easy, the same kid that Daniel punched during soccer tryouts. They have forgiveness in their hearts, but as Johnny says at this juncture, he couldn't leave well enough alone. He had to continue to be an ******* to them. And this time, it was even worse because....

This whole thing was a setup. Daniel purposely ran to this one spot, absorbs a few punches (which he had earned, let's face it), and his evil Okinawa overlord suddenly jumps poor Johnny and his friends, leaving them brusied, battered, and without any dry weed to make themselves feel better.

46:00 Daniel has "sand in vagina" fit #2, yelling at Miyagi for not accompanying him to confront the mean karate instructor. Seriously kid, sack up and do it yourself instead of asking an 80 year old (though competent) to defend you. Also, Miyagi establishes that nothing Johnny does is actually Johnny's fault, using the false premise of "no bad student, only bad teacher." This is false because we've already proven that everything is Daniel's fault.

48:00 Daniel drives a car without a driver's license.

52:30 Sand in vagina rant #3. Miyagi buys Daniel San time to train without distraction (so long as he doesn't cause it himself) and he complains about it.

***Training montages start, Daniel consumates his *******ry by asking Ali out, then does the manly thing and has his mother drive. Seriously dude, take time out from antagonizing the locals and get your damn license.***

1:15:00 First of Miyagi's special massage tricks, which is borderline uncomfortable to watch as he rips Daniel's shirt open and presses his palm into his chest.

1:25:20 Johnny makes another appearance, this time pleasantly talking to Ali at a country club dance, discussing how he doesn't want all the bad stuff to continue, though he started none of it. Later he attempts to rekindle the flame of old love with a kiss, and of course Daniel ruins the moment by spilling pasta all over himself. Ali then slaps him for no real reason.

I might add, the only reason Daniel was in the country club in the first place was because he was trespassing. How many laws is this delinquent allowed to break, anyway?

1:42:00 Sand in vagina meltdown #4. Daniel accuses Ali of going behind his back to Johnny. Oddly reminiscent of what he did to Johnny on the beach at the beginning of the movie. What goes around comes around, hell Daniel used that very phrase in the middle of the movie when he dumped water on Johnny and ruined the weed. What a douche. Ali's friend puts him in his place nicely.

1:45:45 Daniel and his Evil Overlord Okinawa master lie about his belt level during registration. To the untrained eye, Daniel "lied up", he supposedly had no training and was competing with better fighters. But come on, Miyagi had him trained to deal death from no less than 623 strikes and angles. They "lied down" in this case, this was like putting Daniel in with 5th graders. Friggin bullies. Johnny and his friends are black belts, and registered themselves as such. Honesty and integrity. Also, of course Daniel would bring Ali to the tournament just to taunt Johnny and ruin his concentration.

1:46:20 Daniel ignores Dutch, one of Johnny's friends, big-timing him and acting like he's better. Dutch shoves him, perhaps the only real unwarranted act of aggression in the entire movie that Daniel wasn't totally responsible for. And even that is up for debate. Side note, Dutch is Chad McQueen, son of the great Steve McQueen.

1:48:00 Ali explains the rules of tournament karate to Daniel, one of which may not be accurate. We'll explain this more later on.

1:48:50 Daniel's first match. Like many bullies, when finally confronted, he runs away, out of the ring in this case.

1:49:30 Daniel wins his first match, starting the fight montage, with a great song playing. "You're the best Around" by Joe Esposito. Awesome song, perfect for this scene.

1:50:00 Johnny wins his first match with a controlled kick to the head. Notice what adjective I used to describe that kick. Soon after, Daniel defeats a member of Johnny's studio (though not a member of his group) who is better known as playing the gay nerd Lamar in the Revenge of the Nerds series.

1:50:25 We see a really good karate fighter who is not part of Johnny's group. For background, his name is Darryl Vidal, he was the choreographer and expert for the film, and if you remember the scene where Daniel sees a shadow of Miyagi doing the crane kick on the beach...it was really this guy.

