Disabilities mean you have limits. As Amethyst from Steven Universe said, "Everyone tells me I can be whatever I want to be... uh, no, I can't!" And that's okay.

Fun fact: the ‘pull yourself up by your bootstraps’ thing was originally said to make fun of that kind of mentality because you literally can’t pull yourself up by your bootstraps. But then some people were like ‘actually, that’s a really good message🤔’ for some reason.

Cyborg has kinda always had the problem, where his writers don't understand "intersectionality". Cyborg can either be a black character, or a disabled character. Not both at the same time. Leading to a lot of writers making the cybernetics his superpower, and not his mobility aid.

See, in the original comics, they had a story where Cyborg was struggling with the same kind of thing; with his fully organic body, he was an athlete, and could theoretically work to train his body to continually extend his limitations, but as a cyborg, the stress limits of his materials and the output of his servos were all quantifiable and known. He's stronger and faster than he ever could have been as a regular athlete, but he can no longer strive to get physically better. But, as you suggested, he did, in fact, come to realize that while the physical avenue was closed to him, he could continue to strive and improve in other ways. It is kinda funny that they got it right in the early 80's, but stumbled in the early 2000's. Though not so surprising when you consider that the "just believe in yourself" thing was still going strong from the 90's.

Starfire is stronger then Cyborg, but everyone forgets about this is fine even the writer forget about this.

This is how i would rewrite this episode: 1) cyborg is the one disregarding his limits because of his insecurity and takes risks despise everyone elses concerns 2) Cyborg loses against atlas because he refuses to work together and put everyone in danger 3) cyborg accepts his limits and just pretend to fight atlas while he is actually setting a plan to release his Friends 4) everyone works together, Atlas gets defeated and cyborg learns to respect his limits and that if he works together with his friends then there is no challenge they can't overcome. The end

There is something that always confused me about this episode: if Cyborg has a power limit that's quantifiable, then what the heck is even the point of him training?? Can he extend that limit with training? It's never explained

“If someone says they’re at their limit, they’re at their limit.” Is not only more especially true because he’s disabled, but also because cyborg is supposed to be the tough tank of the team. It would need to take a lot in order for him to admit he can’t push further because he wants to keep up his strong image. Besides people in real life tend to let’s say not ask for help on a test unless they are absolutely stuck because we want to be able to do it ourselves.

I think the episode would have worked better if Cyborg had pushed past his limit in the middle of the episode, which would have caused nearly irreparable damage, and it causes him has to rely on his wits to defeat this guy. A message about working around limitations. Sure, it’s possible to push past your limits, but in most cases it can be very dangerous and harmful if you don’t know what you’re doing. And in the end when Robin asks him about pushing his limits, Cyborg says yes and no: he CAN and maybe he could adjust his mechanical body to adapt to his development little by little, but sometimes working around limitations is JUST as important, if not MORE. It’s about compromising with who he is and what he can accomplish. As Beast Boy said in one episode: work smarter, not harder.

4:08 I actually remember a scene where it's shown that Starfire can lift more than Cyborg since she's an alien. This scene makes me way more uncomfy considering that since Starfire didn't do anything? Even though Cyborg one of her best friends, could've gotten seriously hurt. Like, girl? You're supposed to be the kind one.

something i love about your channel is not hesitating to call a disabled character disabled. characters like cyborg just dont get called disabled because he doesn't fit a narrowminded image of a disabled person, he doesn't use a wheelchair, isn't visibly missing limbs or fitted with realistic prosthetics he's a cool robot dude who can do cool robot stuff and is in a super hero team. i don't have the time to think of the implications of this but i just had to say thanks for doing what you do

I live in a perpetual state of imposter syndrome over referring to my ADHD as a disability (in no small part because the struggles related to ADHD are invisible and easily dismissed by that kind of "just set your mind to it!" bs), but it will never cease to amaze me how closely I can relate to the descriptions of struggles for physically disabled people. It's basically one to one sometimes.

Also, there's an episode where Cyborg, again, pushes himself too hard and actually works around his limits by creating multiple holograms of each titan including himself without having to fight at all. Overall it's a way better episode that didn't squick me out at all, plus Beast Boy is the one to tell Cy not to push himself in a sweet way with a little turtle origami :] ("Sometimes, it's best to be a slow, tiny turtle.")

I was raised to believe that I'm too stupid to know my limits. Whenever I felt like I've reached my limit, I got in trouble for being lazy. When I pushed myself further, I would crush, break something and get in trouble for "pretending to be unlucky /disabled". When I decided to get help to figure out how to stop being lazy, I got in trouble for wasting my time on unnecessary things instead of doing my job. All the while my parents knew of my ADHD, and I didn't.

You know, that final quip of "I just needed to put my mind to it," would have made so much *more* sense if he'd actually used his genius to defeat the Enemy of the Week.

Great analysis. Part of maturity, Disabled or not, is to know and respect your limits. The whole 'no limits' culture is dangerous and toxic. Simone Biles is returning to competitive gymnastics after taking two years off following her decision to remove herself from Olympic competition for her mental health. This is the kind of example we need more of. It also recognizes that being part of a team is sometimes letting the rest of the team carry the weight.

