In a lot of movies, especially coming of age ones, they have the stereotypical bully bad guys. These bullies take the form of Regina George, Draco Malloy, or Johnny Lawerence. I often feel bad for the bullies at the end of the movie. Not because they don’t deserve to lose. But because I think they are now the ones that need redemption in their lives.
Ok yea, I KNOW the story is about the hero’s journey and the bad guys’ job is to be the challenge for the good guy to overcome. It makes it easier for the audience to know who to root for.
I started watching Cobra Kai and it is exactly what I’ve been looking for. The story of what happens after the movie wraps up its story. The redemption of the bad guy. Or is it? Well, I’ll need to watch more of the show. But only a few episodes in and it has been DELIVERING.
The subject I want to bring attention to is compassion. When you watch the Karate Kid, you KNOW you’re supposed to root for Daniel. You KNOW you’re supposed to root against Cobra Kai and Johnny (unless you’re Barney Stinson).
But in real life. When you encounter bullies, it’s never so black and white. Johnny was suffering at the hands of his Sensei. And that suffering continued through adulthood into the story of the Cobra Kai show.
The show smartly called Daniel out on the kick to Johnny’s face as illegal but still awarded him status of champion. Meanwhile, Johnny’s elbow to the knee got him a warning. In the context of the Karate Kid movie it all made sense.
And in real life, the story doesn’t end there either. The losers and bad guys still have their lives to live.
It’s easy to lose sight that the bad guys are human too. In the case of coming to age stories, they’re still kids too. They too deserve compassion on their journey to redemption.