1:51:30 Daniel defeats the first member of Johnny's inner circle even though he only scores one visible point, when you need two to advance. Odd....

1:52:15 It happens again!!! Daniel faces Dutch, who is obviously better than him, and appears to win after scoring a single point. You remember my theory earlier about how Daniel's mom is actually in the mob. Yeah...you draw your own conclusions, the bully had this rigged in his favor from the start.

1:54:00 Semi-finals...Lawrence is of course matched up against the toughest opponent in Vidal. (And honestly, breaking from the whole "we have to have Johnny and Daniel fight at the end" this Vidal kid should have won the tournament hands down.) Lawrence prevails in fine fashion, including another controlled kick for one of his points.

1:54:50 The mean karate instructor gives the out of commission order. Johnny and his friend are obviously taken aback because they're good kids at heart, they don't want to do this, but they have no choice. Also, all of Daniel's bullying and harassment probably makes it an easier pill to swallow.

1:55:30 The friend is disqualified for committing a foul and immediately apologizes. Because he's a fine example for everyone. Honestly, I'm not even sure the foul was disqualification-worthy, but Ms. LaRusso already had this tournament bought and paid for, so who can really be surprised. The foul is listed as excessive and deliberate contact.

1:57:45 Special Miyagi massage trick #2. I have no words.

1:58:00 Daniel LaRusso is going to fight. Of course, he sends Ali out to make the announcement. Anything to take the wind out of Johnny's sails. Man, this kid played head games. Johnny has put up with so much and prevailed in the end, only to have it ripped away from him by this punk from New Jersey and his ex girlfriend that he still pines for.

1:59:45 SWEEP THE LEG. Awesome! Even though Johnny obviously doesn't want to, even after everything he's been through.

2:00:50 LaRusso runs out of the ring again.

2:01:25 Tied 2-2, with the next point winning, Johnny is not awarded a point for a punch to the face. Note that this was not a full strike, it was controlled, yet mysteriously, no point is awarded.

2:02:00 GET HIM A BODYBAG..YEEEEAAHHH!!! Double awesome!

2:02:20 The Crane Kick for the winner, and the ultimate injustice. For those who don't know, tournament karate generally scores points for clean shots to the torso region. In some forms, the head is also allowed so long as the strike is controlled. Now through this tournament, we saw head shots, so it can be assumed that they are using a form which allows head contact.

We already saw Daniel win a pair of matches only scoring one of the required two points. We saw a kid get disqualified for hitting him in the leg just so Daniel could make the finals, yet oddly, when Johnny commits a foul in the final match, he isn't disqualified. But here's the kicker, it should have never got to Johnny's foul. Before that, Johnny was mysteriously not awarded the trophy. The match was tied 2-2, and he hit Daniel with a clean, controlled head shot where no point was awarded. No wonder he fouled after that. He was robbed of his deserved third All-Valley Karate trophy. Robbed! And to rub salt in the wound, Daniel wins the tournament on an illegal strike. I rewatched this over and over, the Crane Kick fits no definition of a controlled strike, it is an out of control kick to the face, yet Daniel is awarded the point and the trophy that Johnny had already legitimately won a minute earlier.

Mob connections, I'm telling you.

2:02:40 Even though Daniel has proven to be an out and out ******* this entire film, tormenting Johnny and his friends, stealing his woman, ruining his pot, and then winning his trophy illegally, Johnny still is gracious enough to hand him the trophy like a man. If only Daniel had been able to meet such a standard on his own. Sadly, he did not.

And let's not forget, in the sequels, no matter where Daniel went, people hated him. They hated him in Japan, and they hated him again in California. Daniel is like the guy who gets divorced multiple times and doesn't seem to realize the common link in these divorces is him. He just rubs people the wrong way, and it's a combination of his bullying, woman stealing, cheating, mob connected persona. Johnny Lawrence was a victim in this movie.

**** you, Daniel LaRusso.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Awesome! I can't wait to digest this.

Great summary (if you can call it that). I have to say that I've agreed all along that DL was the problem. His Guido ass came into the Valley and disrupted the apple cart...big time. He stood in the way of what should have been a second straight Johnny/Bobby (all Cobra Kai) All-Valley tournament championship fight.

