Take A Look at Disney

6/21/21

A Look at Disney’s LGBTQ Characters: Luz & Amity (The Owl House)

 

 

 

 

This entry means a lot to me,  The Owl House is one of my favorite shows and a big part of it is that yes I am a Lumity shipper.   That is the ship name for Luz and Amity, however, there is more to it than that.  I wish to take you back to when the trailer for the rest of the season was released.

There was one shot in particular that caught many fans’ eyes and that was an interaction between Luz and Amity and that caused mad speculation that they would become a couple. That has not happened yet and I am okay with that because the last thing I’d want the show to do is to rush the relationship.  Leave that to fan artists and the Lumity subreddit.   Now looking at Luz Noceda first, she is a character that very much makes me feel seen.  She’s bisexual like me, she’s neurodivergent like me and she loves witches like me.  That just makes me so happy and there were hints of Luz’s bisexuality along before Dana Terrace confirmed it.  And there is the fact that she refers to having a crush on education and uses her.  This line from Adventures in the Elements is important in establishing Luz as bi.

 

I’ve got a new crush and her name is education

 

 

 

Now, I wish to hone in on the neurodivergent thing, a recent-ish article that I’ve shared a lot talks of how autistic people are more likely to identify as Lesbian, Gay, or Bi. 

 

Justin says that understanding and accepting his autism made it easier to understand and accept his sexuality, and vice versa. Autistic people and LGBTQ people often face negative stereotypes, discrimination, and pressure to conform or “pass for ‘normal,’” he says. “The intersection between being queer and being autistic is that we don’t want to be altered. We don’t want to be cured of who we are. Our worth doesn’t derive from seeming ‘normal.’”

As we can see from this one excerpt,  this is important and makes accepting oneself a bit easier.  The use of the word normal is interesting in this aspect as it also applies perfectly to Luz when looking at the first episode of the series as she is eccentric and doesn’t fit in the human world with the people at her school.  We can also see this when her mom wants to send her off to camp.  It’s not that her mom doesn’t love her but rather has a hard time understanding her and just wants the best for her daughter.  The description of her personality on The Owl House Wiki is also a good indicator of what so many autistic/neurodivergent and LGBTQ people feel.

 

Luz is kind-hearted, outgoing, eccentric, geeky, and eager to find her place in the world and be accepted for who she feels she truly is

 

 

Being accepted is something that so many people want and fear and that is tied into the fear of coming out in this aspect in my opinion.  I’ve shared my story before but I came out as bi to my mom when we went to see Love, Simon.  All week leading up to that, I was a nervous wreck fearing the worst and that she wouldn’t understand.  In reality, it went okay, not great but I know so many others that have had it worst than I did.   This is an area where so many people don’t understand that coming out to a lot of people is important and can crush someone if they think you are mocking them.

 

Another interesting aspect that I saw brought up regarding Luz being bi is how after meeting the Blight twins, she blushes towards both.  And this brings us to Mittens aka Amity, their younger sister.  There are two videos that I need you to watch to understand why I love Amity so much.  The first is a fan animatic set to the song, “Little Miss Perfect”

 

 

I  mentioned the Lumity fan community up top and this song is the biggest thing to come from the Lumity fandom to the point that it has been adopted as the Lumity anthem.  It’s also what made me re-evaluate Amity because at first, I thought she was just another bully but no, this song made me rethink her as a character and realize that there is so much more to her.  The other one is just cute,  it’s Amity being a gay disaster for two minutes.

 

This video is adorable as it shows all of Amity’s gay moments and how flustered you can get around your crush.  My favorite part is the I Gotta Go part.  Now,  I want to work backward here a bit and head talk about the episode, Enchanting Grom Fight that came before where Amity got all flustered there.

 

Grom is a monster that lives under The Boliing Isles and every year, a student from Hexside, a cooler Hogwarts because it doesn’t discriminate is picked to fight it.  And in this episode, Amity is picked.  Grom takes on a person’s greatest fear.  And for Amity, it’s a fear of rejection.

 

 

This is the part that gets me as the Grom monster seems to take a darker form of Luz and rips up a note that Luz had earlier in the episode. It’s revealed at the end of the episode, that Amity was so protective of it because she was going to ask Luz to be her date to Grom.

 

Something I appreciate is that in a recent interview with YouTuber Rebecca Rose, Dana Terrace said that while she didn’t intend for the scene of Amity facing Grom to be the fear of being outed,  she told fans that read the scene that way as valid. For so many people in the LGBTQ community, that is a real fear as it takes away the power of something that should belong to them.  

 

The act of outing someone is detrimental because it is a violation of their privacy. Often people who are outed feel blindsided and forced to reveal a deeply personal part of their identity without their consent and under someone else’s terms. Coming out is a process and can be a difficult time for someone because of discrimination, homophobia, or potential marginalization from their families and community at large. People must choose for themselves how and when to come out.

 

I applaud a creator that is willing to accept a new reading of a scene from her fans and not get defensive about it.  There is something else that needs to be looked at in regards to this episode and it might be one of the biggest things to come from this show.

 

 

 

This dance is amazing and easily the Adora/Catra from Princess Prom.  It’s just a lot of wow and I love it.  This is really what pushed a lot of the Lumity shippers over the edge.  The She-Ra comparison is quite apt because, in that same interview with Rebecca Rose, Terrace revealed that she wanted The Boiling Isles to be free of homophobia and transphobia.  There is a sense of that as in the episode, Understanding Willow, we learn from photos of Willow’s memory that she has two dads.

 

 

Having said all that, I do believe other forms of prejudice exist in The Boiling Isles as we saw Amity’s parents force her to stop being friends with Willow at a young age.

 

You’ll also notice here that Amity’s hair is brown and that is her natural hair color.  Amity’s mom, Odalia likes conformity and makes Amity dye her hair.  This is a much better example of what, Zombies attempted to do with a wig.  It feels more earned and natural and while I believe what Dana Terrace has said, this I think can be read as to how gay people are forced to hide themselves.  This UK article highlights an important part of that.  

 

One big surprise (to straight people at least) is that over two thirds of LGBT people avoid holding hands in public. A simple expression of love and belonging is abandoned to save hassle and dodge confrontation

 

This is the sad reality for so many people that are a part of this community. Often straight people ignorantly claim that gay people or taking over or ruin an important moment by saying they don’t care in a voice full of condescension.  The former part is true, they don’t because they don’t understand.  And it should not be on members of this community to educate them. Google’s free.  Sorry, sorry but I’ve seen that enough times that it bugs me.

Returning to the point that I was trying to make but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blights were prejudiced against Luz for being a human.  I don’t have a lot else to say here other than I love these two and can’t wait to see where season 2 takes them.  Join me next time as we look at Penumbra from the DuckTales reboot.

 

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