I was diagnosed with ADHD for over ten years and recently planning for an autism diagnosis too. That feeling of knowing you're at your limit but also knowing everyone else doesn't believe you and will always keep on pushing sucks hard. The worst part is, a lot of times I complied. 6 months ago I had to literally spell it out to people I trust that I'm disabled and can't do certain stuff only for them to give me this look that they don't believe me even if they say otherwise. They proceeded to almost completely ignore the fact that I'm unwell and kept asking me to give more. I did, over and over, until I literally ran out of everything and broke myself. I went through 5 major non verbal episodes in the past 6 months and couldn't even get out of the house for the first 3 months. The noise was unbearable and I'm legit still wondering if I caused permanent damage to my brain. I realized too late how messed up it was for all these able people to either keep on asking for more or sit idly by while just watching me break. It was a horrible experience and I'm still having difficulties trusting anyone again. If you feel like you're at your limit, don't let anyone tell you otherwise or push you further. Life isn't like a cartoon episode, if you go way pass a limit, it usually comes at a terrible cost mentally or physically. Screw people who won't believe in you, life isn't worth ruining for them. And honestly, when you break, most of them won't bother to give half the effort they demanded from you back to care for you.

I think the writers of TT just don’t think of Cyborg as disabled. Like maybe they’d try the message that’d make more sense for a disabled person but instead the message is all about the perseverance of the human spirit and how no matter the limitations of the body the mind is always stronger Yama had a Will power which just isn’t how someone’s body works. It’s for kids though so it’s mean to be this big you can do anything you set your mind to Jimmy even if you don’t feel like it if someone like cyborg can feel like he cat go beyond you sure can. The writers are trying to convey a message about the sprit being stronger than the mind and you can do anything you set your mind to but with something and someone that only works to push the you can do anything including literally no longer having a disability.

im a young chronically ill transmasc person. and as everyone knows, being masculine is traditionally associated with being strong, so i often push myself way too hard. i always try to remind myself to step back when i need to, but sometimes i just do a little too much and end up hurting both my physical and mental health. i appreciate you calling out the mindset "you can do it if you just tried hard enough", even my past therapist tried to tell me i was struggling because i didnt believe in myself enough - i know, fucking ridiculous. i wish anyone who's like me out there to also learn to listen to your body, and know that you dont need to be "strong" to be valid :)

My whole childhood, me telling my mom that I couldn't do something was met with accusations of me just being lazy. I have a deformed left foot, but because it mainly only causes discomfort when I'm on my feet too long, it's not blatantly obvious that I'm disabled. It wasn't until I started walking with a cane at age 25 that my mom finally accepted that it was a physical limitation, and not an issue of motivation.

This isn’t just associated with disability either. In my school choir, I was put as a mezzo soprano because that was the range my singing teacher assessed me to be. I could never sing opera level high notes as my voice was not suited to that range & as I got older, my voice gradually continued to deepen (as a woman’s voice does every 7 years or so - albeit very slowly). I learned as a singer, that I HAD to know my limits in order to choose songs that suited me & that I would succeed at. Many of the songs I sang at 12, 13 or 14, I could never sing now, as my voice is at a slightly lower range than it once was. But I still enjoy singing songs that suit my range & I’m okay with that.

Same ballpark as when it comes to respecting when people say they can't do something. It's mind blowing how some people just assume people with dietary restrictions are just making crap up to avoid eating food they don't like, and will literally fight with you over it. I personally don't have any dietary restrictions, but I heard someone talking about someone I know who does have them, and I've heard about cases where people have died or been hospitalized because someone intentionally gave them or threw food at them. Like, NO. If someone says they CAN'T eat something, you trust them and take it seriously, and you don't go try to pressure them into eating whatever it is they can't have wtf is wrong with people.

Another excellent video as always! I like the show a bit, but, as a disabled person with physical and mental disabilities, I always found it weird that I couldn't connect with Cyborg or feel inspired by him. Your explanations of why certain tropes he followed were harmful have helped me start to piece together why.

The "you can do anything if you push yourself" idea that is pushed into your head when young has caused me so much harm. It took me until I was 30 to unlearn it. I am autistic, so I had to push myself to appear equal to coworkers. To make me seem valuable. This, would backfire into meltdowns and make me appear bad to NTs. It took me awhile to learn not to push myself, and now I have less issues and meltdowns.

Before Cartoon Network became "kid friendly" (aka before they started treating kids like idiots), Teen Titans was one of my favorite shows. Cyborg and Starfire are by far my favorites, for obvious reasons (I hope 😄 ). Also: 1) Those dogs are adorable; 2) In the same episode, the Romanian dubbed version, Cyborg's message to that child with a prosthesis was "It's not the arm that makes us the same, but our feelings" ... but in Romanian😁

I got the end result of my diagnosis process for Autism and was actually gaslighted by the psychologist, for one telling me, that I should be happy for not being diagnosed and she is happy about every person she doesn’t have to diagnose, completely devaluating my perception of myself as-well as my emotions. It turned out at the end that she only looked for child Autism and it’s true, I probably don’t have that, but then again that is only one part of a big spectrum.

