Cobra Kai, do or die!
Much has been said about the Youtube original series Cobra Kai, a sequel to the classic 1980s film The Karate Kid. It shows Daniel Larusso, the protagonist, as a successful car dealer and Johnny Lawrence, the antagonist, as down on his luck but still self-confident — so much so that he reopens the Cobra Kai dojo to teach a new generation of youth how to be strong in a world that wants them to be weak. The show is high on action and high on drama and characterization, with everyone’s personalities and motivations clear. A definite recommend.
One way this series stands out is in its treatment of its female characters.
In this cultural moment, where we argue over who is and isn’t a Mary Sue, Sam Larusso (daughter of Daniel) and Tori definitely are not Mary Sues; they mess up, lose fights, and aren’t universally admired despite being competent at martial arts. On top of that, their rivalry is very well-written, taking into account Sam’s middle-class upbringing vs. Tori’s life on the streets.
Sam is not shown winning every encounter; in fact, she gets knocked on her ass quite a bit. Her karate, while skilled, isn’t at a high level where no one can take her down. She is shown to make unwise decisions, such as accusing Tori of thievery at a party or sneaking out with a boy and getting drunk. Despite her flaws, Sam is generally likeable and good, and she is loyal to her friends.
Tori’s introduction (when she faces off against Miguel) is spot-on. It establishes her fighting skill without making her seem invincible — indeed, were it not for Miguel’s gentlemanly attitude, he would have crushed her. Her brash attitude makes her a bit mean at times, but she also has a fun side and likes to show her friends a good time. Her street-level perspective is not shown to be always right; in fact, it often leads her into doing bad things.
Also, both characters are allowed to fall in love with boys; this is not treated as any sort of weakness for either of them (though a kiss at the wrong time leads to a great disaster.)
The last thing that firmly establishes their non-Mary Sue status: they don’t upstage the male characters. At no point does the show cut down the men to make the women look good. Both the men and the women have their triumphs and failures, their cool moments and their down moments, their wins and their losses. Everyone is humanized, but still made interesting.
Cobra Kai shows that it is possible to make your female characters interesting and fun without making them perfect goddesses who can do no wrong. Good on the writing team for pulling this off.
