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Individualism In The Kate Kid

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Topic 2: Intra/cross/Intercultural material analysis
FINAL ASSIGNMENT
Student: Trieu Thi Van Trang
Class: QH2011.F1.E1
Title of Project: A FILM ANALYSIS: THE KARATE KID (2010)

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The box-office smash of Columbia Pictures, The Karate Kid (2010), is regarded as a modern movie of traditional Chinese martial art, love and friendship. One of the messages the film-makers successfully conveyed is inter-cultural opposition as well as the cultural differences between American and Chinese people. In this essay, the author will conduct an in-depth analysis of two dimensions: Individualism/Collectivism and Long-term/Short-term time orientation, which from her perspective are most prominently portrayed for the whole of the movie. In the first place, The Karate Kid reaffirmed old American value of individualism as a contrary to Chinese collectivistic culture. Theoretically, individualism appears to describe a culture where “autonomy, independence and self-fulfillment” are highly encouraged (Finkelstein, 2012), hence, it offers the members a great deal of freedom on their path to personal success (Adler & Elmhorst, 2008, p.48). Meanwhile, people in collectivist societies tend to prioritize …show more content…

Han’s method of teaching Kung-Fu to the young Dre reflects the sense of long-term orientation in Chinese society. When Dre began learning Kung-Fu, Mr. Han taught him about how to maintain patience – the key to the mastery of the traditional Chinese martial art. For days, Mr. Han forced Dre to merely take off his jacket, drop it to the ground, pick it up again, and put it back on. The lesson repeated itself until Dre turned agitated and discouraged, exclaiming loudly “Mr. Han! I get it! Be respectful, I got it! I put it on a thousand times; I took it off a thousand times, that’s stupid!” Then Dre was about to leave but Mr. Han ordered him to come back. When he returned, he soon realized that every single thing he had been learning all applied to

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