I hate Jaden
I hate Will
I hate Jada
No good reason. Just blind, irrational hate.
Ok. I can think of a million dumb reasons. First of all, I hate him in this interview. I know in Hollywood, you have to be polished and prepped for your public, but I can’t find a shred of genuine innocent childhood left in his fake ass, smartmouthed personality. Hate him.
So when do we hear the cries of offense from China that a movie about Kung Fu, a national art form and cultural treasure, is being labeled and marketed under the term “Karate”, which is Japanese? (You know, the people who invaded and occupied China and some 70-80 years ago)
I believe the film is being marketed as “The Kung Fu Kid” in China.
You nailed it—I can’t stand when young children try to act like budding hipsters…
I will say I blame his attention-whore parents more than him however for his attitude and demeanor, as I am sure he was encouraged to act like that from birth.
What very specifically outrages me about this is that he’s billed over Jackie Chan. Sure, he’s the title character – but Jackie Chan is, well, Jackie Chan.
Deja Vu: the last time a black actor took the role in a film with a traditionally white lead, there was a huge backlash as well. Of course, I’m referring to when Will Smith was cast as Robert Neville in I am Legend.
I also wonder why there was no backlash like this for the Pursuit of Happyness, nor is there a backlash of Jackie taking Pat Morita’s place.
But, to address the OP, imho, if his parents are producing the film, they have every right to cast their kid in it. If it makes money, more power to them.
Two anecdotes based purely on memory, if you want the cite you can do me the favor of finding them for yourself.
For his role in the Pursuit of Happyness, Will insisted that Jaden audition for the part like everyone else. He (supposedly) had no part in the casting decisions.
Now we’re not idiots here. Clearly Will Smith has as much pull as anyone in Hollywood and surely the producers would want to keep him happy, nepotism runs rampant in all walks of entertainment and there would be obvious appeal in casting real-life father and son in the parts. Still I believe Will Smith when he said Jaden had to earn the part on his own so as not to be forever framed as Will-Smith’s-son.
Such that -story two- in the music video for Men in Black (the second one I think) there was a bit part written just for Jaden.
Toward the end of the video, all dressed in black he was to walk toward the camera, put on a pair of shades and start head-bopping to the beat. They ran several takes and Jaden just couldn’t get it right. They decided to give choice number two a go at it, a young actress who pulled it off and went with her instead.
I think that says something.
This is an attempt by parents to push their kids into show business.
We’ve seen it before, from Rumer “Potato Head” Willis, to Lucille Ball’s kids.
Aside from a few small parts in her parents movies when she was 8, Rumer Willis didn’t start acting until she was an adult.
The original Karate Kid is on Netflix Watch Instantly - we watched most of it last night and I have to tell you I didn’t remember it being such a truly good movie! It’s a great quiet character piece.
Nope. Doesn’t say anything. Jaden had it by default. He couldn’t hack it. That is the only reason he lost the part to the head bopping girl. If he had managed to just bop his damn head without screwing that natural motion all up, he would have had the part, because it was written special for special him.
Now, I don’t honestly hate this kid. The truth is, I don’t judge Hollywood the way I judge anyone else. They are a subculture who have chosen to get paid the big bucks to be judged on dumb, shallow stuff. So Hollywood types are the only people I feel comfortable judging at all. If I knew Jaden personally, as an actual kid, not a Hollywood star, I might like him. (doubt it).
Actually Sofia’s first role was Michael’s baby son in The Godfather. Never too early! 
Yeah, it’s surprisingly good.
The Smith kid is just too young looking for this role. He looks like he’s about 9, and the whole romance thing is kind of creepy. You really want someone who is about 15 or 16 for this movie.
Actually, if you’re going to have child actors, it’s probably better for them if their parents are established movie stars - they’re familiar with the industry, and they certainly won’t steal all his money. You can’t say the same about most Hollywood parents. Jaden will probably emerge from stardom emotionally whole, relatively speaking.
I’ve always liked Will Smith; he seems like a decent human being. So of all the people I could stomach making a movie for their children, he’d be high on the list.
We saw the movie last night; I thought Jaden Smith did a great job. It was much, much more enjoyable than I expected it to be, and it was very true to the original films in its structure, plotline, and utter predictability. This was a genuinely good movie and it doesn’t have to be carried by the young Jaden Smith. Smith is very likeable, though it’s downright eerie at times how much he acts like his father. I think the child does have talent – remember, Will Smith couldn’t act for shit when he started FPoBA, and I now consider him to be pretty good. He may not be perfect, but I see a lot of potential for growth in the kid as an actor.
To be honest, if I was rich and famous and I had a child who was interested in show business, I’d be fronting the money to make it happen. Less endowed parents do things like this all the time for their children, just on a smaller scale.
Thank you.
Just quoting this part again so it can all sink in.
I guess the Smiffs are “entitled” to do whatever but I am not a fan of this kid and don’t plan on being. Funny how he’s an “actor” already. Is his exposure necessary? This remake? I wasn’t a huge fan of the first film. Karate Kid? Really? Oh well. Nevermind.
Good call on that. I remember in the early eps of Fresh Prince when he was reciting the lines along with the other actors. He’s definitely gotten better from his early days. And I feel the same way about him. I haven’t seen a huge number of his films, but for some reason I’ve always liked the guy, too. I probably won’t see the Karate Kid–I don’t really see a lot of movies in general. But I can’t get too worked up over this either.
Side note–did you ever see Six Degrees of Separation? One of Will Smith’s early parts. It’s from 1993 but he’s actually really good in it, IMO, and it’s a good movie overall.
All I can say is the kid is very horrible in the commercials, so I don’t plan to ever see this remake. Jackie Chan looks pretty good in the commercials, but I can always just go rent Rush Hour if I want to see Jackie Chan.