S03, Ep. 07: Taking on the Cobra

Listen in to see why Mandi thinks season 3 of Cobra Kai missed a huge opportunity to connect with the disability community.

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Transcript

Mandi: Mandi Frantz here welcoming you to my podcast - Find Your Beautiful: Life Through the Eyes of a Christian Disabled Woman.  

[Upbeat Background Music]

Mandi: My best friend and I have 2 reoccurring inside jokes. The first is that whenever we talk, I'm either hungry or eating. This really just happens because I think of and miss her any time I have a moment of peace. The second joke is that I'm always late to the game when it comes to pop culture, whether it's music, movies, or shows. I typically wait until after the hype has passed before getting interested. Maybe it's my sub-conscious rebel.

So, it wasn't until 1994 when the commercially and critically failed film, The Next Kate Kid, came out that I got hooked on Mr. Miyagi and the Miyagi-Do way. I personally love this film and venture to say it was one of the first movies I'd seen that empowered young females. I recently rewatched the movie and realized that it addressed the Me Too culture back when the hashtag was better known as pound. 

Of course after seeing Mr. Miyagi work his magic on Julie-san, I had to see the rest of the films. I'm a Karate Kid fan, even watching Jackie Chan's version as he trained Jayden Smith. When Cobra Kai finally became more easily accessible on Netflix, I was both excited and nervous. Nervous because how can you do anything in this series without the late and great Pat Morita? But I watched the first season and am officially a fan. I then binged the second and waited on the edge of my seat for season 3. Over the course of a day and a half, I consumed season 3 and it didn't disappoint. Well, mostly didn't disappoint. 

I really do believe in the power of influence the media has on our society, especially visual media. And I think it is the responsibility of those with such great influence to be extra mindful and aware of the messages they communicate. In a series that I believe is empowering to many and presents a number of positive messages, I was frustrated with the negative disability message presented in season 3. You'll want to stop here and finish season 3 if you're anti-spoilers because I'm about to take on the cobra!

    

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[Doorbell Sound Effect]

Mandi: Alright, let's jump right into the good stuff! Quickly recapping how season 2 ended: Miguel listened to Sensei Johnny and shows Robbie mercy in the middle of the fight. Robbie, being much more like his dad than he cares to admit, has a weak moment of rage and ends up pushing Miguel over the banister and Miguel falls onto his back. Season 3 picks up with Miguel in the hospital in a coma. I did like that they allowed us into his coma brain so we could watch him use his karate skills as a metaphor of his fight for life. That was pretty cool. Moving things along, Miguel does eventually wake up, but he has no feeling in his legs and everyone is soon told that he may be paralyzed.

Cue the "I hate the world for making me disabled" scene. Now, let me pause here and say that I do not mean in anyway to downplay the grief process people who become disabled later in life experience. Having been born with my disability, I recognize my own limitation in being able to understand this type of life-change. For a high school student, which Miguel portrays, I imagine this time of transition to be harder because of the additional pressures that come with adolescence. My point here, though, is that this is a very usual and normal response I've seen when media portrays someone becoming disabled. The point at which disabled people accept disability as part of their identity is often used as inspiration porn in films. Back to Cobra Kai though, I didn't actually have an issue with this. My real issue was with the adults and how they responded, particularly Johnny.

Now, Johnny is the kid you love to hate in the first Karate Kid and it's clear that he continues to be a conflicted soul in Cobra Kai. Much of Cobra Kai is about Johnny's work towards self-redemption and self-healing. We also see how impactful the events of his younger life are on his adulthood. I can do an entire episode on this concept. Anyways, it is clear throughout the new series that Johnny is far from perfect and he feels a lot of guilt about the circumstance Miguel is in. I understand that this is what drives him, but this is where things start to get rough for me from a disability perspective.

The season spends several episodes showing Johnny's tough love approach as he refuses to accept that Miguel may never walk again. He forces Miguel to attempt to get out of the hospital bed to get to his wheelchair, which he set at a distance from the bed. Miguel falls flat on his face. After Miguel gets out of the hospital, we see various attempts and failures made by Johnny to get Miguel to stand. He even jerry-rigs some kind of harness that operates on a pulley system to force Miguel to bear weight on his legs. In fact, it seems to me that Miguel actually accepts being disabled, but keeps pushing to avoid disappointing his teacher. 

