Frozen River and The Karate Kid - Essay Example

The Karate Kid is a masterpiece comedy-drama film directed in 2010 by Harald Zwart. It is about 12-year-old Dre Parker who moves to China with his mother from their home in West Detroit. While in China Parker becomes a friend to Mei Ying. They have diverse cultural differences, a fact that serves to the disadvantage of their friendship. Dre does not have a decent mastery of Kung Fu but only has knowledge of a little Karate, contrary to the class bully, Cheng. Dre, however, decides to confront Cheng in what would make the fight of his life. The Frozen River is about a single mother based in New York who resorts to smuggling illegitimate immigrants to the country because of her desperation. Ray Eddy resorts to conducting illegal business after her husband leaves with all the family savings. Eddy and her two children no longer can survive on the meager wages she gets from her stores. She meets Lila, who lately, has been in the business of smuggling immigrants. The two movies have remarkable contrasts. The essay illustrates key differences evident in the two films.

The first difference between the two films relates to their production. Karate Kid is a Hollywood film. The production was courtesy of Sony Pictures, which makes it a major studio film (Horn 1). Frozen river, on the contrary, was a production of the Cohen Media Group company. Other companies credited for the film’s production are Harwood Hunt Productions and Off Hollywood Pictures. Its run time is 98 minutes. That is contrary to the Karate Kid which has a runtime of 2 hours 20 minutes.

There is a remarkable difference in the manner in which viewers are represented in the two films. That explains the differences in which eurocentrism operates in the two films. Eurocentrism relates to perceptions of exceptionalism in Europe that developed into a worldview after western civilization. Hollywood, over a long time, has promoted the concept of Eurocentrism in most movies and films. In essence, such films depict the perceived supremacy that Europe holds. Eurocentrism is evident in the Karate Kid depicted through its characters. It implies that a common notion of superiority is evident in Dre's to learn and compete with peers, who were initially superior. That emphasizes eurocentrism being that the two characters, Dre and Wang are from different regions. That differs from the depiction of characters in the Frozen River. The film does not reveal Eurocentrism and aspects of superiority.

There is a difference in the manner in which non-White main characters in the two films blend in the stereotype notions presented for the racial group to which they belong in the two films. The two women in Frozen River, Eddy, and Lila, eventually do not succeed in their business of smuggling immigrants from Canada (Holden 1). Instead, Lila is surrendered to law enforcement officers. They ultimately play the stereotype roles in the film. In the Karate Kid, the ambitious Dre transforms to become a competent warrior after learning karate instructed by the powerful Chan. Dre stands out to defy the usual odds.

The two films exhibit differences from diverse perspectives. Being a Hollywood major film, Karate Kid differs from Frozen River which is produced by an independent studio. Their plots as other features such as cinematography, therefore, differ. The concept of Eurocentricism is an evident difference between the two films. While eurocentricism is depicted in the Karate Kid when Dre has the capability to master karate and win over others including Weng. That is contrary to The Frozen River. The final aspect of the difference between the films relates to the depiction of non-White characters in their stereotype notions based on their racial origins. While the main character in the Karate Kid is successful in defying the odds, the characters in Frozen River are not.