Current Events > I like how Cobra Kai jumps through hoops to make Daniel seem in the wrong

(+) Yeah! (+)

And Johnny in the "not wrong" category

This is the guy who tried to make attempted murder on Daniel lol

Such a great show. Probably the only thing good to ever come out of himym

saspa posted...

And Johnny in the "not wrong" category

This is the guy who tried to make attempted murder on Daniel lol

Such a great show. Probably the only thing good to ever come out of himym

Unfortunately this is the society we live in right now. This type of story isn't even exclusive to this show. We live in a society where we want to sympathize with villains and bad guys. We want to understand why the villains become the way they are.

In the Joker and latest Batman They made the Waynes to look like the bad guys
In Cruella They made her the victim and even tried to make the dogs the bad guy LOL
Maleficent etc etc etc

i thought the whole point was to show that neither Daniel or Johnny were completely wrong or right and that both are flawed...

ZevLoveDOOM posted...

i thought the whole point was to show that neither Daniel or Johnny were completely wrong or right and that both are flawed...

This is my takeaway from it as well. I thought they did an excellent job in Cobra Kai in this regard. In the original Karate Kid movies, there was a 100% clear delineation.

<--- These guys are the good guys
And those guys are the bad guys --->

In Cobra Kai, the good/bad/sympathetic dynamic is constantly shifting around to different individuals and/or groups.

I love the irony of Johnny being one of the rich kids telling Miguel how Daniel was the bully, and it's funny that Daniel and Miguel actually have a lot in common in terms of both being working class and living in the ghetto instead of a big fancy mansion.

Literally every character has served as the villain at one time or another.

Literally all of them. Think about a character, any character, and you'll quickly remember when they were acting villainish. Even Daniel's wife, who started off as the voice of reason and never fights anybody, lmao.

It's because somebody finally realized that "bad guy is bad because bad" is a boring and unrealistic characterization

ZevLoveDOOM posted...

i thought the whole point was to show that neither Daniel or Johnny were completely wrong or right and that both are flawed...

I agree... to an extent. The fact of the matter is that Johnny's "my stepdad was mean to me" kinda pales in comparison to growing up poor and not having any opportunities. Daniel got lucky in being a successful auto-dealer and having money. Most don't have that opportunity so he did come from nothing.

ZevLoveDOOM posted...

i thought the whole point was to show that neither Daniel or Johnny were completely wrong or right and that both are flawed...

It definitely shows Johnny in a more favorable light, but you're right about the original intention of the show being a "both sides" issue. Though with Kreese and Silver, there's a definite villain now. The movies were very 1-dimensional and the fact that the show is even this good is already a miracle in of itself.

CableZL posted...

This is my takeaway from it as well. I thought they did an excellent job in Cobra Kai in this regard. In the original Karate Kid movies, there was a 100% clear delineation.

<--- These guys are the good guys
And those guys are the bad guys --->

In Cobra Kai, the good/bad/sympathetic dynamic is constantly shifting around to different individuals and/or groups.

That's because it was an 80s movie, and we're no longer in the 80s era of having the school bullies literally trying to run you over with a car like in this or the goonies lol or like in all of those movies of the cocaine era

The fact that this show has nuance is insane considering the premise.

What's Cobrai Kai about, how come they're grown up still having high school beef and playing karate?

Danny is not the bad guy in anyway.

ZevLoveDOOM posted...

i thought the whole point was to show that neither Daniel or Johnny were completely wrong or right and that both are flawed...

This

It at no point says "Daniel is in the wrong" it just shows that he was pretty much as toxic as Johnny, he just had Mr Myagi and his mom.

Johnny had nobody and so self-destructed.

They're both flawed human beings who make mistakes.

Daniel is a good person at heart. He's just toxic.
Johnny is trying to be a good person. He's just toxic

It's really well done.

Kingbuffet posted...

What's Cobrai Kai about, how come they're grown up still having high school beef and playing karate?

That's kind of the whole humor of the show. Two grown ups that can't seem to grow out of an original beef from highschool and relies on Karate to help them with their issues. It just works so well in this show, it's hilarious with a very strong script and characterizations.

DipDipDiver posted...

It's because somebody finally realized that "bad guy is bad because bad" is a boring and unrealistic characterization

Actually bad people being bad is more realistic than people turn bad because things don't work out, or they fail.

GranolaPanic posted...

Moon was never a villain.

Moon was allied with the bullies in the first half of S1. She fled from the scene of a hit-and-run at the beginning of the show, and sided with Kyler and Yasmine and snubbed Sam in Season 1.
Mind you, I love the show, it's just amusing how far they've taken things.
Granted, that's scraping the barrel a bit, but Moon is also a minor character whose primary role is to be a goody-goody, so it's fair game, lol.

Johnny is only shown to be "less wrong" because he's fun and the audience funds him enjoyable. He's generally actually just as wrong as Daniel. Danny is just a boring car salesman with a stick up his ass, so the audience doesn't like him as often.

The parts where a drunken middle aged man gets into bar fights is great to watch. The parts where a middle aged man yells at his cousin to sell more cars is less interesting. Who are you naturally going to root for regardless of who's in the right?

Number090684 posted...

Actually bad people being bad is more realistic than people turn bad because things don't work out, or they fail.

Seems unlikely
People typically have a reason to be doing the things they are doing.

eston posted...

Seems unlikely
People typically have a reason to be doing the things they are doing.

Reasons aren't always good, and actions aren't always justified.

CableZL posted...

This is my takeaway from it as well. I thought they did an excellent job in Cobra Kai in this regard. In the original Karate Kid movies, there was a 100% clear delineation.

<--- These guys are the good guys
And those guys are the bad guys --->

In Cobra Kai, the good/bad/sympathetic dynamic is constantly shifting around to different individuals and/or groups.

not quite. How I met your mother framed it perfectly. A punk kid (Daniel) takes away the hopes and dreams of someone who trained hard to compete in a tournament (Zabka). Now, Zabkas instructor was an asshole, and Zabka himself had some punk tendencies, but in a real life setting he should have demolished Daniel.

Number090684 posted...

Reasons aren't always good, and actions aren't always justified.

Incredibly vague statement just for the sake of arguing lol

I mean they are both right and wrong.

What I find hilarious is just the casual gang warfare that happens between the two dojos and just the number of public brawls that happen.

It's like the culmination of every fanfiction writer's dream: actually setting up a story "years later" with the characters that's fricking fantastic