And of course, we see Miguel's mom grieving. This is fair and I appreciate that they showed the scene when she stepped out of the apartment to cry so she wouldn't put her grief on Miguel's shoulders. As a mother getting 2 kids through a pandemic and living in a country experiencing political unrest, I could truly relate to her need to let it out. But seeing everyone grieving over this disability and never transition to the empowering identity acceptance that would have, in my opinion, made Cobra Kai one of the greatest karate shows ever, is a problem for me!  

But no, instead, a miracle happens. During a tense conversation/argument between Johnny and Miguel, while Miguel is being held up by Johnny in the DIY harness, Johnny lets go and suddenly Miguel is standing on his own. Throughout the rest of the season, we see Miguel struggle with some weakness in his legs, but by the last big fight scene he "overcomes" this as well.

Why is this all so unempowering, maybe even damaging, to the disability community? First of all, Johnny's response as Miguel's teacher and father figure is completely disheartening and immature. We see throughout the series that Johnny is learning how to get with the times and use the internet. A quick search of wheelchair karate would have shown him the awesome world of Para-Karate! According to the World Karate Federation, "Para-Karate refers to a modality of Karate in which competition rules have been established in order to accommodate fair competitions among athletes with disabilities. Para-Karate is focused on developing the ancient discipline of “kata” [I hope I'm saying that right] for wheelchair athletes, visually impaired athletes and athletes with mental disabilities.

In 2006, the World Karate Federation created the Para-Karate Commission in an effort to develop and promote Karate among athletes with disabilities. Since then, Para-Karate is a fully integrated part of the operations of the World Karate Federation.

In 2015, the World Karate Federation became a recognized IF by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), thus reflecting the organization's progress and ongoing work in developing Para-Karate.

In 2012, Para-Karate was presented to the public for the first time at the World Championships in Paris in a demonstration competition. 2014 and 2016 followed with the official Para-Karate World Championships in Bremen (Germany) and Linz (Austria). Participation in the Championships has been growing steadily since then. The year 2018 was a glorious year for the growing community of Para-Karate Athletes, since the first European Para-Karate Championships in Novi Sad (Serbia), and the World Championships in Madrid (Spain) were true milestones in the development of the modality." 

This search would have also shown Johnny a plethora of Youtube videos showing Sanseis in wheelchairs teaching disabled students self-defense techniques, including techniques to be used against non-disabled opponents!

My second big issue with this situation in Cobra Kai was the "miraculous" recovery we see. We never see Miguel go back to the doctor and I feel that the show makes a bit of a mockery of physical therapy. Miguel ends up using the newly created Eagle Fang as his main source of therapy. To me, this really takes away from illustrating the incredible things that do actually happen with hard work in physical therapy. I also worry this story may give false hope to young people and can extend the time it takes for someone to get to the acceptance stage. 

I also take a bit of issue with how they turned Miguel's efforts to appease his teacher into comedy. The show scripted in moments of pause and specifically focused on Johnny's comical reactions whenever Miguel fell after attempting to stand. I guess I kinda get it, but it didn't really sit well with me. 

Lastly, I just see this as a major missed opportunity for Cobra Kai! I think they could have seriously grown and strengthened their fanbase if they went through with the disability empowerment route. But for now, be sure to tune into the Olympics (hopefully) happening this summer because it will be the first year they feature Para-Karate! 

[Bling]

Mandi: Share your feedback with me. What do you think about the Cobra Kai situation now that you have a disability perspective? Download the free Anchor app to leave me a voice message with your thoughts.

Also, don't forget the FYB Shop is now open and 2 new hoodie designs just became available on Friday! If you've been wanting to support this podcast and spread the Find Your Beautiful message of diversity and inclusion, the Shop is a great resource. Head on over to my website linked in the description to order. A portion of all proceeds is being donated to KEEN New York, a non-profit organization empowering youth with disabilities by providing free programs of exercise, fitness, and fun led by volunteer coaches. You can learn more about KEEN by visiting keennewyork.org (New York spelled out, not abbreviated).

If you enjoyed this episode, leave a review wherever you listen or on my Facebook page at MandiBox Beauty. You can also connect with me on Instagram with the same handle. 

[Mandi voiceover to 'Compton' music]: As we honor the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. for social justice tomorrow, I'm going to use next week's episode to talk about freedom. ‘Til next time Beauties!