Cobra Kai spoilers follow.
There have been four films, a remake and four seasons of a reboot series, but it's time to admit it the Karate Kid franchise has a girl problem.
The beloved collection of kickass karate champions and underdogs remains a staple of 80s nostalgia. From the moment Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) was taken under the wing of Mr Miyagi (the late Pat Morita), fans everywhere became devoted quicker than you can say "Wax on, wax off".
Now, in its own underdog tale, Cobra Kai has proven able to stand on its own foot, crane kicking its way into becoming a trusted and enjoyable progression of the story.
Back in 1984, The Karate Kid was unashamedly a boys' club kind of movie, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. The tale of finding your inner strength and overcoming obstacles was universal regardless. It made karate cool. It gave the bullied viewers aspirations of overcoming their tormentors.
37 years on, it's remained that way, and it's time to do better.
There's no denying the fourth film, the gender-swapped The Next Karate Kid in 1994, ground the franchise to a halt. To date, it has a gut-wrenching score of 7% on Rotten Tomatoes, with People's reviewer labelling the film "a desperate attempt to keep the franchise alive and kicking" using "backhanded political correctness".
This was somewhat echoed by Entertainment Weekly, who commented in a passive-aggressive dismissal of the movie: "There is something bitchin' about seeing a babe give a bully a good thwack. Not that girls will go see this or boys will care."
The Next Karate Kid's only real achievement was giving Hilary Swank her first leading role as Julie Pierce, who Mr Miyagi decides to train in order to curb her anger issues.
But it seems the film has left The Karate Kid franchise with a bit of a war wound, and in a "once bitten, twice shy" move, it's reverted back to leaving women with one of three jobs: a) a love interest, b) a damsel in distress or c) a combination of the two.
This happened in Karate Kid with Johnny and Daniel over Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), and in Karate Kid II with Kumiko, who was kidnapped and held at ransom by Chozen to lure Daniel to him. In Karate Kid III, it's Jessica Andrews (Robin Lively), who has a will they/won't they friendship with Daniel until she's dragged into the karate feud.
But The Next Karate Kid didn't fail because it was a girl in the lead role, it failed because it was forcing a female character into a boys' franchise in a way that felt unnatural. Where's LaRusso gone? Why is there no one we recognise apart from Miyagi? The emotional tie was cut, and so too was the franchise's lifespan. That is, until Cobra Kai came along in 2018.
Cobra Kai, which was bought from YouTube Red by Netflix after season two, works because the heart of the movie remains strong, and it's just self-aware enough of its own ludicrousness to get away with it. Rather than start from scratch, the show reangled itself, taking on the point of view of Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka), the original villain who, as it turns out, has his own perspective on how the original film's plot played out.
Phillip Caruso/Columbia/Kobal/Shutterstock
Over the course of four seasons, it's developed a unique style of storytelling that is faithful to the teachings of Miyagi himself. There are two sides to every story. There's always a yin to your yang.
Cobra Kai's plot has also allowed the reintroduction of more old faces, giving old enemies a shot at redemption, old friends the goodbye they deserved, and the All-Valley tournament the battle they craved. In the modern day, it also allows for more diversity.
However, while former foes such as Chozen who literally almost killed Daniel in a deathmatch fight back in Karate Kid II are given a shot at being a good guy, sadly, even after four seasons, Swank's Julie Pierce is yet to be offered the same.
And once again, the women have been relegated to the sidelines.
As it stands, the new generation of Cobra Kai and Miyagi-Do dojos have a grand total of one (1) major female character each Tory Nichols (Peyton List) and Samantha LaRusso (Mary Mouser). Their initial introductions seemed promising, perhaps a little complicated, tales of who they're assumed to be by their peers, over who they want to be.
But by season four their arcs have become stale, with their only main conflict now being with each other, over their romantic entanglements with the two lead boys, Robbie (Tanner Buchanan) and Miguel (Xolo Mariduea).
Tory's troubled backstory is there, but has been stretched out now for three seasons, and only seems to be mentioned when she has done, or is about to do, something potentially irredeemable. This girl has threatened flat-out murder on Samantha over the course of the show, and brought spiked knuckle dusters to a school brawl. Yet we're actually no closer to finding out that much about her history than when we first heard about it, other than the stony sensei Kreese feeling some sympathy and protectiveness towards her.
In turn, Samantha lived in her father Daniel's shadow as a karate champion, and after finding herself dragged back into that world, became more headstrong for it. But this has somehow morphed into a character who believes she can do no wrong and, like Tory rightly points out, doesn't understand the word no.
With the exception of 'mom' roles Carmen and Amanda, who are there to provide exposition and a quippy comment about how ridiculous karate battles are respectively, that's pretty much it. Others have been cut out. Samantha's gal pals practically don't exist any more.
