I recently finished Waxing On by Ralph Macchio. It’s about his celebrity and often stuck-in-time life as the Karate Kid. As a huge fan of the original movies, I thought it was a fascinating and entertaining read about how it all came together, and what effect the typecasted role continues to have on Macchio’s life.

Rating: ★★★★☆ These were my favorite passages:

• Back then I was frustrated to be frozen in time in the eyes of the world and the entertainment industry. It was a challenge for people to see me as anything but the kid who played Daniel LaRusso. And it still is to some extent.
• Now, I don’t have the crash-and-burn-to-redemption story many of these types of memoirs produce, or that sometimes become the main incentive for writing a memoir. Any fall from grace I experienced was not due to drug addiction, crime, or flagrant misbehavior. Nope. Sorry. Wrong guy here.
• All I kept thinking was, What a silly, lame-ass title. It must be a placeholder. Gotta be a working title, right?
• The film is a prime example of when Hollywood gets it all right. It teaches and inspires through pure entertainment. Sure, the cynics can call it the silly popcorn karate movie that it is. And that’s fair enough. But the human elements beneath all of that and the impact on the world’s audience will never cease to inspire me in my life. And what a wonderful gift that is.
• I would smile and high-five, and it was always friendly. For whatever reason, I felt far more like a local hero and much less like a movie star. I was treated like the guy who won the high school football game on a Friday night.
• Perhaps that’s why parents share eighties films with their kids seemingly more than films from any other era of movies. They are entertaining and life-affirming.
• Sure, today you have social media to instantaneously share information and get the word out, but there is just so much more content. So many more pieces of information in so many different categories. Back in the day there was less to consume and less to be consumed with.
• Thank you for launching Daniel LaRusso into the stratosphere. A humble and sincere thank-you, from . . . . . . the kid who got the part.