“Karate Kid” star Ralph Macchio recently responded to the 1984 film’s criticism that it was “too White” and didn’t delve into the Japanese cultural aspects of the discipline enough by calling the coming-of-age story “ahead of its time.”
While critics have slammed the original 1984 Karate Kid for being “too white,” Macchio, who starred as Daniel LaRusso in the film, rejected the claims, saying it was actually “ahead of its time.”
“People have said it’s a very white cast, that it didn’t dive into the Asian story,” Macchio, 60, explained. “But I always say this: The film was ahead of its time because it was a popcorn movie that talked about Japanese internment camps during World War II.”
Ralph Macchio dismisses ‘too White’ criticism of 1984’s ‘Karate Kid’: ‘Ahead of its time’ https://t.co/8xF8HdNYle
— Fox News (@FoxNews) October 23, 2022
Macchio, who is promoting his new memoir, ‘Waxing On: The Karate Kid and Me’, also stated that his late co-star Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita, who played his sensei in the film, had said that he received his Academy Award nomination for the film because of a scene in which it is revealed that he lost his wife and son in one of the camps, reported Fox News.
“Pat himself spent two years in the camps. So it had double meaning and some depth,” Macchio explained. He said the Oscar-worthy scene was almost cut from the film for length but it was saved by fans.
“The studio’s main concern was that with the movie running over two hours, they would lose a daily screening time, and essentially, money in the process. They all shut up once we screened it for them with an audience,” he said.
From Daily Wire:
Macchio returned to the character he made famous decades later, reprising the role of Daniel La Russo for Netflix’s “Cobra Kai.”
Despite some early concerns about coming back to the role, Macchio explains in his new memoir that the series has succeeded in taking what made the films “work” and bringing those elements — “Overcoming the obstacles, finding your way … figuring it out” — to a whole new generation of fans.
In a memoir, Ralph Macchio says he was unsure about returning to the role of Daniel LaRusso in “Cobra Kai.” But the Netflix series successfully captures what made the “Karate Kid” films work: “Overcoming the obstacles, finding your way…figuring it out.” https://t.co/rkMygXNh3g
— New York Times Books (@nytimesbooks) October 23, 2022
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