The Idea That Daniel LaRusso Is A Bad Guy Is Idiotic

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In the last few years, there has been more and more discussion that Daniel is the true "bad guy" of the Karate Kid. Cobra Kai plays into it a little but by making Johnny more sympathetic but the concept of Daniel being anything but the hero of Karate Kid is foolish. Check out this video which goes so far out of its way to prove a point that it leaves out so many actual facts of the movie.

It ignores the following:

-Johnny and his crew ruin Ali's radio for no reason after they leave.

-That Johnny and crew single out Daniel to fuck with him during soccer practice. It's quintessential bullying.

-The excuse for driving Daniel off the road is because he stepped into a dojo?

-No mention of John Kreese threatening both Daniel and even more bizarrely Mr. Miyagi.

-Not one word about how Kreese told Dutch to hurt Daniel even if it meant being disqualified.

Now, that video is somewhat tongue in cheek and I always enjoy people taking strange takes with movies. For instance, I think Tom Cruise was dead for most of Top Gun Maverick. The problem here is that this video became so popular that people just say that Daniel is the bad guy so easily without even getting that much of the video isn't serious.

Columbia Pictures. Getty Images.

I'm probably triggered by this because Daniel LaRusso is one of my favorite characters in movies. I love The Karate Kid so much. I gave it a 99 in the episode below. The entire journey of watching him get better and how Miyagi is such a wonderful mentor is so much fun to watch. Finally, the guy in the video uses the word "sportsball" to describe soccer and there is nothing worse than that.

On this episode of Double Play, Feits and I talk The Karate Kid and another great sports movie that also came out in 1984: The Natural. You can watch the whole episode below: