I was totally in love with the plot and characters. Everything about TLOK (The Legend of Korra) was captivating from the animation to the storyline.

Season/Book 4: Balance is the fourth and final season of the animated television series The Legend of Korra and follows Avatar Korra after her traumatizing fight with an Airbender who poisoned and paralyzed her from the waist down. Although she survived the fight and locked the villain up to save the world again, she now faces the physical and mental challenges that come with her triumph. Through this journey, she experiences pain, healing, and once again fights to restore balance and peace in the world of the four nations as the Avatar, master of all four elements: Earth, Water, Wind, and Fire.

Violence trigger warning: Mild. But since it is an animated series geared towards a younger audience, I would rate this as Moderate for younger audiences. There are no gruesome scenes or deaths.

Anime, all-aged fantasy, comedy

Dark, suspenseful, healing, comedic, enlightening

9/10; Easy to follow.

Korra as the Avatar is battling her inner struggles and her recovery process to be mentally and physically well again in order to bring peace and harmony to the world. If you have watched the three previous books or seasons plus “Avatar: The Last Airbender” tv series, then it should be easy to follow as the Korra series takes place into the future after Ang in the “Avatar” series defeats the Fire Lord.

8/10; Korra went through so much as the Avatar, and it showed her raw emotions and the wounds she experienced as she tries to recover and heal. It still is an animation geared towards a young audience so they did not mention mental health themes explicitly; however, we as mental health advocates can see it in the series.

100000/10; Since the original “Avatar,” I’ve always been a fan of this series, but now having Korra as the new Avatar, who is a woman and both mentally and physically very strong, it really drew me to the plot and the characters - this show has it all! The series makes you laugh a ton, cry, and think about real world issues like systems of power and how we interact with our ecological environment. The Legend of Korra (TLOK) has taught me so many life lessons that I carry to this day as a young adult.

Depression - Korra’s struggle at the beginning of the show due to her being injured and paralyzed leads her to not wanting to try and do physical therapy. Her mother states she is barely eating and sleeping. The expression on her face seems tired with droopy sad eyes.

Trauma - Korra’s fight with Zaheer (her adversary) was traumatizing for her because she was poisoned by him, and after being revived, she was left unable to walk afterwards. Because she felt helpless and powerless through the poisoning, it negatively impacted her mental health. This trauma followed her physically and mentally as she began her journey of healing.

Denial - Korra blames herself for what happened and is in a state of deep fear and denial of the trauma she has experienced. Her denial causes her from receiving the help she needs, and she puts herself in dangerous situations where she gets further injured.

Acceptance - Eventually, Korra is able to self-reflect and accept the trauma and fears she experienced and begin to move forward with her healing. She also acknowledges that though she’s the Avatar, she is still human.

Korra’s overall impact on me is definitely a 10/10. Korra’s impact was positive because her character was relatable in many ways. Although she was an animated character, I felt close to her because of her vulnerability, her strength to overcome her trauma and her strong/fierce personality. Her experience was so relatable because it reminded me that she’s also still young and fragile. Given her immense power, she can still get seriously injured, and how the injuries took a toll on her mental health.

I think the rawness and real portrayal of trauma and the effects it has on one's mental health is what I resonated with the most. The main takeaway I have from this series is to live life to the fullest but find love, happiness, and healing in my community and self. Reach out for help and do not fight your own battles because there are people who care and want to love/support you.

9/10; I think the overall production was executed well. As a hopeless romantic, I would have loved to see Korra with someone. But this does highlight her strength as a character and as a woman who does not need a partner to be happy.

I did not see any in the series.

The scene where we see Korra competing in an underground fight with an earth bender, and she looks defeated, sad, and frustrated as she gets beaten.

Korra’s talk with Katara, her teacher. There was a sense of healing, and how she sought guidance and comfort from her elders.

When Korra faces Zaheer, her adversary.

The ending episode when Tenzin tells Korra she has done more in a few years than any other Avatar in their lifetime.

The season of TLOK relates to me in many ways. The first being how Korra experienced physical trauma by being poisoned and thus, experiencing a sense of loss or depression after it. I have experienced something similar and this raw experience and her journey trying to heal and protect herself and her community again are what I resonated with the most.

No.

I felt surprisingly satisfied after watching this movie. While the movie does have to deal with sexual assault, suicide and depression, they do a good job with the cinematography to minimize the exposure to the audience and end on a hopeful scene for the main character’s future.

Charlie starts high school the summer after his friend dies by suicide and makes a new group of friends that help lift him out of his shyness and depression.

Suicide – moderate, method of suicide discussed/lack of note mentioned.

Self-Harm – mild, shows a brief shot of a character’s wrists.

Sexual Assault – mild, briefly mentions but doesn’t go into details.

