- Now you're gonna pay.
- [Narrator] Critics have said that Netflix's
Karate Kid update, Cobra Kai
is what happens to an eighties movie when it grows up
and nothing reflects this more
than the total transformation
of quintessential eighties bully, Johnny Lawrence
as portrayed by actor William Zabka
into the middle aged protagonist of Cobra Kai.
- Being a bad-ass doesn't mean being an asshole.
- [Narrator] In this essay, We'll take a look
at how Zabka's most famous character
has managed to age somewhat gracefully
and just what exactly made his roles in the 1980s so iconic.
Have a movie villain from the eighties
you'd like to see get the Johnny Lawrence treatment?
Leave a note for us in the comments.
The Johnny Lawrence of Cobra Kai is definitely the same,
let's say jerk from the Karate Kid.
So just how did Zabka and the showrunners
manage to transform him from villainous archetype
into a morally ambiguous hero?
- I don't know, do you?
- [Narrator] Something closer to a real human being.
Sometimes the hero, sometimes the villain,
sometimes both at the same time.
First we learn more about Johnny's past and his motivations.
This allows the audience to empathize with him.
- I was wondering if I could take a karate class.
- Karate?
Ha, look at you!
You're a skinny little white boy.
Besides don't you get in enough fights already at school?
- Sid.
- What?
Look, the kids a social reject.
He doesn't have a single friend.
- [Narrator] Second, we get to see Johnny struggle.
Sometimes, with things out of his control.
- You put it on the wrong wall.
I said the wall across from the door.
- This is the wall across from the door.
- Not that door, idiot. The door.
- [Narrator] Sometimes with things totally in his control.
We all agree that he should know better, right?
- It's not his fault.
- [Narrator] Third and most importantly,
we get to see that most heroic of qualities,
the ability to grow as a person.
- How about we make a deal?
You promise yourself to do positive things.
Be a better person.
- I already tried that.
I put everything I had into my students.
I taught them to be tough and show mercy.
I thought I was doing the right thing.
- You got to remember, you don't do the right thing
because it always works out.
You do the right thing
because it's the right thing to do.
Both those kids need you.
I can help you with Robby.
The detention center will let you in
if you're accompanied by a member of the clergy.
(indistinct)
- [Narrator] A pretty big deal for a character
that set the standard for bad guys.
But just how did Zabka get help create that standard?
Zabka began his career acting
in commercials in the early eighties.
- Table pressing, good for strength and definition.
Full extension is very important.
- [Narrator] Gone were the gritty character studies
with morally ambiguous endings of the 1970s.
- No pain, no gain.
- [Narrator] With the cold war heating up,
Hollywood pumped out blockbusters aimed at teens.
Films with feel good endings
and clear good guys and bad guys.
- You must be a trendsetter, Johnny.
Looks like everyone's doing something new.
Take a right, check it out.
- Hey Johnny, forget it man. It's ancient history.
- Who told you man?
- [Narrator] With his natural charisma and athleticism
Zabka then in his late teens
was just what the Karate Kid producers were looking for.
- Why you always fight, huh?
- [Narrator] Almost that is.
Zabka managed to snag his first film role
despite not even knowing karate.
Though, you'd never know it watching him beat up nerds.
His star turn in the Karate Kid
quickly led to similar parts
in Back To School with Rodney Dangerfield
and Just One Of The Guys.
- May I cut in?
- [Narrator] Cementing him as the definitive eighties bully
but what made for a good eighties bully?
- Lift!
We love you Greg.
- [Narrator] First the bully had to be
physically intimidating.
- The key is to work out every possible minute.
Like, say you don't have any weights.
You use freshmen.
I'm serious.
Excuse me, this will just take a minute.
Okay, get a good grip.
Bend your knees and lift.
One, two, one, two.
- [Narrator] The bully had to be rich.
- You have a date?
- Um.
- With whom?
- Dad, it's a friend.
- Not that boy from Reseda.
- Yeah, he's from Reseda.
He's a nice guy.
- [Narrator] Classic snobs versus slops.
And finally an eighties bully
was only as good as the goons he had backing him up.
- Hold it.
Remember what sensei said?
You got to wait for the tournament.
- Must be take a worm for a walk week.
(groaning)
- [Narrator] Zabka's early roles checked all those boxes.
- That's cause he's a little tulip.
- [Narrator] But out of all of his roles,
not to mention the dozens of other
classic onscreen bullies of the eighties
why is it that Johnny Lawrence
and not say Chet from Weird Science
is the one getting the Netflix treatment?
Unlike other classic eighties bullies
there was always more to Johnny Lawrence than met the eye.
- You're all right.
- You're nothing, you lost, you're a loser.
You know, you're really sick man.
- [Narrator] The little hints that there was more
to his story than what the film was showing us,
left the door open for us
to see a more nuanced version
of this classic eighties villain.
A version that feels right at home in 2020.
Complicated times call for complicated stories
and complicated stories call for complicated good guys.
Just like the original Karate Kid,
Cobra Kai is an incredible blend
of action, drama and comedy.
And by telling its story
from the perspective of the classic 1980s bully,
it also manages to be incredibly smart.
- Yeah, of course.
- [Narrator] Are you a fan of Cobra Kai?
Let us know your favorite Johnny Lawrence
antihero moments below in the comments.