I also hate how Daniel agrees to take Ali out to Golf N Stuff since that was, obviously, Ali and Johnny's special hang-out. It makes sense that he lashes out with "I really like your car, Mrs. LaRusso!"

As much as I admire Johnny, I think Bobby is the tragic hero in this film (at least as a runner-up):

1) He gets beat up despite being a returning letterman and team leader of the varsity soccer team for making a legal slide tackle in try-outs

2) He give the new hot-head the benefit of the doubt by trying to show mercy (don't get me started on what his sensai would think) after the Halloween Dance Hosing

3) He is disqualified from the tournament by doing what he's told and "taking one for the team" despite really being torn up about it (costing him another shot at Johnny)

Good kid.

[DaveMason]

This is my favorite extremeskins post ever. Thank you.

[spjunkies]

Daniel would kick your ass.

[JMS]

8:15 First meeting between LaRusso and Miyagi, otherwise known as the evil Okinawa mastermind. Side note, it's incredible that Pat Morita went from being on Happy Days to being nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the space of a year. That's a hell of a jump.

Kevin Spacey went from TV episodes of The Equalizer, Wise Guy ( Mel Prophet), LA Law and them he made the movie Seven where he had no speaking role and no real face time on camera either but was rather a blurry silent figure in a very dark film.... To WINNING the academy award for American Beauty.

[JohnnyUtah]

Seriously, thank you! Ha, I just introduced this movie to my girlfriend for the first time earlier this week.

Love the insight, love the post.

Well done, sir...well done.

EDIT: I cannot condone Johnny's behavior when he smashes the radio and then subsequently runs over it. That's just a ******** move.

It is hilarious to see how everyone just left Daniel on the beach after he got his ass kicked.

Also, as far as I can tell, Daniel's Mom leaves Newark to work in an Asian restaurant in California? I don't see how that makes sense on any level. Something else is going on here. Also, why wasn't she at his tournament from the start?

[Tweedr01]

Forehead, awesome, it was coming up on the weekend and I was starting to think that maybe this would not get created and it was just us talking about it.

I will be honest, I haven't read anything except for the opening paragraph, and once you started to break down the beginning of the movie I stopped. I am going to rewatch all of them over the weekend so I don't want to spoil it with reading your description of it (however biased it may be ).

Thank you for starting this up, I love going back to stuff from the 80's, yes that includes playing my NES! I may even have to break out the ol' karate kid video game afterwards. I will repost in here after I watch the trilogy.

[Dan T.]

Also, as far as I can tell, Daniel's Mom leaves Newark to work in an Asian restaurant in California? I don't see how that makes sense on any level. Something else is going on here. Also, why wasn't she at his tournament from the start?

Daniel's mom is a member of the L.A. Crips. She was sent to Newark to set up an East Coast trafficking operation and, upon completing that task, moved back to the West Coast. The clues are all there in the film.

[HOF44]

Damn Forward what did you do drink a 5 hour energy drink at 11:00am???? Or is work just that boring today??

[Forehead]

Thanks everyone who enjoyed it so far. I like the way it came out and would probably award myself eleventy stars out of five.

Damn Forward what did you do drink a 5 hour energy drink at 11:00am???? Or is work just that boring today??

I'm off work today, and with the wife and baby out of the house, it was the best time to rewatch and write this up.

[Bliz]

Kevin Spacey went from TV episodes of The Equalizer, Wise Guy ( Mel Prophet), LA Law and them he made the movie Seven where he had no speaking role and no real face time on camera either but was rather a blurry silent figure in a very dark film.... To WINNING the academy award for American Beauty.

Don't really see the comparison. I think "in the space of a year" was the key to his comment about Pat Morita.

American Beauty was like 10 years after he was on those shows. And in the interim he made a huge name for himself in Glenngary Glenn Ross, The Usual Suspects, L.A. Confidential and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. He was a star by the time American Beauty came out.

