Karate Kid

Last night we enjoyed a good trip down memory lane by watching Karate Kid. It brought good memories, but, being an amateur critic, I realized a lot has changed since it's debut!
The intro scene was incredibly long. "Back in the day," a director was permitted to take the liberty of conveying an appropriate setup for the movie. In Karate Kid, John G. Avildsen did just that. The movie starts without even SEEING the star until a few minutes into the movie, yet we have watched all the opening credits and been given the long visual intro of the huge move they made across country (Jersey to Cali). I'm afraid that in today's society, we've become so accustomed to jumping right in on the action that if we watched this film for the first time today, many would have walked out before meeting Daniel Larusso, great underdog of the decade!
Aside from the story boarding/filming techniques of this classic, the casting also made me realize the huge changes in our culture. Ralph Macchio (Daniel Larusso) starred with Elisabeth Shue (Ali Mills). Yeah, Macchio definitely got the part because he was IMMENSELY skinny...helps with that image of the triumph of the underdog, but Shue seemed more plump next to him. Now, poor Shue, had this been cast today, possibly would have been forced to drop some pounds for the role. I'm not saying that it makes a person less beautiful by being of a more healthy weight. What I AM saying is that it is completely shocking to compare today's "highschool stars" to yesterday's. It's unbelievable! I've been desensitized into thinking that it's always been skinny, beautiful girls co-staring with muscular hunks.
If we think that society has not had it's influence on us, it's time to take a reality check. It makes me realize that Dove has a point in their efforts to help girls develop better self-esteem. I, too, have been walking down the middle of the road on these types of things. You know what Miyagi says about that...