Does the Karate Kid Have a Kung Fu Dream? Hong Kong Martial Title Arts between Hollywood and Beijing Author(s) Marchetti, G JOMEC Journal: Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, 2014, Citation n. 5 Issued Date 2014 URL http://hdl.handle.net/10722/204953 Rights Creative Commons: Attribution 3.0 Hong Kong License JOMEC Journal Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies Does the Karate Kid Have a Kung Fu Dream? Hong Kong Martial Arts between Hollywood and Beijing Gina Marchetti University of Hong Kong Email:
[email protected] Keywords The Karate Kid choreography wu shu movie fu real kung fu Abstract This analysis of the martial arts choreography in The Karate Kid (2010) examines the contradictory matrix in which action films produce meanings for global audiences. A remake of a 1984 film, this iteration of The Karate Kid begins its imaginative battle over martial arts turf with English and Chinese titles at odds with one another. For English- speaking audiences, the title of the film promises a remake of the popular 1984 story of a displaced Italian American teenager (Ralph Macchio) trained by a Japanese American sensei (Pat Morita) to compete against the local karate bullies. However, the 2010 version has another identity competing with the first. Its Chinese title translates as Kung Fu Dream – Japanese culture, karate, and domestic American class and racial politics out of the picture. In this version, an African American youngster (Jaden Smith) moves to Beijing from Detroit and is taken under the wing of a drunken kung fu master (Jackie Chan) to battle a group of wu shu/san da villains.