...and he did a helluva lot with the last 30 minutes or so of Seven. I don't remember him as the blurry silent figure from the shootout at the apartment. I remember him as the freaking creepy as hell figure from the end.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

...and he did a helluva lot with the last 30 minutes or so of Seven. I don't remember him as the blurry silent figure from the shootout at the apartment. I remember him as the freaking creepy as hell figure from the end.

Amen...he did a great job in that role.

[Predicto]

Incredible post. Awesome.

Complete B.S. of course, but truly fantastic work. Are you sure you aren't an attorney? O.J. could have used you!

[Dan T.]

[JMS]

Don't really see the comparison. I think "in the space of a year" was the key to his comment about Pat Morita.

American Beauty was like 10 years after he was on those shows. And in the interim he made a huge name for himself in Glenngary Glenn Ross, The Usual Suspects, L.A. Confidential and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. He was a star by the time American Beauty came out.

He had a supporting role in all those movies. Glengary Glen Ross, The Usual Suspects and LA Confidential. He wasn't a star by any means. And he was only 4 years removed from Seven.

...and he did a helluva lot with the last 30 minutes or so of Seven. I don't remember him as the blurry silent figure from the shootout at the apartment. I remember him as the freaking creepy as hell figure from the end.

I don't remember him ever having a speakign role in that movie. Don't remember him getting much face time in front of the camera either. The entire movie was his shadow eluding brad pit and morgan freeman.

[pjfootballer]

This is just great! Loved reading every word!!

And Daniel LaRusso is a toe walker. He walks on his tip toes. His heels never once hit the ground. He walks like a fairy.

[Predicto]

He had a supporting role in all those movies. Glengary Glen Ross, The Usual Suspects and LA Confidential. He wasn't a star by any means. And he was only 4 years removed from Seven.

.

Oh, he absolutely was the star of the Usual Suspects.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

I don't remember him ever having a speakign role in that movie. Don't remember him getting much face time in front of the camera either. The entire movie was his shadow eluding brad pit and morgan freeman.

Not even close...the entire climax of the movie (from the time he turned himself in to the last "box" scene) revolved around him. He and Brad Pitt played off each other incredibly well.

[Brotherz]

Absolutely incredible man! I am standing in my office applauding!!

[Heidenreich]

You need to break down KK 2 the same way. Sato's nephew was wronged that whole movie.

Not to meniton 3. If only Mike Barnes (Karate's bad boy) could have finished off the job. He really should have just let larusso fall to the death when him & Jessica were repelling to get the sacred Banzaii tree......

[Tweedr01]

I am dying to read the OP, I caved and read all the reply posts, but I can't bring myself to read the OP just yet.

But after reading the reply posts I now want to watch the movie Seven, lol

[Bliz]

He had a supporting role in all those movies. Glengary Glen Ross, The Usual Suspects and LA Confidential. He wasn't a star by any means. And he was only 4 years removed from Seven.

I wouldn't call what he did in the Usual Suspects merely a "supporting role" though he did win an Oscar for best supporting actor for it. I guess in a way they were all supporting actors to each other, but if anyone was the "lead actor" in that movie, it was him.

"star" might have been overstating it a little bit, but he absolutely was a very well-known and highly respected actor who had won an Oscar and been in a few major releases. Because of those movies, even most casual movie fans knew exactly who he was before American Beauty, and I guess that movie catapulted him.

I don't remember him ever having a speakign role in that movie. Don't remember him getting much face time in front of the camera either. The entire movie was his shadow eluding brad pit and morgan freeman.

You need to go rent that movie again, because it's fantastic. But yeah, the last half hour or so he has plenty of dialog, face-time and direct interaction with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman.

spoilers:

[DM72]

Johnny was a spoiled rich kid that got what he deserved.

[HOF44]

Johnny was a spoiled rich kid that got what he deserved.

Probably one of those spoiled jack-wagons from NOVA.

[TD_washingtonredskins]

Probably one of those spoiled jack-wagons from NOVA.

Maybe that's why I'm on board with the OP.