“You can’t do something? Just stop having skill issues and do it anyway!”

i havent seen this show since middle school, and i still instantly knew what episode you were gonna talk about, even as a child whose chronic ailements hadnt really kicked in yet, that initial establishing nightmare scenario was still so terrifying

“ just believe in yourself “ is . a veiled thought crime , in the same vain as “ just have faith “ or “ just pray “ but suddenly people don’t see it when it isn’t religious and isn’t directed at them

this is just the one episode of teen titans i actively dislike for similar reasons. i have hyper mobility and arthritis on top of a heart condition and scoliosis (corrected by metal rods) if i say "stop" usually quite calmly i mean "for the love of all that is merciful in the name of what ever deity that you subscribe to STOP!!!! I AM GOING TO FALL APART LITERALLY!" can i push through and give "110%"? yes but that results in my heart being at risk, my limbs potentially getting horrifically damaged and excruciating pain that wont let me stand for a good amount of time with the potential of a PTSD episode. i have only done it willingly 5 times in my life i don't want to need 2 hands to count it, when i saw cyborg going 130% i actually thought he was going to die because if i did something like that i very well could die.

I read the cyborg scene more as "regardless of disability we're all human and should be treated and respected as such" rather than and ignoring of disability. But then again, I'm not physically disabled, so maybe that affects my view on things.

(To be fair to the Avengers, many of them USED to have secret identities but they just fell to the wayside over the years. Fun fact: Iron Man revealed his secret identity in the comics by saving a kid and his dog from being hit by a car. But if you like secret identities and stuff with queer-coding, then X-men might be more up your alley; the X-Men Evolution cartoon plays that in the first few seasons. I wouldn't recommend modern X-Men comics though :| ) As for the video; very interesting! I have vague memories of watching this episode years ago on Cartoon Network. I've also never liked that SciFi trope of being a cyborg making you "less human", it just never made sense to my kid brain (and now it still doesn't to my adult autistic brain). There needs to be more stories of cyborg characters calling out that trope for the dumb BS it is lol.

Slight off topic, but Raven could definitely have helped Cyborg with the weight lifting, since she's telekinetic and could just move the weights with magic when they fell

Your channel has taught me how NOT to write a disabled character that I wouldn't have known otherwise due to ignorance, despite my Mom being disabled. So ty.

You know, with the whole fighting game aspect of the episode leading into Atlas, one would think maybe an alternate solution could be what one generally does in fighting games - study how the other player operates, and figure out ways to counter that.

Shout out to my horrible PE teacher for making me seek ways to never have a gym class ever again!

I remember always disliking how they handled Cyborg as being both Black and disabled even when I was a kid. Even when the episodes don’t directly relate to disability like in “Troq” when of all the people to be a poor ally and be the target that Starfire gets angry with on the team the pick the Black disabled boy and not say Robin when she’s called a slur, it’s pretty frustrating. I always felt the episode “overdrive” had far more potential to work from a disability lens. Cyborg basically gets a super chip that lets him work faster and be stronger, making him far more productive but in overexerting himself the chip makes him more machine like and the attitude he has toward always needing to “do more” and not his prosthetics are what are harmful to him. He loses to the villain of the week and feels he still needs to “do more” until he overexerts himself and nearly dies. His friends remove the chip and Cyborg instead basically does what he should have done in these episodes by working around his limitations and comes up with a plan to beat the villain without even moving. The focus of “the overfocus on being productive enough is extremely harmful” wasn’t even fully its intention but would have been far more welcome from a disability lens.

I only recently got diagnosed with my disability (it’s one that only really affects my age group) so hearing your perspectives has been so so important and crucial to me. I haven’t had to look at media critically through the disabled lens, so hearing you dissect analogies and metaphors and ableism and representation as a fellow disabled trans queer person… it’s amazing

Yeah, in my opinion it would’ve been far better if after the first loss cyborg either got help, or augmented his tech, or something else. There was a mechanic that they started to try and turn against atlas, and he could’ve maybe done something. Cyborg’s whole thing of the 110% was awesome as a winning moment but felt off. I would’ve loved it far more had nearly anything else happened

Was listening to this while folding laundry and nearly had a heart attack hearing my name (Atlas) get mentioned 😭😭

i love this take on this episode. in retrospect i think the "object lesson"(? is that what this plot would be considered?) is too close to a real world situation that can have life-threatening consequences (injury and sometimes even death). and that's where the writers went wrong because the "lesson"/moment cyborg overcomes his challenge can easily be replicated and cause someone harm. but if you took the lesson advice for something less physically taxing or not as dangerous, then it may be fine. (ex. "don't give up on the school play because of your stage fright, keep practicing and you'll be fine"). and i imagine the intent was always meant for smaller scale challenges, or people with no awareness/desire to acknowledge their own limitations. but it is a kid's show and they can take stuff literally a lot. and also all that stuff you said about the "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" mentality was (and still is, tbh) was RAMPANT during this time.

Honestly I find the idea of a villain who is such a salty gamer he unironically wants him to 1 V 1 him in real life absolutely hysterical

I'm autistic and have ADHD with a whipped cream topping of anxiety disorder and depression. I get every cliche response to me mentioning my limits... And I'm sick of it.

