Balancing Life

Miyagi: "Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life. Whole life have a balance. Everything be better. Understand?" (The Karate Kid 1984) 

Spoken like a true master!

 Mr. Miyagi explains to his young student Daniel Larusso that his lesson on balance does not only apply when fighting but throughout life. The ability to balance time for oneself, family, school, extracurricular activities, and friends is essential. The significance of this scene is that Mr. Miyagi, the wise old man, guides Daniel that is still growing up, into the path of success. The term Wise Old Man is a topic to talk about because it is one of the stereotypes that Asian Americans have in the film industry. This stereotype can be looked upon as a positive stereotype for the Asian culture because it shows that old men always have something clever to say that can teach youth a lesson about how to live life in a prudent manner. In today’s society, people are easily convinced about the Asian American culture that the media tends to present. Most of society tends to believe that old Asian men secretly know karate and that we should respect them. As a victim of being partially brainwashed by the media and how they expose old Asian men I tend to have that minor idea that every old Asian man should be respected because of their intellectual capabilities. It is true that you should respect your elders however, the respect I have for old Asian men differs from other old men from other ethnicities because I feel that Asian old men are more sophisticated and should be looked up to while growing up. Mr. Miyagi is an over all representation of the wise old man stereotype which impacts the viewers in a positive way in which Mr. Miyagi is a role model and should be looked up to. 

Click Play to listen to one of the memorable moments of the film.

Works Cited: Mahdzan, Farah, and Norlinda Ziegler. "Negative Stereotyping of Asian Americans." Web log post. Model Minority. N.p., 4 July 2001. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.