Episode 53: Just A Show

"Now the finale's done and I'm alone/I'm on a Netflix trip here on my phone/but who I am is in these episodes/so don't you tell me that it's just a show."

                                                           -AJR, "Netflix Trip"

  Believe it or not, this episode was inspired by a stranger's Facebook comment. The post was in my Cobra Kai fan group, wherein someone had posted a picture showing that Johnny did actually show some congratulation to Daniel in the first Karate Kid movie.

   The comment in question was reacting negatively to the post, saying we shouldn't be so hung up on whether or not Johnny was a bully because it's just a TV show, not real. I responded by saying that I hate that mentality, to which he asked if I really meant I hate it, and I said:

                                       "Yes."

    This mentality doesn't just rub me the wrong way, it genuinely angers me. As someone who has watched a lot of TV shows, I have seen some amazing ones. I have seen some that have truly changed my life for the better. I am who I am now because of shows like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Smallville, and BoJack Horseman.

    To downplay fiction because it's not real, and thus somehow doesn't matter, is absolutely absurd. I'll even throw out the word "stupid".

    Fiction exists because it provides an escape from the real world. Because there is art in creation, art in coming up with characters and places and events. If a work of fiction doesn't make you feel at least something, it has failed you. And if something isn't making you feel things, why pretend to be a fan of it? I'm gonna talk about two of the shows I've mentioned and why they and others I love make me hate the "just a show" mentality.

SCENE I: COBRA KAI

   For those unfamiliar, Cobra Kai is a TV series that is a continuation of the story from the Karate Kid movies. The first season takes place roughly 30 years after the All-Valley Tournament from the first Karate Kid and the series moves forward from there. Daniel, Johnny, Kreese, Silver, and others have all aged thirty years and get back into the karate business, training a new generation that includes Daniel's kids and Johnny's kid(s). That s in parentheses requires explaining plot points from the show to explain.

    The show deals A LOT with redemption, dealing with old wounds, leaving a legacy, gaining trust, and conquering setbacks. Not to mention all the nostalgia it draws on, being the sequel to a series of classic movies from the eighties. I love this show for all the above reasons. There is perhaps no other show that kept me so much on the edge of my seat, desperate to know what happens next. I tore through the seasons. Completely binged them. You are not allowed to tell me Cobra Kai is just a show. I will strike first, strike hard, no mercy on your ass.

SCENE II: BOJACK HORSEMAN

   On the surface, BoJack Horseman is an adult cartoon about quirky anthropomorphic animals who share society with humans. The principal animal is a washed-up former sitcom star. Couldn't be too heavy of a show, right? Wrong. Beneath the jokes, there is an underlying story about depression, addiction, and redemption that often comes to the surface. This show has several very dark and poignant episodes. The episodes Free Churro and The View From Halfway Down are genuinely two of my all-time favorite works of television. The latter is my favorite episode of any tv series.

    Don't tell me BoJack Horseman is just a show.

IN CONCLUSION

  Please appreciate fiction, in all its forms. Please don't devalue it just because the content isn't real. Cobra Kai and BoJack Horseman changed my life, but they aren't the only fictional things that did. If you are one of the "it's just a show" people, please stop.

Anyway, see you next week!