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Lexi Montini

ENGW 1111

03/27/2022

The Karate Kid vs. The Next Karate Kid: The Final Fight

Adjusting to life in Southern California after living in snowy New Jersey his entire life

proved to be no simple task for Daniel LaRusso when he quickly finds himself fighting against a

group of high school bullies. Released in 1984, The Karate Kid became a classic action and

martial arts film considered to be the “teen-age or karate ‘Rocky’” (Thomas). The Karate Kid

(1984) “refreshens” the “surefire revenge movie formula” and includes a small taste of a love

story between Daniel and the ex-girlfriend of his enemy (Siskel). The iconic performance of

Ralph Macchio as Daniel LaRusso, “the martial arts cutie-pie”, only adds to the popularity of the

film (Piepenburg). However, Noriyuki (“Pat”) Morita’s role as Miyagi, the kind Karate mentor,

destroys stereotypes of Japanese Americans during the 80s by playing a “genuinely human role”,

embodying “strength and dignity… and a loving generosity” (Thomas). The film was also

produced by Jerry Weintraub and written by Robert Mark Kamen, both of which worked on parts

II and III of The Karate Kid (1984) original story to follow the original characters further.

However, following two other parts to this series, the fourth remake in 1994, The Next Karate

Kid, received significantly more negative reviews. With a domestic gross profit of $90.816

million, The Karate Kid (1984) blows away its remake with a gross domestic profit of $8.751

million. A key difference between The Karate Kid (1984) and The Next Karate Kid (1994) is the

change in the cast. Ralph Macchio and some of his popular co-stars fail to act in this movie with

only Noriyuki Morita returning. Ralph Macchio’s replacement as the lead of the series is Julie

Pierce, played by female actress Hilary Swank. Reviews consider this reboot to be “set almost as
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an afterthought” and a “disjointed, predictable and cliché-ridden story” (Horwitz). Despite these

critics, many underlying morals and concepts remain similar amongst both films. Both The

Karate Kid (1984) and The Next Karate Kid (1994) present concepts of gender and conflict and

can be compared with each other to acknowledge shifts in these themes and what has remained

consistent in society.

When The Karate Kid (1984) was released women and men held similar job positions

and had access to the same education, however, the standard was that men would be the

breadwinners of the household. In the opening of scene of The Karate Kid (1984), Daniel and his

mother are moving to California due to his mother’s new job. However, this is arguably one of

the only depictions of a woman holding a position of power. The cast is heavily male dominated

with the lead of film and his enemy both being played by men while the lead female is simply

‘Daniel’s love interest’. This quickly sets the tone of how gender will be depicted through the

film. Ali is introduced to the audience as someone quiet, warm, sensitive, and supportive when

she meets Daniel at the beach, which contrasts the first impression of Daniel being strong, fun,

friendly, and outgoing. These first impressions follow traditional opinions of what each gender

should act like. Additionally, the beach scene shows that Daniel approaches Ali first which

follows the traditional gender norm that the man should be more assertive and make the first

move on a woman. Male dominance is also shown later in the date scene where Ali rejects going

out with her friends to have Daniel drop her back home. Daniel gets upset with this and says “do

what you want, I don’t care.” This shows a damage to Daniel’s ego and seemingly makes him

‘less of a man’ since a woman is pitying him. Gender differences are shown through the

wardrobe of this film as well. Women were wearing much more conservative clothing and little

to no makeup across the entire film, specifically in scenes such as at the beach and at the soccer
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tryouts. For example, Ali was shown in the beach scene wearing a thick sweater and long pants,

comparable to the other women in the scene. In the scene at soccer tryouts, the costumes for Ali

and the other cheerleaders (also all female) are conservative and continue to show no skin from

the waist to the neck, whereas the boys that tried out for the soccer team were wearing short

shorts and some even shirtless. The conservative clothing and lack of makeup on female

characters shows the intended look of innocence for females. This innocence and modesty

portrayed in the women contrasts the ‘alpha male’ stereotype of the men. The brutal competition

of achieving the ‘alpha male’ title is exemplified in the final fight between Johnny and Daniel

when one of Johnny’s friends yells from the sidelines to “put him in a body bag.” The film

circles around the gender norm that men should always be ready to fight and highlights this

directly in the rowboat scene. As Daniel prepares for the fight when he asks Miyagi if “there

were times when [he was] scared to fight.” This question proves that Daniel was taken aback by

the foreign concept of a man afraid of a fight.

