cobra kai is serving up some 80s
nostalgia with a modern twist
the drama slash elements of comedy
series is a reboot
of the 1984 film the karate kid and the
many films that followed in that
franchise
the storyline for cobra kai picked up 30
years after the 1984
all valley karate tournament how could
we forget
the series is obviously successful and
brings up some major questions
are ralph macchio and william zabka
friends in real life why does the
character tori look familiar
and how much karate does machio actually
know in real life
well there's so much fun stuff to
consider there are actually some
concerning details about the spin-off
show
curious us too don't worry we will
explain
cobra kai is a booming sensation on
netflix
but with this exponential popularity
comes new issues
the major issue is a lack of diversity
in the show and it's a legitimate
concern
there are no asian leads in the series
despite the significance of japanese
culture to the story
and the fact that the plot revolves
around martial arts
jen yamato of the los angeles times
called out this notable absence on
january 8 2021
she said there are now three white men
at the center of cobra kai
a franchise rooted in and deeply
indebted to eastern tradition
after 30 episodes on two platforms cobra
kai has yet to cast an asian lead
other authors are also speaking up anna
christina ramone who was a co-author of
the 2020 ucla's
annual hollywood diversity report spoke
in a similar vein
she said except for the latino character
of miguel
all the other people of color are
outside of that main cast
so it actually doesn't show as a diverse
show in a sense
vanity fair also called out the series
for its lack of appropriate
representation
in speaking of seasons one and two the
outlet said it was disappointing that
danny larusso italian kid from jersey is
the most japanese character
so what did the show's creators have to
say in response
the creators of cobra kai john hurwitz
hayden sloshberg
and josh heald spoke up about concerns
over a lack of diversity in their show
they said to the los angeles times
writer jen yamato
that their decision was made out of
respect for the character of mr miyagi
played by pat morita they also added
that since they were working on a reboot
they had to use the characters of daniel
larusso and
johnny lawrence slashburg and hurwitz
wrote 2004's harold and kumar go to
white castle
which sloshburg referenced in response
he told the los angeles times
having made harold and kumar go to white
castle we've been particularly sensitive
to asian american representation
in movies and television we would have
loved if there was a miyagi son or
daughter that was floating around in the
lineage and the canon of the movie to
play with
we inherited the story that felt like
the natural continuation
where for better or worse you are
dealing with johnny and daniel
as your protagonists heald offered an
optimistic note for the future
and said each season as we're writing
we're looking for new underdog stories
and new characters to populate the
universe
we always have our eye towards
representing today's society as richly
and as accurately as possible while
they've responded to criticism
what do fans think of this situation
while conversations are brewing around
the lack of diversity in cobra kai
especially towards the show's creators
twitter is
extra salty i know right who saw that
coming on the official cobra kai twitter
page
people are especially vocal about it one
person tweeted
hollywood finally found a way to
completely shun out asians from martial
arts movies
they achieved their ultimate dream
another person tweeted
i want to start watching cobra kai but
the lack of asian characters rubs me the
wrong way
however others on twitter felt this
wasn't a legitimate topic
one person responded to the los angeles
times twitter conversation
and tweeted dear cancel culture please
don't mess up cobra kai for me
nevertheless there are folks out there
discontent about the lack of
representation
one other person noted my one thing
about cobra kai is
i understand where it came from but can
the series have more likable main asian
characters
like you are literally a show about an
asian fighting style
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