Actress Nichole Brown, who played fan favourite Aisha, had to take to Instagram to confirm she'd been dropped from the show, seemingly without explanation, between the second and third seasons. The outcry this caused no doubt played a hand in her season four cameo, which explained her parents had decided to move them away following a school fight that left one kid in hospital with a broken back. To be fair, that's a great real-life parenting decision, but a flimsy excuse in the world of Cobra Kai.
Somehow Cobra Kai, instead of finally giving girls the platform in the Miyagi-verse they deserve, and one boys will actually pay attention to, has fallen back to their old format.
It's a shame to see Tory and Samantha being led down the same path when they weren't initially set up to.
It's 2022. Time for the girls to fight their own battles and be more than a subplot.
Cobra Kai is available now on Netflix.
Shop for Netflix e-gift cards
Netflixamazon.co.uk
Orange is the New Black - Seasons 1-6
Netflix/Lionsgate/Tilted ProductionsAmazon
The Crown season 3 with Amazon exclusive box artwork
22.83
Star Trek Discovery Season 2 [DVD] [2019]
17.19
The Good Place - Season 3
11.49
Marriage Story
14.99
The Crown - Seasons 1 & 2
15.42
Star Trek: Discovery - Season 1
18.99
House of Cards - Season 6
Daredevil - Season 2
6.84
Grace and Frankie - Seasons 1-2
15.99
The Irishman
25.99
Black Mirror - Series 3
10.99
Jessica Jones - Season 1
7.83
Luke Cage - Season 1
12.99
Narcos - Seasons 1-3
28.83
This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io
More here:
Cobra Kai has a major problem that needs to be fixed - digitalspy.com
- Politically incorrect - - March 31st, 2024 [March 31st, 2024]
- Dileep critiques impact of political correctness on comedy films; says Movies will become dry - TOI Etimes - March 6th, 2024 [March 6th, 2024]
- Keeping Up With Spongy Political Correctness; Turbines Make a Sudden Move Offshore - The SandPaper - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Disney's Snow White Live-Action Remake Ignites Controversy - BNN Breaking - February 1st, 2024 [February 1st, 2024]
- Political correctness is strangling comedy and with it our British sense of humour - The Telegraph - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- The absurdity of political correctness - Fiji Times - January 29th, 2024 [January 29th, 2024]
- Claudine Gay, Jimmy Lai, and the truth of things - Catholic World Report - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Rochdale has exposed the horrors of political correctness - Spiked - January 20th, 2024 [January 20th, 2024]
- Michel Valentin: Political correctness and swastikas - Missoulian - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- Letters to the Editor | Nov. 12, 2023 - The Philadelphia Inquirer - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- How the free world can prevail - Geopolitical Intelligence Services AG - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- The Die Hard Survival Guide To This Year's Office Holiday Party - Fisher Phillips - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- Who Won The Third Republican Debate? - FiveThirtyEight - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- Although Many Have Tried To Change Name Of Devils Tower ... - Cowboy State Daily - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- North American Birds Named After Bad People Will Get a New ... - WTTW News - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- "Imagining the Indian documentary combats Indigenous mascoting - The Michigan Daily - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- Disney's downfall attributed to cancel culture The Tide - The Tide - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- The Kremlin fuelled antisemitism at home. Then it blew up - Euronews - November 15th, 2023 [November 15th, 2023]
- The Vibes Are Off at the 2023 Venice Film Festival - Vulture - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Democracy and the Crisis of Authority - Asharq Al-awsat - English - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- 10 Best Workplace Movies of the 2010s - MovieWeb - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- The Social Contract Between Human Rights and International ... - Harvard Political Review - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- A Requiem for Manners - The Imaginative Conservative - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Letter to the editor: Understanding God | TribLIVE.com - TribLIVE - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Karin Klossek: No More Home Office Freedom? Then I Quit! - finews.com - September 3rd, 2023 [September 3rd, 2023]
- Republican Attacks on Woke Ideology Falling Flat With G.O.P. Voters - The New York Times - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- Discussions on unions, politics mark librarians' conference The ... - The Militant - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- Serving the Sovereign - Magnolia Tribune - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- A Philosophers Role in the Texas A&M Debacle (updated) - Daily Nous - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- High school football: Walsh confident South is making progress ... - Salisbury Post - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- War On Niger Republic Will Be War On Northern Nigeria, By Prof ... - SaharaReporters.com - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- Introducing the Reason Crossword, a Weekly Puzzle for Libertarians - Reason - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- From Relativism to Wokism: A Path of Confusion, Fallacy and Self ... - C2C Journal - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- John Krull: Try this in a small town - Pendleton Times-Post - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- Book Review: "Rodney Kills At Night" -- Engaging Company - artsfuse.org - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- US stokes divisions on BRI, but will Italy fall into trap? - China Daily - August 6th, 2023 [August 6th, 2023]
- Whoopi Goldberg blows up over political correctness: 'We don't know everything you're not supposed to do!' - Fox News - March 31st, 2023 [March 31st, 2023]