The ‘fearless man’ persona is uniquely exemplified through the man vs man conflict

presented across The Karate Kid (1984). Within the first 15 minutes of the movie the conflict

between Daniel and Johnny is introduced with the physical fight during the beach scene. Johnny

beats Daniel to the ground and says “No mercy, man,” even after Daniel attempts a truce. This

shows how Johnny allows his strong feelings to present themselves in extremely aggressive and

irrational behavior. Additionally, similar aggressive conflict is shown during the soccer tryouts.

Johnny and his friends yell out “Kill him. Kill him, Bobby” and “I’m gonna tear your face off.”

The fighting between these two boys transcends to their friends as well, involving Miyagi and

Ali. Miyagi is talked down to by Johnny’s karate sensei multiple times in the scene at the karate

dojo. The sensei calls Miyagi “old man” and says “get your boy on the mat, or you and I will
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have a major problem.” Miyagi responds calmly and reasonably which contrasts the sensei’s

unwarranted aggression and cruelty. Similarly in the country club scene, Ali suffers assault from

Johnny as a byproduct of the fighting with Daniel. Ali cries “don’t you ever do that to me again”

after Johnny kisses her without consent. This shows how the conflict and jealously between

Johnny and Daniel escalates to the extent that Johnny disrespects Ali’s wishes so much that he

sexually assaults her. The immense mistreatment that Daniel’s allies face proves the larger

effects that this man vs man conflict has, and the true dangers accompanied with toxic

masculinity. However, the years following the release of The Karate Kid (1984) have brought

some ease to traditional conflicts of physical fighting and the gender roles associated with that.

Compared to The Karate Kid (1984), the fourth sequel of the franchise, The Next Karate

Kid (1994), portrays the evolution of the traditional gender norms embodied through its

predecessors. The most notable change from the first film is that Ralph Macchio does not star in

this sequel, but rather the lead character is a female played by Hilary Swank. Comparatively to

the first presentation of Ali in The Karate Kid (1984), the first presentation of Julie in The Next

Karate Kid (1994) personifies much more negative characteristics such as rude, dismissive,

sassy, misbehaved, and angry. Julie takes the innocent persona of Ali to an entire 360 degrees.

She also responds completely different toward her love interest by rejecting him at first during

the scene where Eric walks her out of the principal’s office. She tells him “go to hell” in

response to him asking for her name. Additionally, she clearly expresses lack of interest toward

Ned in their first encounter during the scene at plant nursery. She tells him to “go to hell” and to

“dream on” in response to his flirtatious attempts. This assertiveness and dominance abolishes

traditional gender roles, however, Julie faces serious harassment and assault by male characters

throughout the film. Ned chases Julie down in the school hallways at night which obviously
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scared her. However, Ned sees Julie running away from him as a challenge and describes her as

“feisty.” Ned’s persistence and aggression with Julie shows that although Julie is a dominant and

strong woman, men still identify themselves as the stronger power who gets to make the

decisions that women will obey. This toxic masculinity is again shown when Ned finds it

comical that Julie wants to fight him in the final fight scene by the docks. Ned says to everyone

“guys, this is really embarrassing” and proceeds to tap his cheek mockingly and says “give me

your best shot” to Julie. This largely contrasts The Karate Kid (1984) when fighting between two

men was never given a second thought, but when a woman is involved, as in The Next Karate

