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Amity Blight

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Amity Blight
The Owl House character
Amity as she appears in season 1 and the first five episodes of season 2.
First appearance
Last appearance
Created byDana Terrace
Voiced byMae Whitman
In-universe information
SpeciesWitch
GenderFemale
Family
  • Odalia Blight (mother)
  • Alador Blight (father)
  • Edric Blight (older brother)
  • Emira Blight (older sister)
Significant otherLuz Noceda (girlfriend)
HomeBonesborough, Boiling Isles
Abilities
  • Flight (via witch's staff)
  • Magic (via finger-drawn circles)
    • Abomination magic (creating and controlling golem-like constructs)

Amity Blight is a fictional character in the Disney Channel series The Owl House. She is voiced by Mae Whitman.

She has been well received by both critics and fans of the show, who praised her character development and Whitman's performance.

Character

[edit]

Amity Blight is a 14-year-old inhabitant of the Boiling Isles, an archipelago located in the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm is a realm apart from the Human Realm, which can be accessed through the means of portals, or as shown in the series, a magical door. She has very pale, white skin, short hair and an undercut (which she has dyed both light green and purple throughout the series),[1] yellow eyes, and usually wears black, long-sleeved blouse, red wine-colored pants, and black slip-on shoes while she is out of school. While at Hexside, she wears her chosen Track clothes, which include long, pink sleeves and socks, and a black uniform. She has a fighting style some have called "unorthodox".[2] Terrace also said she considered Amity "more of a jock" than having a "punk aesthetic".[3]

Amity undergoes a major character development through the course of the series. She originally starts out as a snobbish student in her first appearance,[4][5] who belittles her peers (like Willow), due to her superior control and overall performance in Abomination magic.[1][6][7] Her grades, coupled with the influence her family has over the school, meant she could be hardly touched by anyone and was beloved by her teachers. However, as the series progressed, it was revealed that Amity was not a standard bully she appeared to be; she has a complex trauma and a case of self-loathing from her toxic upbringing, including emotional abuse from her mother Odalia, emotional neglect from her father Alador, and bullying from her siblings Emira and Edric, despite the latters would later support her. Due to her mother's blackmail and threats towards Willow, she was forced to put on a façade.[8] In episodes from "Lost in Language" to "Understanding Willow", it was evident that Amity's harsh and cruel behavior was merely facade and never wanted to hurt Willow but was forced to do so. She had also pretended to be friends with Boscha and her gang. Amity's desire for real friends and her longing for love and respect were evident throughout the series.[4] Likewise, her enthusiasm for joining the Emperor's Coven was forced upon her by her mother, and she hoped to gain love and respect from her family through it. However, when Luz enters her life, Amity finally begins to come out of the shell that her mother forced her in, and Amity becomes a better person for it,[9][10][11] regaining her friendship with Willow and eventually falling in love with Luz.[1][7][12][13][14] This character shift is given a further visual signifier in the episode "Through the Looking Glass Ruins", when Amity's green hair—the color representative of the façade curated by Odalia—is re-dyed purple as a show of her newfound individuality.[1][15][16][17]

Whitman, Amity's voice actor, described Amity as complex, complicated, with issues, and "dealing with some stuff". She also noted that when Amity was with Luz, Amity tapped into her softer, "more vulnerable side".[18]

Creation

[edit]

On September 3, 2020, during an AMA on Reddit, Terrace stated that during the show's development, Amity had a different hairstyle, and that the look changed after the unaired, unanimated pilot, when she decided that the style used in the show would look "better for the character".[19]

LGBTQ+ representation

[edit]