My favorite version of Cyborg is still the one in the Doom Patrol TV series. The show in general is great with disabled characters.

Reminds me of being told as a kid that I was so smart... if I only tried... while trying my best while having learning disabilities.

A better version of "Only Human" I'd rewrite is highlight Cyborg's intelligence and even though his body has limitations his mind doesn't have him create something to even the playing field and when Atlas tries to say he has no honor Cyborg replies "You kidnapped my friends I owe you nothing" After Robin and the others apologized and Cyborg accepts because they were only trying to support him you can even keep the "put my mind to it" line because in this context it's more of "work smarter not harder" message.

The “beating pushed passed your limits” is a thing with cognitive disability’s as well. I have autism and if I say “it’s too loud I need to leave” I often get hit with “it’s not that bad! Just try a little harder” most people do understand that I have already tried my hardest and I neeed to leave, they think I’m being weak or anxious when it’s really just me knowing my limits

I don't have any physical disabilities, but I do have both depression and ADHD, and as such I am very familiar with the mentality that I can just do something if I put my mind to it. For example, I've had some really bad rat-nest rooms in my lifetime. People don't seem to believe that something as simple as cleaning my room could actually be something difficult, and that it must mean that I'm lazy or a disgusting person in general. It sucks - I don't like sleeping around trash on my bed anymore than any other person, and I wish I could just will myself to do these tasks, but unfortunately, there are times where it's just too difficult for me. For the record, my room is much better now (I'd say it's upgraded to "normal teenage/college freshman" messy instead of "highly depressed pack rat" messy ha), mostly because I am medicated and have learned coping strategies other than "just get up and do it." Surprise surprise, when you treat the underlying condition, it increases the limits of what you are capable of, who knew. It's difficult with mental disabilities like this because it's so much harder to explain why I can't do something. "I just don't have the energy to keep my space clean, or I'm in a place where I just don't care enough about my physical wellbeing to try to clean" is not exactly something you can grasp unless you've experienced it yourself

Starfire and Raven can actually spot Cyborg. He’s actually less human than non-cybernetic humans, but in a world with other sentient creatures like Starfire and Raven etc, it doesn’t really matter.

I *hated* being told "give 110%", and "no gain without pain", by the exact same folks that told me to "know your limits" and "don't overwork". Mixed messages much? It didn't help that the only representation I had was Mr Magoo. (Yeah, I was and still am not only severely nearsighted, but also have severe astigmatism, luckily correctable with glasses.) My glasses had such strong correction they interfered with my hand-eye coordination. So yeah, "you can just pull through this" is bullshit, I knew my limitations at a very early age. This was a very problematic episode, I agree with you.

Even without the disability angle, not helping someone lifting after they tap out is SUPER messed up. That is a really irresponsible message to put out there.

Even though as a kid I liked this episode or didn't mind it, I definitely felt the team, or mainly Robin wasn't really sympathizing with Cyborg as he should in the start of the episode. Pushing one of your teammates way too hard that he could potentially hurt himself, even if he's half machine could still be incredibly risky not just to their body, but to their mind with these limits as Cyborg wasn't born as a machine. He was human like Robin, so that really rubbed me wrong.

This was really cool. I remember having similar reactions to the show rewatching it in my 20s (though I skipped Only Human) after appreciating the fact disabled readings were even present in the teens (it was a very slim field). I think I ultimately ended up in a similar sort of place, though you definitely articulate it better than I could. My pet peeve in the 'you can do it' trope was any scene where someone is walking across a rope bridge, log dropped over a raveen or anything, as if that's an easy thing to do. As if balance issues don't exist and balance doesn't get worse when someone is scared. If it's important that a character get across it, go and help them (also one of those annoying moments where you reach that 'oh, this character isn't actually like me after all' in fiction, those are frustratingly common). My go to example for a show I think does this better was Little Witch Academia. Akko is unable to fly a broom throughout the entire show due to her magic problems and spells constantly misfire. Not only does the show take the strange ways Akko casts (her attempts to transform objects only ever transform herself) and turn them into solutions for problem, but the final scene of the show has one of her friends modifying a broom with extra parts. With the adjustments they install Akko is able to sort of taxi it along a few feet off of the ground and this is treated as something exciting for her and worth celebrating as a happy ending by the story. It doesn't have Akko push through and learn to fly or overcome her limits (though that's sort of implied in Diana's arc, but I can read that as internalised ableism on Diana's part) it modifies the problem to support Akko, then recognises how cool this is for her as legitimate. (Although obviously this is a single scene that stuck in my head, I don't remember if the show consistently stacks up to that level)

Another great video. I know almost nothing about Teen Titans, but still interesting and is good to think about when writing my own disabled characters.

Why did we have to move away from the dog tangent?

I can’t stress enough how I relate with mental disorders that are mild on the outside to others, I’ve been through abuse since people around me have assumed I should either be stupid and incapable or I’m lying about my struggles. I wanted to unalive myself so often by that rhetoric. I no longer blame myself and don’t feel ashamed to not be exploited into abusive corporations

If I push myself beyond 'I need a break I can't do this' I'll end up in the floor collapsed out of exhaustion

Another thing I get annoyed with is, "Stop using your disability as a crutch!"