Kid (1994), she is laughed upon as if a woman would never be able to take on a man. Miyagi

even acknowledges that women fighting is a more modern concept during the monk trip. Miyagi

says that girls of this time period are taught to “be good, wear pretty dress, no fight.” Julie

embodies the opposite of this as she verbally and physically fights in various scenes throughout

the film. Julie again refutes this stereotype when talking to Miyagi about attending the school

dance. She says, “I don’t have a dress” and “I probably wouldn’t fit in.” Julie’s costuming

throughout the movie matches her character by being much less feminine than Ali’s was. Julie is

shown in more gender-neutral clothing such as flannels, t-shirts, jeans, and dirty sneakers. On the

other hand, Julie’s wardrobe is also much more revealing with form-fitted tops, shorter shorts,

and even a scene with her back shown in only a bra while she was changing. Julie even addresses

her opinion on makeup when talking to Miyagi while he waxes his car. Julie mentions to him

that there is “no such thing as too much makeup.” She also criticizes herself in that same scene to

the extent where she feels that her teeth “don’t match [her] nose” and she is shown pulling at her

face in examination of herself. The emphasis throughout the movie on Julie’s appearance shows

that not only have women become more rebellious of the traditional clothing norms, but also that
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the beauty standard is high, and women feel the need to achieve a certain look. Julie is

sexualized much more than any character was in The Karate Kid (1984) but also takes on the

persona of a ‘fearless woman’ which The Karate Kid (1994) was lacking.

In The Karate Kid (1984), conflict is presented through the theme of man vs man,

whereas The Next Karate Kid (1994) uses man vs self as the main source of conflict. When Julie

is introduced, her negative attitude and dismissive behavior set the stage for a character full of

resentment and anger. She projects this attitude onto others which can be shown through the first

interaction with her grandma. She says “what I want is for you to leave me alone” after other

multiple rude statements. Julie acts similarly toward Miyagi when she realizes that he will be

taking care of her for the time being. She is short tempered with him and closed off, saying

things such as “look, I don’t need a special dinner. I can take care of myself.” Her resentment

toward the world is evident in these opening scenes and the reasoning for this is quickly

revealed. Julie’s internal conflict stems from the tragic death of her parents which is revealed

after she almost got hit by the car. She repeatedly says that “it wasn’t right that they were killed.

It wasn’t fair.” However, this internal conflict is almost masked to the viewers of the film with

the man vs man conflict that is also presented. The behavior of Ned towards Julie, as well as Ned

towards Eric, creates tension throughout the film. For example, Ned feels threatened by Eric

winning over Julie. Ned claims her and tells Eric that “she’s mine” when we see them first

interact in the school hallway. Julie’s repeated encounters with Ned physically touching her

without consent and harassing her to accompany him on a date also fuels the man vs man

conflict. What differentiates The Next Karate Kid (1994) man vs self conflict as the main concept

is the reasoning behind why Miyagi teaches Julie karate. Miyagi wants Julie to get her life back

on track, which he expresses in the car waxing scene. He says that he will “take four homework
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paper payment to one karate lesson.” By the end of the film, Julie begins to recognize when she

is in the wrong and takes responsibility for her own actions. She shows growth in these areas

when she apologizes to Eric at the dance. She says, “I’m sorry for getting you in trouble with

Ned and his friends.” This attitude change is also evident later when Eric and Julie are in the car

after the dance. She tells him that “none of this would have happened if it hadn’t been for me.”

However, arguably the largest difference seen in Julie is during the final fight scene when she

acknowledges that she will fight Ned for her own benefit. Julie verbalizes this to Miyagi when

she says “if I’m ever going to respect myself, I have to do this.” This shows that she has learned

to control her emotions and respond rationally when faced with intense interactions with others.

This major improvement in Julie’s mental state shows the resolution of this man vs self-conflict.

Similarly, the final fight of The Karate Kid (1984) resolved the man vs man conflict that Daniel

faced.

