#jlaw must remain static because of our nostalgia but also be important to the story somehow
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
Text
the nature of being a johnny lawrence fan, is that it is often indistinguishable from being a johnny lawrence hater, and I don't think I have that with any other character. usually I'm very protective of my faves (including in cobra kai, daniel, sam, kreese, and tsilver), but johnny, I very much enjoy reading all the reasons people dislike his character, nodding along like "yeah what an inconsistent mess, you're so right, carmen pls u deserve better narrative to work with, terry silver was telling the truth when he mocked his fatherhood abilities, but alas the writing will never support it"
#johnny lawrence fans 🤝 johnny lawrence haters -- wtf is going on with johnny lawrence's character in s5????????#johnny lawrence#cobra kai#ck#i can write miles of text about the queercoding of johnny lawrence#and also about how terribly inconsistent the writing for him is due to a sexist notion that he must be a Badass#actually i think johnny lawrence is one of the most interesting case studies of this phenomenon#obvs most famously archetyped by dean winchester -- but i think jlaw is even More That#1. literal 80s character so all these people read him through a particular nostalgia lens#2. in a show that is possibly Thee most trope-filled nostalgia show i have ever seen be that way Accidentally#(riverdale was doing it on purpose -- stranger things... yeah maybe but i think cobra kai is even more on the nose actually)#3. played by quite a sensitive actor actually who deeply cares about the nuance of the character#which appears to be at constant war with the intentions of the narrative he has to appear in#4. and like. the writers Know about the queercoding because they've interacted with fans (nicely actually)#but they have literally no idea what to do with it but ALSO have lampshaded it occasionally#it's... it's fascinating....#they want so badly for him to win but they're going about it the wrong way -- the narrative continues to be circular/an inward spiral#nothing has changed except for the reactions of other characters#jlaw must remain static because of our nostalgia but also be important to the story somehow#the Tension of it all is personally delicious to me but man is it frustrating as well
60 notes
·
View notes