From an able-bodied perspective, I wonder if the idea of "just put your mind to it" came from that phase around your 20s of suddenly being able to do things that, as a teen, were a struggle. I've talked about it with my brother the other day. We are both neurodivergent (though his adhd is much more severe) and struggled in school. And after we got into higher education, we both noticed how well we're doing all of a sudden. But it wasn't "all of a sudden", we both fought to actually make it past high school (and took longer than our peers to do so) but now that we're not bombarded with hormones and social expectations, we are able to work with a sounder mind. So, if we felt like we just "became better" while in reality we simply learned how to best utilize out time and work methods, what happens when people go through their teen years with out having something intense to prove? If they got through school because they just managed to, and their struggles were mostly emotional and motivational (because being a teen sucks), they must think that this was the way they got better- by "getting over it"- and how others can get better too.

I probably would have been confused by your point at the end, had I not, probably within only the last couple of months, seen a video of a baby with only one hand meeting a an adult woman with the same disability for the first time. I've never observed the joy and excitement of someone finally seeing themselves in the world in such a simple or unambiguous way before.

Man, I actually really like this episode. That's probably because I am not disabled AND an American. It's interesting to get your perspective here. How you see the scenes differently than I do.

The episode Overdrive, cyborg pushes past his physical limit but ends up fighting Billy Numerous a guy you can’t fight with brute strength. Overexerting himself was not worth putting his health at risk and also not the solution to the situation.

Unrelated but I always think about the episode Starfire was experiencing racism from some alien dude and Cyborg chimed in with "I know how it feels" and as a kid I thought "wow they're tackling this" only to be hit with "because of my cybernetics" 🤦

"You can do it if you try hard enough" Sure, if I believe hard enough I can just spontaneously gain more muscle mass

This might just be me as an able-bodied person (I wear glasses and have mild asthma, but I don't consider that a serious enough life adjustment to consider myself disabled), but I never saw Cyborg as being disabled-coded. His cybernetics do not hold him back and he draws much of his strength and confidence from them. To me the 100% thing was simply how far Cyborg could push himself safely, and it's more of a metaphor for him lacking confidence in himself. As for Robin telling Cyborg to give 110%, I think that comes from him being raised by Batman, who pushed and trained Robin to and beyond his limits on a daily basis. I don't see it as Robin being problematic or toxic, just him internalising the way Batman trained him and trying to encourage Cyborg. "Give 110%" is a pretty common concept in sports and for those who want to push their limits and get stronger. The problem is Cyborg has a mental block (which can actually hold you back physically) that makes him think his current 100% is as far as he will ever be able to go. So his being able to break past his 100% is meant to be Mind Over Matter. At least that's how I read it. Cyborg wasn't too weak, he was just held back by what he thought his upper limt was. When you convince yourself that you're as good as you'll ever be, you mentally restrain yourself from getting any better. As for the scene with the disabled kid, I think what the show intended was that *"You shouldn't base your identity around being disabled, it's a part of you, but it shouldn't define the way you see or feel about yourself."* Like Cyborg having to learn the lesson that he shouldn't see himself as half-human like being half-robot makes him any "lesser" than others. As a ginger who wears glasses I feel "representation" is overrated, I never needed a fictional character to be ginger or wear glasses for me to be able to relate to or connect to them on a personal level. I have never felt entitled to *'see myself'* portrayed in the media I watch (though historically Ginger characters being replaced with Black counterparts is a very real thing in media - just google *"Gingers replaced with Blacks in media"* it and you'll see Ginger Erasure is a real thing in media), because it's not about me. So long as the writing is strong and the characters are written well, that's all I want and expect from my media. Characters don't need to superficially resemble you in some way for you to connect to them. I am not a woman but there are plenty of fictional women whom I find myself able to relate to due to their struggles. Looks are only skin deep after all. I'm not saying your interpretation of the examples you gave in this video are wrong, but I do feel that you were projecting your own experiences as a disabled person onto the episodes and the writing. Which may have predesposed you to view and feel negatively about the episodes and the lessons they intended to teach.

Its funny that two creators that im a fan of both released a video about the same episode of the same show in the same month and came to completely different conclusions about the episode. Its a pretty funny coincidence.

I had this moment in a social interaction a while ago where I was drained from being in a room with loud noises and the authority figure kept on giving me things to do in that room without my headphones.

Mhhm. Mhhm. I see. Thats some valid and thoughtful social comentar- CUTE DOGGIES! But for serious, I remember being told as a kid all the time that "I'm a clever girl (inser raptor noises) I just need to try harder". And I was gettin extra frustrated because I was pretty sure I was already doing my best, if not my 100% then at least 95% or something and how much this 5% would change? Seriously, nobody can expect anybody to work at full nitro speed all the time. 100% is for special occasions like a serious dedline or an emergency, not for day-to-day life.

I’ve been told this so many times, even by other disabled people. I wish people would just accept that there are things we can’t do, and that they didn’t pretend to understand our bodies better than we do.

