A deeper meaning

Every so often I educate all of you on a show you should be watching and tie it into a business or life lesson that I take away from said show. Well, I just wrapped up Cobra Kai on Netflix, and after you read this, watch it immediately. Aside from what I’m about to write, it’s a great mix of 80s cheesy nostalgia along with some decent story telling.

I was first intrigued by this show, which debuted in 2018 on YouTube Red (shoutout to those who remember that), because of the perspective it took. As a 45-year-old male, the Karate Kid films were right up my alley.

The good guy, Daniel LaRusso, was a dork, but the bad guy Johnny Lawrence, was an outright bully. His gang, Cobra Kai, tortured the loner LaRusso until it culminated in a championship karate match (yes, the crane kick was illegal).

But 20 years later, we get the other side of the story. Cobra Kai comes from Johnny’s perspective and the LaRusso/Lawrence dynamic is not as black and white as the Karate Kid films lead you to believe.

We get to put ourselves in Johnny’s shoes. How often do we get cut off in traffic and immediately want to honk (or worse) at the person? Maybe they are having a bad day and not paying as close of attention as they should be. Or if someone is having a rough patch at work, we immediately assume it’s because they don’t care or just aren’t that good.

What if you took a second and tried to put yourself in that person’s shoes? Maybe now you can think about what might be going on in Johnny’s world. It might change the way you react or approach a situation.

For decades everyone assumed that Johnny was bad, Daniel was good. But once you get a glimpse into Johnny’s story, it changes your view on how he got where he was.

Now, fire up Netflix and remember, Cobra Kai never dies.

— Brian Horn