Mr. Miyagi was a Jedi…
So, Pat Morita has passed away. 73 years young ain’t bad at all, but wow, wouldn’t you think a fella like that would live forever? For some reason, upon seeing this photo of Pat from a London Comicon, it yelled at me…. OBI WAN KENOBI…
Suddenly, Alec Guinness came to mind… I had no idea why, but upon further pondering of the though, it occured to me both of these guys had much in common. For one, they were great actors in their youth… then one day in their later ages, BAM, they play a character that they forever became typecast as.
For Alec, it was the wise old Ben Kenobi. Out there in the desert, learning the ways of the natural force, and how to become one with the force when he died, we now know it was Qui Gon who was teaching both Yoda and himself to do so. And he was also protecting the boy, Luke, and ended up taking him on an epic quest of adventure, acceptance and forgiving. (I’m a neeeerd!)
For Pat, it became Mr. Miyagi. The wise old Karate master, who could catch flies with chopsticks, and train you how to fight by waxing cars. Have no doubt, while Karate Kid was sort of campy, it still rang true to the youth culture of the time. I can remember being a dumb kid and going out after watching Mr. Miyagi and trying to balance myself on something and do the crane kick thing….. I nearly busted my balls, but still. People did it. Just like they still do the “Jedi Mind Trick” move… it’s just something that will probably FOREVER be remembered. You know what? Come to think of it, Karate Kid would have been so much better with droids and wookies, somebody make that so.
That’s a pretty powerful thing to accomplish in 73 years, you know? Immortality. I mean, sure, the guy WAS also “Arnold” on Happy Days… but c’mon…. you know when you see Pat Morita, you automatically think…. “Wax on, Wax off…”
Have no doubt, my friends, Mr. Miyagi was a Jedi.
R.I.P. Pat Morita
1932-2005
November 25th, 2005 at 6:25 pm
Amen, man. Thanks for the great homage to Pat Morita. I really did enjoy the Karate Kid movies (the first 2, anyway; can’t remember 3, and I still can’t believe they did that “Next Karate Kid” thing, which I also haven’t seen), specifically because of Mr. Miyagi. He will definitely be missed.
November 25th, 2005 at 7:34 pm
*Moment of Silence*
November 25th, 2005 at 9:16 pm
Suddenly I feel like getting drunk on saki.
November 25th, 2005 at 9:21 pm
“Sake”.
It’s good stuff though. Personally, I prefer the cold sake over the warm or hot types, but it just depends on your taste.
But yeah, I should go have some tonight in honor of Mr. Morita.
November 26th, 2005 at 6:33 am
Well, I’ve actually never had it before. Although if I’d been drinking it quite a bit before I posted that, I would also have probably spelled it incorectly.
Either way, it’s not a word that started out in a latin alphabet anyway so
November 26th, 2005 at 7:28 am
I feel a great disturbance in the force.
November 27th, 2005 at 12:31 am
Beautiful Tribute DJ.
November 27th, 2005 at 4:08 pm
I know near the end of his life, Alec Guiness was always annoyed that people remembered him as Obi-Wan and not as the dozens of more serious roles he played, and I don’t know if Morita felt the same way or not… but they’ll always be remembered not just as their characters, but as teachers.
And that ain’t bad.