That talk about people not believing you when you say you hit your limit really hit close to home for me atm. For the most part I am able bodied, but work has been pushing me to the point where I am getting concerned about permanent damage damage. I told my supervisor multiple times about this, but he ignored it or didn't realize how bad it was and kept putting me in compromising conditions. I had to go to my manager multiple times before I finally got lighter work. And it also took one person quiting to do it. Needless to say I am going to looking for a new job too.

This isn't even good work out behavior for able bodied people. When someone asks for a spot, they need help immediately.

I love your videos! I'm playing a cyborg/amputee in a spelljammer game, I worked with the DM and turned his barbarian class into more of a boost/battery system. When he's 'raging' it's more like he's putting his system into overdrive, the rage mechanics and limitations work pretty well for him. Last game ended on the first time I've run out of overdrive (we started at lvl 5) and he's earned a reputation for hitting like a mac-truck so it'll be interesting to see how the rest of the team handles him now he's hit his limit.

Yeah I’ve had to deal with this stuff my whole life. I was born with cerebral palsy and people have always told me “maybe you could walk if you tried harder”, but I usually heard it after my condition has inconvenienced them in some way. It never came up as motivation to play football (not soccer) or anything like that

This really puts this episode in a new perspective. This was actually one of my favorite episodes of the show growing up. I love the critical input you’ve put in this episode though. You made it a whole lot more interesting. Putting Cyborg in a disabled position(which he is) but actually applying it to his character and seeing how he overcomes his obstacles in his own way would make him that much better of a character.

I'm very thankful for this video making me confront this episode again, i remember that when i was younger i really liked it and found it inspirational, despite how i also always got extremelly frustrated when i said i couldn't do something and was only told to try harder..... i think i ended up internalizing that idea, moved my frustration to blaming myself for not managing to try hard enough, it has taken quite a few years of therapy to un-do that mentality the fact that this is one of the only teen titan episodes i clearly remember from my childhood maybe says something about how long it took me to look into what could be making me sleep so damn much no matter how hard i tried not to (now, even with a narcolepsy diagnosis and taking medicine, my dad still acts like im just not trying hard enough to work around my literal chronic condition. thanks dad) cyborg being physically strong and a tank (in the tactical sense) is more than fine since that's also part of his canon characterization, but really an episode like that just fully brushing aside his intelligence only to force him to push himself physically also strikes me as particularly antiblack, especially considering the reality of how young black athletes are treated irl (F.D. Signifier has a great video about that). like, even though cyborg pushing past the 100% could technically be possible if he experienced hysterical strength (not unlikely especially if his friends' lives were at risk), it would still not negate how his limits are extremelly important!!!!! me managing to graduate while unmedicated and sleeping 12+ hours a day (and extremely sleepy to the point i didnt have the energy to do things i enjoyed when was awake) doesn't mean i should just expect having to push myself like that ever again. cyborg reaching that 130% this one time doesn't negate the previous 100% cap, it was a very specific circumstance with specific risks and fears that made it possible, not just "putting his mind to it"

Hey, have you seen epithet erased? Because I’d like to hear your thoughts on the character Mera and her disability

there a show call Maya & Miguel that dose representation, and there with the episodes "When Maya Met Andy" about a one arm boy, this came out in the same year as ""Only Human" so is just the writer that failed in telling a good story.

Now I’m curious about your thoughts on other episodes like when Cyborg infiltrates the villain school and has some dysmorphia about appearing not disabled, or the episode when he was in a garbage pit and a dude almost made him fully robot. Or maybe just your favorite episodes in general

Oh thank GOD I thought I'd never find someone else who agreed on this!!! It was just so frustrating as a kid being really upset by this episode and seeing everyone else around me say it was so inspirational and feeling like.. literally not human for being sad. Because Cyborg says it's the human part of him that lets him break the physical limits of his body. It's just really not a good lesson to teach kids, sometimes you just literally cannot "do whatever you put your dreams to", especially when it involves physical things that, yknow, you can just be unable to do because of no fault of your own. This episode sucks so much because Cyborg is one of the most direct metaphors for a disabled person you could ever get, he's literally got prosthetics for over half of his entire body! Pushing your prosthetics too hard doesn't make you a big hero who'll realise your limits were higher than you thought, it'll just break either the prosthetic or the goddamn arm connected to it, and you'll be hurting even more than usual. And it fucking sucks that this kind of message gets pushed on disabled people just because abled people can't imagine the idea of not being able to.. what, just weightlift yourself back to having non robotic legs? Heroic willpower can't fix a physical disability, you can't mentally wish hard enough to make an injury cease to exist. And it hurts so much than an episode I thought was gonna be a good message about this instead has him indeed magically somehow mentally willing his goddamn nonexistent legs and arms to.. mechanise.. better?? What?? Seriously it literally is not in the person's control how well their prosthetic works, it's a goddamn machine! Can you wish a computer to upgrade it's graphics card just cos you really want it?? And this terrible message was ingrained into me as a kid even long before I became disabled, I felt the pressure applied to so many other things too. It made me hate myself for not succeeding at any task on the first try, and made me give up immediately. Because of the idea that just TRYING HARD can make you master anything instantly and you must just be weak and useless if it doesn't work. I didn't know that the reason other people seemed to be surpassing my limits is that any skill needs to be LEARNED and you expand those limits gradually with more practise. Cos of so many messages that ~just believing in yourself~ made you instantly succeed, and anyone who didn't is a stupid wimp. It sucks that this message that's supposed to raise a kid's self confidence has become so warped that it does the exact opposite... I wish a show would finally someday subvert this message and show a character as good for respecting the limits of their physical sickness, or them suffering negative consequences from ignoring them. I thought my hero academia was gonna do something like that with Deku breaking his arms every time he overuses his power, bit in practise it's just everyone warning him that next time he does it he won't be able to heal and then he just does it again anyway and there's still no consequences. Just a way to create artificial stakes for a fight, instead of an actual good message.. just a series where a guy repeatedly hurts himself and gets nothing but rewarded for it.. gahh..

