Daniel Larusso was sort of an asshole [View All]

[pokerfan]

Not a copycat thread but inspired by the Skywalker thread...

Karate Kid was on cable the other day and it seems to me that Daniel created most of his own problems by failing to think before acting.

1. The beach. He picks a fight by inserting himself into an an emotionally charged argument between a couple he doesn't even know. He gets his "fair fight" one-on-one with Johnny and gets the shit kicked out him, losing what few friends he has made up to that point.

2. Soccer practice. He gets thrown off the team by throwing a punch at Bobby. Yeah, Bobby gave him a hard tackle but Daniel decided to escalate matters. This leads to the Cobras running him and his bicycle off the road.

3. The dance: The hot cheerleader asks him to go outside so they can be alone. What does our hero do instead? Decides to play a prank on Johnny in the boy's room by soaking him with a hose. Amd then running away! This
leads to the five-on-one beat-down by the fence where he is rescued by Mr. Miyagi.

4. Spying on Ali at the Country Club, leaping to conclusions. Almost blowing the relationship.

5. Taunting the Cobras at school after they had promised their sensai that they wouldn't touch the "prima donna" until the tournment. Basically taking credit for Mr. Miyagi's actions during the rescue just so he can impress the girl.

Not making excuses for the juvenile Cobras, but it seemed to me that, throughout the movie he acted like a snotty little brat.

I understand the callow youth mentor/protege aspect but it didn't seem to me that he learned any of the "life balance" Miyagi was supposedly teaching him. All he did was win a tournament.

Hell, Rocky had more character development.