Cobra Kai: 21st Century Political Correctness Meets 80’s Badass

Twenty-first century political correctness meets an 80’s badass in YouTube Premium’s new series Cobra Kai — a sequel series to The Karate Kid (1984) starring Ralph Macchio and William Zabka.

SPOILER ALERT: If you have not watched Cobra Kai, DROP what you’re doing, WATCH it, return to READ my article!

Set 34-years after the original Karate Kid, Cobra Kai explores the lives of Daniel Larusso and Johnny Lawrence.

Both men have taken different roads, both have families, both have problems connecting with their children, both have lost their way in life, and both have different approaches to balance — mirrored by their different styles of karate.

Daniel has become a successful businessman, while he struggles with connecting to his children. Even his wife, who over-rationalizes family problems and practices micromanagement, is distant.

The loss of Mr. Miyagi clearly haunts Daniel’s life and his presence is felt throughout the entirety of season one (we’ll learn more about Daniel in the next article). Pat Morita who played Mr. Miyagi in the original films died in 2005.

Johnny — who is played deftly with outstanding grace by William Zabka — is still the quintessential 1980’s “bully” — an analog man lost in digital times. But now he is struggling to do what’s right — and here is where it gets interesting.

Miguel

Johnny is approached by a teenager named Miguel who is being bullied. Reluctant at first, Johnny agrees to teach Miguel karate — Cobra Kai karate. In the process, Johnny reopens the Cobra Kai – presumably closed in 1985 – and begins advertising his business to attract more students.

Early on, while speaking to Miguel, Johnny sums up in one sentence how many real men feel about society’s excessive coddling of millennial children:

“Now, you can leave your asthma, peanut allergies, and all that other made-up bullshit at the door!”

Notwithstanding the reality of those medical conditions, Miguel learns to stop acting like a victim and be self-reliant. To “act like a man,” or as Erik Fromm would say, he learns “to be”.

With perfunctory, Miguel dispatches the bullies at his high school before an SJW teacher intervenes and presumably disciplines him for it.

The writers wished to expose the way left uses handicaps as social crutches.

Aisha

The show also repudiates concepts regarding microaggression, intolerance, and inclusivity as providing no meaningful answer for children’s problems.

An example is Johnny’s second student, Aisha.

Aisha enters Cobra Kai and asks now “Sensei Lawrence” to teach her. The reason? She is being cyber-bullied by high school students who wish she’d “kill herself”.

Unapologetically, Sensei Lawrence identifies the bullies as a bunch of “pussies”. They are cowards who hide behind their computers and smartphones in order to torment a young woman.

Johnny’s solution to Aisha’s problems? Learn the way of the fist and strike back.

While the new Cobra Kai dojo grows, students interact with Lawrence as he attacks their social problems.

Counter to today’s culture of victimization, these young men and women learn their emotional and physical shortcomings are no excuse for failure.

Johnny Lawrence teaches them to ”flip the switch” on their lives by changing their victim mentalities into a warrior mindset.

Cobra Kai is a roundhouse kick to our weak-minded PC culture.