Genre Criticism: “The Karate Kid” (Coming-of-Age)
At home watch The Karate Kid 2010.
After having identified a key reaction to this film in your lede, identify and describe the aspects of cinematic storytelling that are specific to your film’s genre and critically explain how they contributed to that key reaction. In other words, engage in what
Module 3 referred to as genre criticism (feel free to go back and read that chapter).
The title of your essay should be the name of the film and its genre. For example: “The Shining” (Horror/Mystery).
Genre Criticism
● concerned with identifying and describing the basic structural similarities among groups of works – that is, the things that make a film a romantic comedy, action/adventure, horror, sci-fi fantasy, etc.;
● examines the constellation of recurring substantive and stylistic features, tropes and expectations; and
● creates and applies an artistic measuring stick to evaluate the aesthetics of the work.
Methodology:
(a) Research the genre of your film and familiarize yourself with the story and storytelling conventions that define it. Familiarize yourself with the genre-defined conventions and troupes in your film and critique your film accordingly;
(b) Research the film (budget, success, production company, director) and incorporate information into your essay that informs the reader’s understanding of the film; and
(c) guided by the notes you took during your viewing about how and how well the cinematic storytelling resulted in the reaction you identified in your lede, write a 750-1000 word essay that critically reviews the story – that is, the screenplay (mention the screenwriter) – as well as the cinematic storytelling – that is, the production values (mention the director, cinematographer, and anyone else deemed worthy), and the performances (the key actors), all within the context of genre criticism.
Follow our format of lede, descriptive paragraph (storyline), and critical analysis of the story and the storytelling, but incorporate the critical evaluation of the cinematic storytelling in accordance with the genre of the film. In other words, your critical explanations for how the film made you feel the way you did (as stated in the lede) will be grounded in the film’s genre and its ability to meet genre expectations.
Audience: Readers of The Plain Dealer. Assume that your work appears in the entertainment section of the newspaper. Write accordingly.
Basic Requirements: This essay must be word-processed with proper spelling, grammar and sentence structure.
Include a title.
Do not write about a film you saw sometime prior to engaging in this module. It is important that the images, impressions and descriptions of the film be fresh and vivid. Your final draft must be submitted with a word count and an attached list of all research sources.
“The Karate Kid” (Coming-of-Age)
Your Name
Subject and Section
Professor’s Name
Date
"The Karate Kid (2010)," a modern retelling of the beloved 1984 classic, skillfully navigates the terrain of the coming-of-age genre set against the backdrop of martial arts. In this analysis, we delve deep into how the film's cinematic storytelling seamlessly aligns with the structural and thematic norms inherent to its genre. Our exploration will reveal how these conventions contribute to a central audience response: the remarkable transformation of Dre Parker, an initially timid young boy, into a confident martial artist. Through the lens of genre criticism, we will uncover the recurring features, tropes, and expectations specific to the coming-of-age genre, assessing how the film admirably adheres to these established conventions.
Coming-of-age novels, often classified as bildungsromans, inhabit a literary realm that plunges readers into the transformative journeys of characters as they navigate the intricate transition from youth to adulthood. These narratives are replete with pivotal and life-defining moments that serve as crucibles for their protagonists, forcing them to grapple with their deepest fears, shoulder the weight of their choices, and contend with the inherent inequities of the world. This exploration of human growth and self-discovery extends beyond the confines of literature, manifesting itself in various artistic forms, including cinema, visual arts, and a diverse array of narrative mediums (Baldwin, 2021).
Within the captivating world of coming-of-age novels, readers find themselves immersed in stories that either chronicle the characters' evolution from childhood