The Karate Kid (1984) uniquely entwines a love story and martial arts to convey a

traditional conflict of man vs man and traditional gender norms. In continuity of the franchise,

The Next Karate Kid (1994) entwines these similar themes with the twist of progression in

gender norms and new internal conflict. In just the 10 year difference between the release of the

two films, the culture shifts dramatically. Casting a female star in The Next Karate Kid (1994) to

play a character with essentially the same capabilities and goals than her play predecessor shows

significant progress. Women emerge as their own individual power without being reliant on a

man. Women show much more attitude against what bothers them and the exhibit confidence

within themselves to achieve physical abilities that were previously taboo. The shift away from

toxic masculinity also becomes apparent when the two films are contrasted. The primary focus of

men fighting, as depicted in The Karate Kid (1984), shows the gender roles associated with men
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as well. Men are expected to be aggressive and dominant in both films. However, the conflict of

The Karate Kid (1984) centralizing men fighting one another shows the prominence of this in

that society. The shift of attention becoming less on fighting with others and more on

overcoming our own battles, as in The Next Karate Kid (1994), proves that toxic gender roles are

becoming less important to society. The film promotes a more positive goal of improving oneself

to get revenge rather than physical fighting being the only source of defense. Despite the positive

societal shifts shown in The Next Karate Kid (1994), the largely negative reviews of the movie

do not align. This may be accounted for the fact that not all of society was entirely accepting of

these changes at the time of the film’s release. Unfortunately, The Karate Kid series has come to

end, but the mark that it leaves on society shall remain.

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Works Cited

Horwitz, Jane. "'Next Karate Kid': Now and Zen: THE NEXT KARATE KID (PC, 104

Minutes)." The Washington Post (1974-), Sep 15 1994, p. 1. ProQuest. Web. 3 Apr. 2022 .

https://www.proquest.com/docview/751141082/9B919DC8178B4526PQ/1?

accountid=12826&parentSessionId=8dG0BUmoqsH6CfO

%2B89rRU18QlEgrSFWHyYJ4ogT9%2BPg%3D

Piepenburg, Erik. "Wax on, Wax Nostalgic: Ralph Macchio, 'the Karate Kid,' Tackles a Memory

Play." New York Times (1923-), Feb 14 2016, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. 27 Mar. 2022 .

https://www.proquest.com/cv_1638454/docview/2310013651/C517BB54E277454FPQ/1?

accountid=12826

Siskel, Gene. "Tempo: 'the Karate Kid' Hits the Bull's-Eye, but Needs a Chop." Chicago Tribune

(1963-1996),  Jun 25 1984, p. 1. ProQuest.  Web. 27 Mar. 2022 .

https://www.proquest.com/cv_1638454/docview/170776399/8136C10980FD49E0PQ/3?

accountid=12826

The Karate Kid. Dir. Avildsen, John G. Prod. Weintraub, Jerry. Perf. Macchio, Ralph, and

Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita. Columbia Pictures, 1984. Film.

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The Next Karate Kid. Dir. Cain, Christopher. Prod. Weintraub, Jerry. Perf. Swank, Hilary, and

Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita. Columbia Pictures, 1994. Film.

“The Karate Kid (1984) - Financial Information.” The Numbers,

www.the-numbers.com/movie/Karate-Kid-The#tab=summary. Accessed 29 Mar. 2022.

“The Next Karate Kid (1994) - Financial Information.” The Numbers,

www.the-numbers.com/movie/Next-Karate-Kid-The#tab=summary. Accessed 29 Mar.

2022.

Thomas, Kevin. "MOVIE REVIEW: BULLY FOR 'THE KARATE KID' 'THE KARATE

KID'." Los Angeles Times (1923-1995), Jun 21 1984, p. 2. ProQuest. Web. 27 Mar. 2022 .

https://www.proquest.com/cv_1638454/docview/153891547/8136C10980FD49E0PQ/1?

accountid=12826