I have an idea about how this episode could've been better (Know that I'm not disabled aside from needing glasses so take my idea with a grain of salt) So this episode begins with training so cyborgs friends pressure him into giving more than what he can take I'm thinking cyborg pushes himself more and seriously injures himself his teammates try to cheer him up due to their guilt but he wants to be left alone so he plays his game When the villain comes the team fights till their breaking points making them vulnerable and cyborg can do little to help he tries to make a plan for them but the team doesn't listen leading to the robot capturing them cyborg has to wait for his body to heal but in the meantime he plans and builds then faces off against the villain and wins the team apologize to him and Robin promises not to push him nor themselves to a breaking point to really hammer it into the kids that that was wrong

I'll say this to the Teen Titans. As teenage superheroes, they're far more mature and professional than the Guardians of the Globe in Invincible.

My gym friend trying to teach me how to do my first bench press. My arms are noodles, so I was afraid to even un-rack the bar even though he was spotting me. I un-rack the bar get the bar down to my chest and get it up two inches before calling it. I panicked when I wasn’t getting the bar up fast enough 😅

This video always confused me, I’m really glad you talked about it. It reminds me of the old adage I always heard from adults, “you’re so smart, you just have to apply yourself!” It’s so frustrating to hear hear things like that. I really struggled with timed math quizzes and it really affected my grade, and my parents thought I just wasn’t trying hard enough. I made myself practice (probably even more than most kids would in my grade), and that got me to a point of just barely passing. Years later, I’m now pretty sure I have dyscalculia. As a kid, I was told I wasn’t trying hard enough even though I knew I was doing the best I could and pushing myself as much as I could. It’s rough when everyone else treats you like your best isn’t good enough, and they don’t believe you when you are trying your best.

"You can do anything if you put your mind to it" can work perfectly well if you interpret it as "figure it out" rather than "just willpower your way through it." But they NEVER do that. Cyborg could have "put his mind to it" by modifying his prosthetics, hunting for some new technobabble power source, or as you mentioned, taking the role of planner rather than tank. He could have explored flexibility rather than just... doing the same thing but MORE. It's such a bad lesson even for abled kids. When you realize something is impossible but it still MUST be done, you have to focus on alternate ways to get to the goal, not focus harder on one faulty means of getting to that goal. (And "get someone else's help" is a supremely valid alternate means.)

3:17 I know what you mean. I overheat really easily. And when I say that, that includes exercising too much. And when I overheat, I get seizures.

I think the worst part is you can just imagine a better plot than this so easily-Starfire is so obviously an autism/aspergers caricature that using that as a point of relation between her and Cyborg seems OBVIOUS. Like imagine if after the weight scene Starfire was the only one who hounded him afterwards and he ended up yelling at her to leave, thus causing her to cry and run away. Cyborg feels bad about this and goes to apologize, and she tells him that she really didn't know that he wanted to be alone and was trying to be his friend and help him. He then connects himself expecting her to automatically know his wants/needs without being told to them pushing him to lift a weight he couldn't carry. They could then reach some solidarity on this, both having disabilities and limits that aren't understood by the rest of the team. Even if they can't 100% relate to each others' struggles, they realize they're alike in more ways than they realized. See!? The mental/physical disability solidarity is so obvious yet the writers didn't even see the possibility!

I have a few questions and my interpretations about the episodes mentioned in the video, but I doubt they're valid since I cannot relate to the topics or concepts behind them. Thank you again for making another video. I always appreciate and learn from your content. Hope to hear more stuff from you soon.

They are so adorable, I didn't knew you had 2 dogs. What breed is the small one?

This hits hard because my father is an asshole and its so hard to stand up against him because he's also disabled. I have chronic joint pain as well as chronic fatigue due to having long covid, father has a ton of eye issues most of which stems from his retina detatching. He has so often given me shit when I complain about how tired and sleepy I am or that I'm too tired to leave the house (or sometimes even when I'm in pain). He says that I just need to get over the mental aspect of it because he has insane willpower bordering on selfharm, he works himself to the brink and does so much despite the migraines and other issues his eyes give him, he has resisted drug addiction by pure will power. So its so hard to stand up when I'm at my limit because he is disabled like me and does so much more so if I don't do the same I'm called weakwilled or lazy.

