Jaden Smith's role in 'The Karate Kid' is a refreshing depiction of a black youth

By Lonnae O'Neal Parker

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Forty-five minutes into "The Karate Kid," I looked around the theater, wondering if anyone else was marveling.

My 8-year-old son Satchel's eyes were glued to the screen. The story of unlikely friendship and triumph hit familiar notes, but I was seeing something new. Jaden Smith was playing a black boy in three dimensions: vulnerable, contemplative and in possession of a wholly formed interior world.

Jaden Smith's role in 'The Karate Kid' is a refreshing depiction of a black youth