The world is a bit rubbish, isn’t it? For queer people and minorities, rampant bigotry and a lack of rights freely afforded to so many others can make the act of merely existing an exercise in exhaustion. So we often turn to the media as a form of solace, a way to see ourselves in games, films, animation, and literature that reflect the real world in a number of ways, but do away with the trauma we often associate with it.

Many fictional stories aim to express the hardship of queer experiences by mixing it in with joy to show that pleasure comes from perseverance. It’s a realistic interpretation I can respect, yet it’s also one that requires emotional investment. Sometimes I just want to sit back and watch LGBTQ+ people be happy, never judged by the societal norms we’ve become so regrettably accustomed to.

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Dana Terrace’s The Owl House perfects this outlook, presenting a fictional universe where a cast of queer characters learn to love themselves without the fear of ridicule. The show has lesbian characters, bisexual characters, non-binary characters, and they all just exist. It’s who they are, and while there are parallels to real world stigmas on The Boiling Isles, they are never viewed through the lens of traditional prejudice. It’s an element of normalcy, an accepted part of this fantasy world.

The Owl House
Credit: Disney

Some might decry a landmark show like this deciding against making explicit mentions of homophobia or transphobia, but I think it’s the ideal way of introducing a young audience to the concept of queerness without overwhelming them with the issues that sadly arise in the face of accepting these identities. Steven Universe and She-Ra and The Princesses of Power take a similar approach, prominently featuring queer characters who seldom stopped to address the audience directly about the struggles of being queer. People just embrace who they are and love one another regardless of gender, and it’s the most normal thing in the world.

I wrote about Amity Blight’s necessary queer rebellion a little while ago - her lesbian identity plays into this character arc, but never in a way that is explicitly homophobic. Her mother is aware of her connection with Luz Noceda, and seemingly wants to use that relationship, romantic or otherwise, as a vice to hold her daughter captive. It doesn’t work, love winning over in the end as Amity betrays the wishes of her oppressive mother and embraces her identity. Being gay or having feelings towards Luz aren’t mentioned in this episode, but they don’t need to be - her actions do all of the talking and viewers are smart enough to interpret that in the correct way. On top of that, “Stay away from my Luz” is a piece of dialogue that can only be interpreted in a couple of ways. There is no heterosexual explanation for this kind of thing, whether you like it or not.

Credit: Disney

Amity Blight then grows into a confident teenager who dyes her hair and finally confesses her love to Luz, two subsequent acts of fighting back against authority and the familial barriers that seek to stifle her true identity. Labels don’t need to be placed on these experiences like they do in reality, since The Owl House makes an effort to paint them as regular occurrences. Coming out of the closet, dealing with homophobia, and understanding your own feelings are all seen in the show, but through abstract expressions of the ideas that don’t want to remind viewers of real world struggles. It wants to show a world where these problems are a distant memory, where love is love and that’s all that matters.

I’m so accustomed to queer media that explores the nature of accepting one’s identity or coming out only for credits to roll as this journey of discovery is about to become something more. We often see the kiss or the confession and fanfiction has to tell us the rest of the story, which is likely the product of corporations only granting us a sliver of representation as opposed to creators themselves leaving us high and dry. For one of the first times ever, The Owl House is challenging this, and I adore the crew for fighting tooth and nail for something so progressive and forward thinking, especially with a company like Disney that is often too happy with subtext instead of doubling down on the gays.

The Owl House
Credit: Disney

Luz Noceda and Amity Blight are girlfriends now, and we haven’t even hit the halfway mark of the second season. While we aren’t getting a full third one, there is now so much room for romantic development and the exploration of a queer relationship that can be happy, sad, beautiful, and educational for both characters as they experience what it’s like to share their life with someone else. The best part is that all of it will be told without the threat of bigotry. I wouldn’t be surprised if Amity and Luz face some opposition at school, and they’ll likely need to establish themselves as a couple to supporting characters - but this can all be done with tact. Given the show’s track record so far, I expect it will be.

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