I never really thought of these Cyborg episodes like this, so it makes me wonder. But one positive, I think, of the Atlas vs Cyborg episode was Robin convincing the Mechanic to ditch Atlas. His pep talk about how Atlas bullies the Mechanic into doing his bidding, how the Mechanic held all the power without even realizing it, holds true for bullying. It's a tangent to the video, I know, but worth pointing out. It quasi-redeems Robin, and it teaches how leaving a toxic relationship requires a network of friends. So yeah, not much to add for the disability representation. Still great to hear more about it when I can't really relate.

Gosh i relate to this so much. I got chronic stomach problems that appeared a few years ago, and my parents can be dismissive of my pain that im in sometimes. I'm gonna show this video to them to try to understand a bit better.

This was an eye opener. 1st time I saw this one, I really liked it as an episode. Never noticed the harmful implications behind using Cyborg for a "never give up" message.

Nimona next, please if you find it any good! Lots of themes I think you’d enjoy discussing or even just experiencing!

I personally wasn't a Teen Titans kid, even though I'm the right age to have been one, but I do have an outsider, able-bodied anecdote on people's limits and not pushing them. I occasionally (weekly or bi-weekly basis, sometimes several times a day, depends a bit) work with disabled or injured people in customer situations. Ideally the customer walks in this situation (about five steps or so). If someone comes up with a cane or in a wheel-chair or with some other walking aid, I always ask, can they walk without the aid for the bit. If not, we do a work around. It isn't hard to do that, just a bit more time consuming for both me and the customer, as well as the customer's assistant if someone's pushing the wheelchair. I always feel good (and also somewhat baffled) if these people go out of their way to thank me profusely for not making them get up. Are people really asking them to do that? I had, like, a very quick online slide show course (maybe 15 minutes max?) on what to do in these customer situations and it's really not skin off my back to do any of the work around methods. I would prefer not to do them more than twice in a row immediately because it does get tiring but that happens rarely, and there's usually a colleague I can switch off with when it does happen. However, sometimes some customers do push themselves, either because of a misunderstanding like language barrier (I ask which language of the ones I know I should use, and use miming to help if necessary) or because it's and injury or a sickness (I guess, based on the situation) that's the reason for the mobility aid. Those times I'm always "oh no, why did they get up, what if something happens, what do I do?" Because it's easier to do the work around immediately than switch to it in the middle, and at least I usually feel the need to communicate with a colleague on what to do, and that prolongs the situation, as well as the inconvenience the customer is experiencing. Those are stressful, I always prefer people acknowledging their limits (even if they're misunderstanding and thinking I'm making demands instead of asking their current level of ability to do something) and telling them to me in a situation that requires me to know it. Makes it easier for both them and me and lessens chances of something bad happening. Just, everyone, please know your limits and tell the people around you if they need to know.

The comment about children needing actionable advice instead of just being told try harder reminds me of how Sesame Streets new motto is "I Wonder, What If, Let's Try!" versus how when I was a kid it was just try the same stuff but harder... I really am happy that it teaches stopping, thinking of solutions, and then trying new things instead of just do it again but better. I mean sadly it doesn't teach the problem solving of, "No you see you did do it fundamentally correct the first time and it could have worked, but you just need to try it again but a tiny bit different."

When I was little I would push myself allot. I was a tomboy and didn't want the boys to see me as less than them. I got hurt allot. On the plus side I learned my limits. My daughter is autistic and stiff joints. Her dad wanted to push her to hard. I wouldn't let him. She finally learned to walk on her own at 2yr 7months. She 9 and running jumping and having fun.

yeahh... sometimes (all the time) i feel like i'm just giving up early on everything, be it physical or mental with focusing on stuff bc i don't want to do it... and I always feel like a really bad person because of it. When I went to Disney with the band, i brought my wheelchair because I knew that the long walking-heavy days were hard on my legs and feet, even though they are for everyone. I can walk reliably, but standing and walking for long periods of time can take a really big toll on my energy and I knew that this would take away from my experience. (I'm beginning to think that it's keeping my balance for a long time that's the problem). My parents said the plan was to take it with us and just roll it along until I need it, but I ended up using it for most of the time partly because it took less energy than walking/standing and partly because wheeling it in front of me was annoying and took up even more energy. I still feel kinda weird about it, but for the most part it helped alot. I even remember getting back to the hotel every night and watching my friend (who had refused to drink water or take breaks even though I told her to) be clearly out of it after walking. I felt really bad that everyone around me was really tired when i was, for the most part, fine. Plus, now that I have TRAUMA from pushing myself too far one time, I tend to tap out, even if temporary, as an immediate reaction to feeling like i did when the thing happened, but afterwards i feel weak and lazy for "not trying hard enough". sorry for venting, i guess i just want to find someone who feels the way I do and maybe get some help

My mother in law needs to watch this video. Amongst other things, we were trying to explain Spoon Theory to her. And her response could be summed up as, "I think everyone is like that, you just have to push through and do it anyway!" 🙃

Giving 110% at work is why I have injured a ton of joints and tendons in my body dispite not having any diseases affecting my connective tissues. Also I have fibromyalgia which might have be subverted if I lowered my exertion during a three month bout of bronchitis.

First time subscriber, i love how you explain your perspective and whatnot about this episode. The thing about Cyborg is that he’s just as smart as he is strong, and he’s written as either/or instead of both, I notice. Teen Titans is a good show, but it’s imperfect.