Coming - of - Age

Hopeful, sorrowful, uplifting

7/10 - the viewer can usually understand what’s happening though they cut between flashbacks and reality and the timeline in not chronological, so you have to pay attention to understand when in time the events happened to realize their impact on the character.

8/10 - I would say this movie somewhat accurately displayed his depression following his friend’s suicide and how it caused him to retract from others due to his own regrets and trauma. Additionally, I think they realistically portrayed the effects of his own abuse without showing anything graphic and were able to portray how friends and therapists were able to help him when he was at his darkest.

9/10 - Although the movie deals with hard topics, it shows the budding friendship and has some lighter, more humorous moments. Overall, it ends on a hopeful note that makes the viewer feel relieved to know Charlie will be ok even after everything he’s been through.

Depression, friendship, grief

7/10 - Positive impact, we see how Charlie overcame his depression and sexual abuse through his friends and support of his family and therapist and that no matter what happens to you, there are always people there to support you.

I really liked how they didn’t graphically show any of the suicide or sexual abuse scenes and just used fuzzy images. Additionally, I liked how throughout the film, even when he was depressed, the viewer always felt hopeful for his future and knew that he would pull through and have his happy ending.

8/10

I believe they portrayed mental health accurately as people battle through depression at school all the time and “seem normal”. Perhaps they could’ve lengthened the timeline of his recovery as it seems like he got better pretty quickly after his time in the hospital and seeing his friends come back.

“We are infinite.”

“We accept the love we think we deserve.”

“Enjoy it. Because it's happening.”

My friends have had struggles with suicidal ideation and while the movie doesn’t glamorize it, it leaves Charlie on a very happy, fulfilled note full on hope which is not everyone’s experiences with depression or having a loved one die by suicide. However, the hope at the end could be a sign to someone with depression that life gets better and to live in the moment.

The guidelines below are adapted from Action Alliance’s National Recommendations for Depicting Suicide list). Research has shown that fictional portrayals of suicide can sometimes lead to increases in suicidal behavior or can help save lives if these established recommendations are followed.

Safe Messaging on Suicide Guidelines Checklist

I feel understood. WandaVision was such an authentic portrayal of grief, and as a lover of stories, I appreciated WandaVision showing how stories can both be an escape and an exploration of harsh reality. I like that Wanda’s response to her grief was messy. She hurt people (which is a massive understatement) while she hurt, she refused to let others get through to her, yet the story never condemned her for these imperfect but human reactions.

WandaVision takes place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and after the Phase III finale, Avengers: Endgame. The story presents a mystery as we are left to fill in the gaps of what happened to Wanda after Infinity War/Endgame. Beyond this sitcomesque world, what is Wanda hiding?

There is minor violence and very light sexually suggestive content, but as far as triggering or inaccessible content, there is very little in WandaVision that contains “traditionally” triggering content such as graphic violence.

I would categorize WandaVision as being a comedy and most importantly, a sitcom. It is also a superhero and sci-fi TV show with hints of fantasy as well.

Eclectic, black-and-white, colorful, humorous, poignant

There are 2 answers for this. If you have watched the other MCU movies, particularly Infinity War and Endgame, you should be able to follow the story easily (8). However, if you have NEVER watched a single MCU film, it would be roughly a 5 or 6. While the plot may be more difficult to follow, the series is enjoyable in its own right.

In terms of accuracy and realism according to my own very limited experiences, I would mark WandaVision at least at an 8. Wanda having the ability to make reality bend to her will is obviously something people don’t have and is a limitation I had to learn I didn’t have, but WandaVision’s lack of real world accuracy allows it to explore scenarios and fantasies I often thought about when feeling depressed.

9/10. The show exploring different sitcom eras in several episodes made for great and downright nostalgic television. The family dynamic between Wanda, Vision, and their children was phenomenal. It was heartwarming, heart wrenching, and downright hilarious.

The main themes of WandaVision are overcoming grief and finding the power to overcome suffering within yourself. It also touches on the trauma of surviving violent conflict and a traumatic childhood.

10. Wanda was such a powerful role model to me. Her strength, courage, and love for her family are such admirable traits that I want to emulate in my own life.

Wanda showed me that grief is an inevitable part of life and that the only thing more powerful than the suffering we endure in life is our potential to grow and overcome that suffering. Even with her ability to warp reality and bend the world to her will, she still couldn’t escape the pain she felt inside. She also gave me empathy for others by showing me that even those who externalize their pain often do so unknowingly and meeting a person’s pain and their lashing out with compassion can make all the difference.

8/10. I think the show set out to do exactly what it wanted, although I feel the themes are weakened by implying Vision could come back.

While it isn’t for certain, some of the themes of the show were undercut by the implication that Vision could come back in the future. Moving on means knowing something you lost cannot come back, this is by far my biggest issue.

“But what is grief, if not love persevering”

“You are my sadness and hope. But mostly you’re my love”

No.