- 'They mad over a forehead kiss?': Fans Cry Hypocrisy as Disney - Bastion of Political Correctness - Edits Out Ayo-Aneka Kiss Scene in Black Panther:... - November 16th, 2022 [November 16th, 2022]
- The silliness of political correctness THE FIRST STREET JOURNAL. - November 8th, 2022 [November 8th, 2022]
- Why Women Are So Susceptible To Political Correctness - November 8th, 2022 [November 8th, 2022]
- Cancel Culture: Its Causes and Its Consequences - November 5th, 2022 [November 5th, 2022]
- Why Did British Police Ignore Pakistani Gangs Abusing 1,400 ... - Forbes - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Where are the liberal defenders of Kanye West's freedom to speak? - New York Daily News - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Perfecting the "art of polarization": How these '90s conservatives created today's radicalized right - Salon - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Anna May Wong is now the first Asian American on US currency - The Black Wall Street Times - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Best of times, worst of times - The Spectator Australia - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- When Rekha's beauty advice for young women was to be 'physically fit and definitely not fat': 'Fat is ugly' - The Indian Express - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Theatre Review: You should see The Doctor now - The New European - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- The Utopian Horizon of Memory Art: A Conversation with Andreas Huyssen - lareviewofbooks - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal: Marvel Star Scarlett Johansson Was Furious After Losing Trans Role Due to Insane... - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Videogames: the latest weapon in the culture wars - Spiked - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Jes Tom on Why They Love Chris Onstad's 'Achewood' Webcomic - Vulture - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Why Hungarys Jews Are the Safest in Europe - The American Conservative - October 19th, 2022 [October 19th, 2022]
- Why you should change your voter registration to Pennsylvania, Part 1: the insanity of Doug Mastriano - CMU The Tartan Online - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- TIFF 2022 Review: Stephanie Johnes' "Maya and the Wave" Hits a High Watermark - The Moveable Fest - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Longing After the Fleshpots | Luke Burgis - First Things - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Where to Watch and Stream Jimmy Carr: Telling Jokes Free Online - EpicStream - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- Opinion | Leicester Violence Has Exposed the Multicultural Claims of Left-Liberals - News18 - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- America's Misguided Fascination With Royalty - The Atlantic - September 22nd, 2022 [September 22nd, 2022]
- The pending collapse of the United States of Political Correctness - The Hill - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Laurence Fox finds a role equal to his talents: the Breitbart biopic of Hunter Biden - The Guardian US - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Moving ahead as a party of one Times News Online - tnonline.com - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Google Bars Truth Social From App Store Over Lack of Content Moderation - Reason - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- She idolised Thatcher, now Liz Truss is on the cusp of becoming Britain's next PM - WAtoday - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- OPINION: Andrew Tate sparks a culture war: The perspective of a young man and woman The New Political - The New Political - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- "I Know What It Means To Grow Up Without Much" Pro Golfer Harold Varner III Keeps It Real About Going To LIV Golf | It's All About The Bag!... - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- The Lady Is Not For (A Populist) Turning: Thatcherian Ambiguities In Cas Mudde's Theory Analysis - Eurasia Review - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Dear Friends and Readers, The Brooklyn Rail - Brooklyn Rail - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- 9/2 Flashback: On abortion | Fred Clark - Patheos - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- The Kingdom Exodus Review: Lars von Trier Goes Full Meta With the Return of His Creepy Hospital Drama - Yahoo Entertainment - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Film Review: 'Explorer': The Amazing Life Story of Author and Renowned Overachiever Ranulph Fiennes - The Epoch Times - September 3rd, 2022 [September 3rd, 2022]
- Bill Maher Asks A Question Even A Meathead Cant Answer On Real Time - Deadline - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Exclusive | Pa Ranjith on 10 years in cinema, pan-Indian films, Natchathiram Nagargiradhu: 'I am waiting to see the ripples it creates' - The Indian... - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Opinion: In Alberta, children's early years of education are being used in a game of political football - The Globe and Mail - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Marvel Comics Removes Masters Of Kung Fu Mentions From Its Website - Bleeding Cool News - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Jimmy Carr's 'Terribly Funny' tour to be the biggest comedy tour to ever hit Australia - Beat Magazine - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Police need to be more focused on crimes that matter to voters, say Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss - iNews - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- Hulu's Reboot Debuts First Trailer And Brings Paul Reiser Back To The Sitcom - GameSpot - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- JMM claims 16 BJP MLAs in touch with party - Daily Pioneer - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]
- France keeps blocking MidCat gas interconnection with Spain - EURACTIV - August 29th, 2022 [August 29th, 2022]