Discussing Disability Representation in Avatar: The Last Airbender | Braving The Elements Podcast

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Join "Braving The Elements" hosts Dante Basco (Prince Zuko) and Janet Varney (Avatar Korra) as they invite superfans of Avatar: The Last Airbender to share personal stories about the meaningful representation of disabilities in the animated series, and discover how powerful these representations can truly be!
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Enter the amazing world of Avatar through the official companion podcast, Avatar: Braving the Elements from Nickelodeon. Join hosts Janet Varney (the voice of “Korra”) and Dante Basco (the voice of “Prince Zuko”) each week as they re-watch every episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender then break down key themes, notable battles, and behind-the-scenes trivia you can’t get anywhere else. Special guests from cast members to producers join them to explore elements of the Avatarverse, including the origins of the story and how Avatar was brought to life.
Welcome to the Avatar: The Last Airbender channel - the ultimate home for all things Avatar! Here you will find the best battles, deep dives, and the most memorable moments from all of your favorite characters from Aang to Zuko. On top of that, there will be plenty of Legend of Korra, official Avatar Comics, and even more exciting original content! You don’t need a sky bison to swing on by to the Avatar: The Last Airbender channel for all our new videos!
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[@TeamAvatar]

Subscribe to BTE Premium on Apple Podcasts for exclusive content, early access, and ad-free listening! ➡ bit.ly/SubscribeToBTE Listen to Avatar: Braving the Elements wherever you get your podcasts ➡ bit.ly/BravingTheElementsPodcast

[@OrpheanOrca]

I love ATLA and Legend of Korea

[@Fermin95YT]

Ok

[@sparxstreak02]

2:54 I always saw her eyes as green (a typical trait Earth Kingdom people have) but paler due to her blindness.

[@NoHandle44]

I thought her eyes were grey. 😅

[@diversejoe617]

As one wise man once said: *with disability comes creativity*

[@tobbyman3d]

There's this one guy without arms that draws with his mouth

[@diversejoe617]

@@tobbyman3d absolute legend

[@OrpheanOrca]

People who love the avatar universe ⬇️

[@launacyko4523]

Oh? Your arrow is pointing at the comment down below? I was going to put a like on your comment...but if you insist 🤷

[@broccolihead1109]

Here!

[@broccolihead1109]

@@launacyko4523it’s an aang arrow bro, he’s not pointing at the like button 💀

[@michaelanthonygutierrez]

Hello

[@ShermanFan]

Remember young ones, a disability is only disability until you make it an ability. Toph is the perfect representation; she not being able to see only made her enhance and rely on other ways to earth bend.

[@shadowofbosstown]

She uses magic lol

[@august1837]

Or a disability is just that… a disability

[@sean7923]

@@shadowofbosstown”Not magic , it’s WaterBending” - Katara in literally the very first episode . It’s based on Physics (fantasy but physics) and real life martial arts , hence why people have to LEARN bending , if it was magic they wouldn’t have to learn it they would magically have it ….

[@sirdemetri6247]

Toph is the face of ABILITY not DISABILITY

[@killerbrogaming2845]

Will this humour be in the live action? Or are we going to miss it again

[@sierrajohnson717]

we dont talk about the waterbender in Korra that is born without arms, she uses waterbending to create prosthetic arms!

[@Heretowatchvideos123]

I don’t even notice that the old man who pretended to be sick had a prosthetic leg

[@TjayzWorld]

Welcome to Fortnite 😊 Aang, Toph, Korra, Katara, Oppa, Zuko.

[@jeremiah757]

I'm glad there r shows like this that center around disabilities

[@Q.Anderson]

Hello, disabled here! I am autistic. If you don't know what autism is, it's a neurodevelopmental disability, and I have learned to accept that as a part of who I am. Avatar is one of my special interests, and it has influenced a lot of my stories I make. Seeing a disabled character, Toph, accept that she's blind, not see it as a burden (which most nondisabled or some disabled people might see it as), she uses it to her advantage. It was my powerful attention to detail that noticed that around 70% of ATLA's nights have full moons. Many people (say "Audi Sums Peaks" fast enough), see my people as nothing but useless hollow few of humanity that needs to be eradicated. I'm glad to have a show to relate to, and I hope to see actually autistic representation in the future. As always, thank you for coming to my TEDtalk, and flameo hotman!

[@_MaddMaxx_]

I’m autistic too! Loved this little paragraph. When I watched avatar the first time I had no clue I was autistic. I saw toph and never really appreciated the character as I do now. I was about 11/12 when I first watched avatar and now I’m 13 turning 14 in august. I got severely bullied and made fun of by people in my school, to the point I have developed anxiety. Avatar has been a comfort show for me during this loooooooong break off school. If Toph can embrace her disability, then I can too! It’s going to take a while if fully understanding myself but I’m going to get through it!

[@Q.Anderson]

@@_MaddMaxx_ Hey, if you need any support or have questions, you can ask me

[@RumFn]

Team toph is the goat 👇

[@CountCocofang]

A VERY important aspect: Humor. For Toph jokes about her disability are not taboo. On the contrary, she engages with them herself. Because she is confident. She does not want or need to be handled with kids gloves. Everyone has flaws or oddities and her being able to laugh them off made her so relatable and likable.

[@DigiRangerScott]

I think, if Braving the Elements can't stretch close enough to the release of Aang, there should be as many specials as possible with its cast.

[@BryantMartinez94]

Hello there

[@muhammadnajmi2460]

How i can join or give idea to this podcast? Im really curious to try

[@tobyg9495]

A major difference I have noticed between James Cameron’s Avatar and Avatar: The Last Airbender is their portrayal of disability. In A:TLA, disability doesn’t inhibit characters such as Toph Beifong and Teo on the heroes’ side and Combustion Man and Ming-Hua on the villains’ side from contributing to their society, whereas in James Cameron’s Avatar, protagonist Jake Sully is paraplegic (similar to Teo from A:TLA) and he has to have his disability removed in order for him to contribute. Two franchises, same title, two totally different stances on disability representation.

[@JMPT]

Avatar Nice 💧🪨🔥🌪️

[@GraceofGod247]

So Awesome🎉

[@TriDent9274]

here is an interesting thought. what if when aang and the gang went to the library and found the book that ginora found, of rava and vaatu, harmonic convergence and etc. which i understand would not make sense for the 100 year war but just thinking about how it would have panned out.

[@sarinkhalidhussain7336]

hi

[@Carlosp1703]

The girl from fortnite 😮

[@ClumsyBoySizzleboy-ly5pd]

1 min. Gang

[@bababoi373]

WHEN ARE U GONNA MAKE A NEW SERIES, THERE IS ONLY 2 AND I NEED 3 OR MORE

[@NoHandle44]

I thought Toph's eyes were grey. 😅

[@user-dn4vd1ck9z]

Hi

[@SuperMegaHunter]

I watch avatar the last Airbender

[@Anime_soul_XZ]

Bro we need season 3 of avatar please

[@NarutoFNandEDITS]

First

[@Fermin95YT]

Shut the #### up this is serious cant u see that this is real?

[@shadowofbosstown]

This is nonsense

[@lovethedemonwolf.roadto2k]

Yes sir

[@lovethedemonwolf.roadto2k]

I think being to bend is a disisabilty In itself in the avatar world and especially Amon I think it was the allegory for disability too oh especially in the end of season 3 where korra couldn’t wallk she’s literally in a wellchair disabled

[@Tomas_France_]

I’m a blind, non-binary, trans femme masc 2spirit, question bipoc white asian-adjacent person of color white