Why Lumity (Luz And Amity From 'The Owl House') Is important To Representation In Animation
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The Owl House’s creator, Dana Terrace, absolutely packed the show with LGBTQIA+ representation. There is a bisexual character (Luz), a lesbian character (Amity), a nonbinary character (Raine), and an asexual character (Lillith). Willow has two dads. Eda dated Raine. But, most importantly, Luz and Amity became a couple with the couple name Lumity.
For those who have not seen the show, it centers on Luz. She is a human girl of Dominican descent who accidentally crosses over into the Demon Realm. In the Demon Realm, witches are real. Luz has always wanted to be a witch like in her favorite book, The Good Witch Azura. Since she can’t find her way home, Luz is adopted by Eda, the Owl Lady, who promises to teach Luz how to be a witch.
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In the Demon Realm, Luz lives her life as a typical teenager. Or as typical as a teenager can be who is tasked with saving the world. She has friends like Gus and Willow. She has mean-girl type enemies. And Amity starts off as a frenemy. Luz has to navigate a magic high school and do chores like any other teen.
There are two basic reasons why The Owl House excels at LGBTQIA+ representation. The first is what was mentioned earlier that there is a lot of representation in it. This is a show designed for, and marketed to, kids and teenagers. It aired on Disney Channel. It is certainly the queerest show in the Disney catalogue. It catches the audience at an age where many of them are questioning their own sexual and gender identities. It tells those audience members that their questioning is okay. It tells them that it’s good to be who you are.
The other reason the representation in The Owl House is so good is because it happens naturally. It’s an organic part of the show. It never feels forced. It doesn’t feel like Terrace and the writers are pushing an agenda. It just feels like this is who these characters are. Everyone just refers to Raine with they/them. There’s no fuss about it.
This can be most easily seen through Lumity. Luz and Amity don’t start as a couple, nor do they just fall into it. Their relationship starts as a crush. It’s presented in such a way that anyone who has ever had a crush can relate to. It features nervousness, awkwardness, and lots of stammering and blushing. Again, no one in the show makes a big deal out of it. It’s a schoolgirl crush. There’s no flashing light reminding us that they’re both girls. They happen to like each other. That’s it.
Even one of the main antagonists of the show, Amity’s mother Odalia, reinforces how normal the relationship is. When Amity tells her mom about the relationship, her mom says that Amity will have to find another girlfriend. Odalia doesn’t like Luz, but not because Luz is a girl. She just wants someone else for her daughter. The fact that Amity is a lesbian doesn’t phase Odalia at all.
Image Source: Geeks and Gamers
As the relationship progresses, it continues in the same way. It’s not like a made for TV relationship. They don’t just jump into a physical relationship. The aren’t saying “I love you” after the first date. It’s just a normal relationship. It feels real and the emotional payoff is earned. When the time is right, they start holding hands. Then there’s a kiss on the cheek. Then a kiss on the lips. That’s as far as it goes. This is a couple of teens on a cartoon after all.
This isn’t just my opinion. GLAAD, the famous LGBTQIA+ advocacy group, nominated The Owl House for Outstanding Kids & Family Programming, once for each of its three seasons. GLAAD said, “Although bisexual people – who make up the majority of the LGBTQ community – are still widely underrepresented in media, there are several nominees at the 33rd Annual GLAAD Media Awards that continue to move the needle for bisexual representation in media.”
Autostraddle, a site that, “actively work[s] to manifest an explicitly intersectional feminism that centers the freedom and joy of queer, lesbian and bisexual women and all genders of trans and nonbinary people of color as well as people living with disabilities,” has also recognized The Owl House. They nominated it for Outstanding Animated Series in 2020 and Outstanding LGBTQ+ Director / Writer / Showrunner in 2022. Also in 2022, it won the award for Outstanding Animated Series.
All in all, The Owl House just gets representation right. They boldly, and unapologetically, put the LGBTQIA+ representation front and center in the show. However, it is the normality of the relationships that really sells the representation. No one questions who loves whom or why. It is who these people are. That’s it. The show may call the setting the Demon Realm, but it’s a world we should all aspire to be in.
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Sources: IMDb, GLAAD, Autostraddle
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