Ralph Macchio dismisses ‘too White’ criticism of 1984’s ‘Karate Kid’: ‘Ahead of its time’
Ralph Macchio, the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, is known for his outspoken criticism of President Obama and other black men. Yet his new film, ‘Karate Kid’, is also a critical and critical of the Obama administration.
Ralph Macchio
With ‘Karate Kid’ opening in New York April 13-19, its leading star, Ralph Macchio, is ready to defend his message against claims that it represents a new trend of young white men “lashing out” at Obama, and his “racist” administration.
“We made the film 10 years ago and it’s a very good film, and it’s a film that should be watched by every young person,” Macchio says in an exclusive interview with US Weekly. “It’s a film that has a message: You need to be tougher and stronger. And I think in today’s world, people don’t like a lot of the things that are out there with the government, and they don’t like what’s happening to our country. For instance, the president was elected, and you have the leader who was elected with more money than anybody else in the country, and what happened to our country is very disturbing.”
Macchio, who has been praised for portraying a young Barack Obama in the action-adventure film, explains why he believes the film does not represent the white male “lashing out” at the black president, and why it is very different than what he sees in his hometown of New York.
In ‘Karate Kid’, the 15-year-old Obama (played by Macchio) is attacked by a gang and sent to the hospital. As Obama recovers from his injuries, he is confronted and bullied by an angry mob. He’s forced to defend himself and his identity against the ridicule of his classmates.
“I see a lot of other movies, but there is this message in ‘Karate Kid’ that it’s not acceptable to bully anyone. That’s something that was going on in the world, but there was