The Truth About Eda and Disability | The Owl House

The Owl House has great disabled representation, such as Eda with her curse, Hunter with his PTSD, Luz, Eda, and Lilith with their lack of magical abilities, and The Owl House itself after Disney shot it in the foot multiple times.

I love how the owl house portrays Eda. She's introduced as just some quirky old witch but really developed over the series.

Something that stuck with me is how Luz is a physically disabled character in The Boiling Isles.

I love that Eda is not only a mentor, but a character. She has flaws, and gets to develop through the story. No one has it all figured out, and Eda's story is focused on.

Yikes I never thought about her being called the owl lady instead of her name, probably because she seems so happy about the wanted posters in the first episode

As someone still in the struggles of going from "gifted child" and self sufficient to an adult in their 20's and feeling like a failure due to a now crippling condition that has no cure and chronic pain? I relate so badly. I'd never even noticed these connections before but I'm so glad I found this video as it's so true and just makes me love Eda even more!

As a disabled person I always love it when disabled people get portrayed as heroes and celebrated for their weirdness (for those who are curious my disability prevented me from walking properly but through 2 surgeries and much physiotherapy I can walk normally enough)

This channel is such a gem. I'm a mentally disabled person myself, and you put something I was feeling but couldn't express into words. Thank you.

Kind of in line with what you were saying about the mentor role, what I also love about Eda is how well she's portrayed as an adult. So often in shows that revolve around young protagonists, the adults never really get fleshed out. There's a vague notion that they existed prior to their mentor mantle, but you never really get to see it, and I don't mean in flashbacks. You see in Eda that all of these adults were once the same age as the kid group. They had friends who are still around, they had hobbies that they still reminisce about, they had whole personalities beyond just being a mentor. When we see young Eda, it doesn't feel like you're meeting some new person who grows up to be the Eda we know. Young Eda feels exactly like adult Eda, just with a little bit more wisdom about how the world works. She didn't have a full personality and then suddenly lose it to become An Adult™. Lilith feels like the direct growth of young insecure Lilith. Raine has just as much confident personality as an adult as they did when they were a student. Perhaps it's because I'm well into that age bracket now myself, but it's fascinating and delightful to me to see a show where people don't suddenly stop being themselves upon reaching adulthood. So many of them feel like kids who grew up by just doing the best they could and maybe still don't have everything figured out. And most importantly so many of the adults in this show feel actively engaged in their own lives. They aren't just shuffling off because they're over 30. They're still living in the world too, every bit as much as the kids. I love it. EDIT: Hahahaa, great minds....you spoke a bit to this! :D

This was a really enlightening delve into Eda's character and how she both mixes and subverts tropes. Truly a top shelf video essay if I have ever seen one, great work!

"You are not only enough - you are everything you need to be, and your survival alone is the birth of a rebellion against those systematic lies." Wow. I love all your videos, but I can't tell you how much I needed to hear that. ❤

"it's a part of you that deserves kindness" that hit me out of nowhere, actually started to tear up a bit.

I’m crying. I’ve never felt so seen & understood. Idk why Eda is equated to mental illness b/c it’s so obviously an allegory for physical disability. When you spoke about migraines, IBS, inflammation problems & (insert Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Long Covid etc) disorders that leave doctors befuddled b/c of the myriad of symptoms that can’t be put into one cohesive diagnosis. Doctors that don’t know how to treat the chronic illness (that’s if you can access a specialist). The self hatred and disgust I feel towards myself for being 26, unemployed, University drop out, withdrawing & alienating myself from all friends b/c of intense anxiety about not getting better, not achieving what my peers have. Almost everyone thinks you’re ‘putting it on’ ‘being lazy’ ‘have you gone to the doctor?’ ‘should’ve gotten better by now’ ‘shouldn’t be on all those medications.’. I swear if ONE more doctor ~ advises me~ to reduce your stress immediately! And asks if I’ve tried mindfulness & meditation I’ll do a forced shut down like a windows computer … My face LIT UP when I saw your vid in my notifications 🔔 I did not expect to have this topic fleshed out with such an adult, wise & restful perspective. I think that’s what struck me the most & why I’m crying! Time to rewatch some Eda scenes. Thanks for giving a voice & platform to this topic. It’s not usually interpreted & discussed with the seriousness & dignity it deserves.

Eda is that character where she might not be your #1 favorite, but if you don't like her I'm extremely concerned

I really saw myself in eda as a bisexual chronicly & mentally ill, and physically disabled

As someone who’s got multiple disabilities, most of which are invisible, I LOVE HOW EDA NEVER LET’S HERS GET HER DOWN IN SPITE OF HOW HARD IT IS FOR HER!!

The scene of Eda making peace with the owl beast might be the most personally impactful piece of media I've ever seen. Hearing you put into words exactly why her story resonates with me, and so many others, legitimately had me in tears. Like you said, I'm not used to the topic of chronic disability, let alone invisible ones, being addressed with such respect. Thank you for your amazing work and, just like Eda, spreading the message that we're not alone and deserve to be seen.

I loved Eda's portrayal in The Owl House, and also just in general how adults, teenagers and children are all treated equally as humans. What an incredible show. I hope more shows take inspiration in their treatment of characters, their themes, good representation, etc.

This video had me crying in a good way. Eda reminds me so much of my aunt, both in more surface-level things (she LOVED owls) but also in her chronic illness and social alienation. Thank you so much for this, and keep up the excellent work! :D

Great video, I too am a physically disabled person with an unnamed chronic pain condition that no one's been able to identify. I couldn't put this into words but this meant a lot. Thanks.