Daniel-san

If you are between 30 and 45, you probably can tell the subject of this post by the title. On Friday night, for J's birthday, we took him, his older sister, and a friend from church to see The Karate Kid, the new movie starring Jaden Smith. For anyone of my generation, however, this is a tall order, because the movie is a remake of one of the 1980s' cultural icons.

The movie was pretty good, but it was hard to replace the original. On the way home, it spawned a discussion between my wife and me on the most memorable movies of the 1980's. I maintained that 80% of people our age, asked to list the big, enduring movies of their childhood, would have listed "Karate Kid" among the list. Not only was every kid in America named Daniel called Daniel-san regularly through the early 90's, but the movie also spawned many other repeated phrases and gestures, such as:

• "Wax on, wax off" (accompanied by hand movements)
• The "crane" position
• "Squish just like grape."
• "Mr. Miyagi"
• "Sweep the leg."
• "Strike first, strike hard, no mercy, sir!"
• "No, Sensei!"

What other movies of the era had a similarly enduring impact on Gen X kids? We came up with a few possibilities, but not many: Indiana Jones and Star Wars (for older Gen Xers) franchises, Top Gun, maybe Ferris Buehler's Day Off, Ghostbusters, or Princess Bride. But the list would be short, and I think most people would have Karate Kid on theirs.

FWIW, I thought the new movie was well done. It paid proper homage to the original while still being fresh. The cinematography was great, as the movie was filmed in China rather than SoCal. If you're a Gen Xer, don't be afraid to take your kids to this one for a trip down memory lane.

"You're all right, LaRusso."