MovieChat Forums > Kickboxer (1989) Discussion > Do you think that the rape didn't add an...

Do you think that the rape didn't add anything to the story?

posted 8 years ago by RynoII
11 replies | jump to latest

I am not prude by any means, and will not object to a rape being in a movie, as long as it progresses the plot.

But here I felt it didn't really do anything. Kurt already wants to avenge his brother being paralyzed, and that was enough to get him to fight Tong Po.

Tong Po raping Kurt's love interest on top of that, didn't really add anything since the want for justice was already there, and the rape came off as redundant and possibly gratuitous therefore.

What do you think?

[–] creatorof2002 8 years ago

I think it cheapened the villain. How "tough" is a person who needs to rape their opponent's love interest? did Ivan Drago rape Adrian in Rocky 4?

The kidnap thing was too much too. Then we just have to wonder if he was only losing because of that. I think it would have been better if he had just been an underdog fighting an uphill battle.

I suggested on the board for the remake movie that in the new version the "trauma" the love interest of the new hero suffers should be different from a rape.

Instead she should sneak into the villain's gym to watch him train. She is worried he will hurt or kill the man she loves and she wants to see how deadly he is and he is sparring, but he looks up and sees her and you see an evil glint in his eye then he demolishes his sparring partner and looks at her with an "now you see what will happen to your boyfriend" smirk.

I think one of the greatest martial arts movie villains ever was Uri Boyka from Undisputed 2. One thing I like about him was even though he was the villain he had an honor code and was not totally evil and he ended up becoming the HERO in the sequels.

[–] Miike_Maniac 7 years ago

Or go all-out and have the villain rape the hero before their big fight.

"You...bleed like you.

You goooooood *beep*."

[–] creatorof2002 7 years ago

One idea I had that I think would have been neat for the remake would be for the new version of Tong Po to rape Kurt. The new one tried to "up the ante" by having an even bigger more opposing actor (Dave Boutista) for Tong Po and instead of crippling his brother his brother is killed. Well he tried to kill Tong Po with a gun and all that happened was he got beaten up and Tong Po called the cops on him. I think Tong po raping him since like in prison rape can be about power between men then releasing him in disgrace would have been a great way to give the hero a real reason to want revenge in addition to avenging his brother.

[–] cyguration (3834) 2 years ago

The remake used your suggestion and it was LAME as heck.

Sure the rape didn't add a lot to Tong Po, but in the remake they just made Tong Po super lame. At least in the original he was a villain you REALLY wanted to see get his comeuppance. I didn't really care if Dave Bautista's Tong Po lost.

[–] osurpless 8 years ago

Not really, his sneer elevates him among the best of the 80m's villains. He's really intimidating looking, even when you know how the movie plays out. That's hard to get right.

Perhaps they thought Ivan Drago's characterization in Rocky IV was too subtle late in the movie (fighting for himself thereby rejecting Soviet ideology) and legit backing away in fear after that quite bad gash Rocky gives him in the second round.

Unfortunately, the easy solution for uncreative writers is just to double down, which is what the rape scene was likely about (making Po even more unlikeable). The only place to go from there would be a shifty eyes motion, a la the dog in the Mel Gibson episode of the Simpsons...

[–] BrickNash 7 years ago

But it did do something to the story. It showed Tong Po to be not just a brutal fighter but a ruthless and evil human being who was totally undeserving of our (the audience's) sympathy. Plus it added extra tension in the end fight when he uses it as an emotional and psychological weapon against Kurt and hence it makes it all the more satisfying when we see him get beat.

I would have thought this simple analysis was rather obvious.

[–] newguy33 (317) 4 years ago

Eric sexually harassing the nurse was also cringe-worthy by today's standards. :D

[–] twinA (4826) 4 years ago

My initial reaction to Tong Po's defilement of the poor woman showed that while he was physically strong and intimidating, mentally he was a coward, having absolutely no moral compass to speak of.

The only difference between Po and a psychopath is that Poe is in control of his emotions; a sociopath. This is as clear as rain during each one of his matches - destroying his opponents he downs after a fight. On the inside, he is absolutely scared crapless by the idea if someone out there being better than him.

I think that was the story trying to be conveyed by his raping.

Honestly, I think the film creators had many ideas in mind and counting to slap them all together in the end instead of cutting them out in the editing process.

~~/o/

[–] newguy33 (317) 2 years ago

I think they also wanted to punish Xian for teaching a foreigner martial arts against Tong Po.

[–] Karl Aksel (1451) 2 years ago

But here I felt it didn't really do anything. Kurt already wants to avenge his brother being paralyzed, and that was enough to get him to fight Tong Po.

Enough for him, but perhaps not enough for the audience - they need to crave revenge, too.

[–] kuatorises (7467) 2 years ago

Kurt was LIVID when he found out. And Tong Po is more than a fighter, he's a gangster. It showed how horrible a person he is. I also like that they didn't show anything. That's never necessary.