25 Aug 2015

The Truth About Daniel-san

Humor 18 Comments

This is mostly tongue-in-cheek, but I actually think Daniel is kind of a jerk in this movie.

BTW there is one mildly dirty word at the end, so watch out…

18 Responses to “The Truth About Daniel-san”

  1. Tyler Kubik says:

    There is an episode of How I Met Your Mother where Barney Stinson thinks William Zabka is the good guy and Ralph Macchio is the bad guy that is pretty funny

  2. razer says:

    This is genius. I don’t remember the scene by scene plot of this movie, so I’ll have to take the guy’s word for it that these events folded in they were shown and he didn’t play fast and loose with the editing. But if this is what happened, then Daniel was a total prick and was aggressor in many instances. Definitely not a hero to admire. And his behavior definitely can’t be argued to be anything other than wrong and repugnant.

    Also notice how common it is, especially in older cop movies, to have the hero cop wantonly violate the rights of innocent people to get information, and how okay we are with it as long as the people whose rights are being violated are ‘undesirables’ (criminals, drug dealers, pimps, gang bangers, etc.). In fact, these scenes are usually played for laughs.

    But times have changed. Thanks to the ubiquity of smart phones, we’re now catching police in the act of crimes that they’ve been getting away with for years. And it’s soured the public’s view of them. And, thankfully, it’s being reflected in movies as well. It’s much harder to make the classic ‘cop-who-takes-the-law-into-his-own-hands’ character sympathetic to the audience nowadays, even if his victims are the societal ‘undesirables.’ And I think that’s a good thing.

  3. Josiah says:

    I’ll have to take the guy’s word for it that these events folded in they were shown and he didn’t play fast and loose with the editing.

    Uh, yeah, about that….

    • Bob Murphy says:

      Josiah, I think what razer means is that, e.g., it’s not editing out a part where Johnny first punches Daniel. In that beach scene, obviously Danny is supposed to be the good guy, but he actually escalated the situation, unless the editing was deliberately deceitful. That’s what razer means, he’s not talking about the verbal commentary.

      • Josiah says:

        In that beach scene, obviously Danny is supposed to be the good guy, but he actually escalated the situation,

        How did he escalate the situation?

        • Bob Murphy says:

          At 1:08. Johnny pushed him on the ground. The narrator is being facetious, but he’s actually correct, when he says that Daniel has the radio and Ali is in no danger. Daniel then runs at Johnny and tries to punch him.

          • Josiah says:

            Bob,

            When a guy pushes you to the ground and puts his fists up, what do you think that means?

            • Bob Murphy says:

              I don’t know but it’s better than him arguing with me over a Karate Kid spoof.

              • Josiah says:

                Fine. I guess I’ll go clean the house instead.

              • JimS says:

                You mean that was satire? Why didn’t you say? 🙂

  4. Yancey Ward says:

    So, who is Johnny and who is Daniel in the Murphy/Krugman and Murphy/Sumner movies?

  5. JimS says:

    The biggest offense in this film was the acting. Most never made a career in acting. How Macchio has any work is beyond me. So much for the adage of building a better trap. The best does not always succeed and the weak do not always fail.

    Pat Morita, oddly, seems to have as many film credits, according to IMBD, after his death as Macchio which probably says something about Macchio’s acting.

    Morita was a pretty good guy. He had a stand up routine called “Hip Nip.” He actually performed in front of Pearl Harbor survivors and apologized for “screwing up your harbor.” I believe that was in the 60s when there was still a fair amount of animosity over the war. Regardless, the vets loved him.

  6. Major.Freedom says:

    Sorry but I think the narrator of the video is wrong.

    The narrator is just manifesting his anti-hero fetish by stretching the possible motivations of the characters in the movie Karate Kid to absurd lengths.

    Some people just love to do this sort of thing. Like the guy who made the apologetic comic or cartoon about Star Wars from the Empire’s perspective.

    Calling Johnny a “flawed hero”? Why can’t Daniel be a f!awed hero for the same reasons?

    First, the character Daniel is not the aggressor. Fiest Johnny would not leave Ali alone, which Daniel pickwd up on, and then Johnny attacked Daniel physically. He shoved the radio at him and pushed him to the ground.

    Johnny “defends himself as his legal right”? After sucker shoving Daniel first, after which Daniel defended himself?

    Second, Daniel didn’t trip himself playing football. He was tripped by one of Johnny’s minions, on purpose.

    Third, the fact that Daniel showed up at the dojo does not warrant being run off his bike by violence. Sending him a message? That was not just a message. Daniel could have been paralyzed from that sucker move. Daniel didn’t buy a gun. He became interested in Karate after losing a fight he did not start.

    Fourth, when Daniel drenched Johnny with water in the bathroom, that was in response to him being in off his bike and getting injured by Johnny. There was ” absolutely no reason” for Daniel to do so? Nonsense. He was physically injured by Johnny and his response of a water drenching was if anything an under response.

    And what happens then? Johnny doesn’t just let it go. No, he kicks the crap out of Daniel. For what? For getting less than what he deserved? For being made wet?

    Stupid video made by a misguided narrator.

  7. Kevin Erdmann says:

    Ralph can’t be blamed. He’s clearly acting out of frustration because of Mr miagi’s blatant violations of labor laws.

  8. Kevin Erdmann says:

    Sorry daniel, not ralph.

    • JimS says:

      Nice point. Daniel trades his labor for knowledge. Regardless of his alleged aggression, it would be interesting to hear Dr. Bob’s position on how Miagi’s violation of child labor and minimum wage laws were actually a benefit for Daniel. Daniel obviously lacked a skill set to make him a viable employee anywhere and could not afford lessons. They struck a happy compromise, Daniel developed some employable skills and a knowledge of martial arts. With persistence, Daniel may be able to develop skills to hire out as a body guard or even a hit man. Truly a happy ending.

  9. Harold says:

    I derscribed the film “Rocky” to my son. “Oh, Karate Kid but with boxing” he said.

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