On July 7, 2020, when responding to a fan who posted a still of Amity putting her hands on Luz's shoulder,[20] from a promotion for the upcoming episode "Enchanting Grom Fright" on Twitter, Terrace said that there is no heterosexual explanation for the moment.[20] On September 2, during a Reddit AMA, Dana Terrace confirmed that Amity is intended to be a lesbian and that Luz is bisexual.[21] She also stated that the relationship between Amity and Luz would be explored in season 2 and that Luz is "oblivious to some things in front of her", including Amity's crush on her.[22] In the same AMA, Terrace stated that Luz was Amity's first crush[23] and that she was thrilled to see people connect to the show's characters, like Luz and Amity.[24] In October 2022, Amity's voice actress, Mae Whitman, said that voicing Amity gave her the bravery to come out as pansexual.[18]

Fictional character biography

[edit]

Season 1

[edit]

Amity, a top student at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics, in Bonesborough, a town in the Demon Realm, meets Luz Noceda, who helped Willow Park to cheat at school, resulting in Amity getting sent to the principal's office.[25][7] Sometime later, she runs into Luz at the annual Covention. Angry with Luz over what happened, Amity mocks her for trying to be a witch, and they eventually agree to a witches' duel. Later on in the season, Amity has Luz and her own siblings, Emira and Edric, thrown out of the library for messing around. However, both Amity and Luz are forced to work together to save themselves from a magical character spawned from a book. After Luz has been accepted into Hexside, Amity tells her she must master two spells in order to attend classes with her. Thanks to Luz's support, Amity regains her friendship with Willow that was previously strained under her parents' influences, ending her fake association with Boscha.[7] For Grom night, Amity is chosen as the Grom Queen, meaning she must enter the school's dungeon and fight Grometheus, a shape-shifting demon that can manifest into the greatest fear of the person fighting it. Luz steps in to replace her in the fight, but Amity has to jump in to save her. At one point, it is revealed Luz was the person she intended to ask out for the dance, and her greatest fear was being rejected by her.[26][27][28] After Willow and Gus are forced to quit Luz's grudgby team due to her harsh training, Amity reveals to her that she experienced something similar. Although they narrowly lose a grudgby game, they all gain sympathy and respect of Boscha's teammates. However, Amity hurts her leg in the match, and is taken care of by Luz, further deepening their bond.[29]

Season 2

[edit]

Amity's parents, Odalia and Alador, have her friends expelled from Hexside, as they deem them as bad influences on her. Amity later saves Luz from the Abomatons created by the family company, and finally stands up to her mother,[30] staying by Luz's side despite Odalia's threats.[1] As she works at the Bonesborough Library, Amity lends Luz her library card, so that she can access Philip Wittebane's diary, stored in the forbidden section of the library. They enter together,[31] eventually find the diary. They were both caught and as punishment, Malphas, the librarian, fires Amity and confiscates her card, before Amity heads off to her home. When we see her inside the Blight Manor, she reveals to her siblings that she is troubled due to her feelings for Luz; at this juncture, she has her siblings re-dye her hair purple, in defiance of their mother's desire for Amity's hair to remain dyed green. Luz ends up getting Amity re-hired off screen as Amity is inside with Edric and Emira, and opens the diary, to reveal that an echo-mouse, a tan-colored mouse with a mouse skull for a head, has eaten the contents. Luz gets frustrated, but Amity teaches her about the echo-mouse, and how it can play back what it ate. She then mentions Luz's ability to sneak into peoples hearts before she kisses Luz on the cheek, but immediately leaves the scene embarrassed, not knowing Luz is flattered.[32] Later in the season, Amity is suddenly kidnapped by Hooty and enters a tunnel of love with Luz. She realizes that Luz is interested in her until she destroys the tunnel out of embarrassment, convincing Amity she doesn't love her back. Luz later explains she thought Amity was too cool to be in there with her. Afterwards, they both ask each other out and become a couple.[33][34] When Luz is sick, Amity goes with Eda and King to retrieve Titan's Blood from Eclipse Lake and duels against Hunter for the Blood, and manages to get some of it in her glove. In the same season, she and Luz establish a writing club and Amity enters the Bonesborough Brawl to prove herself to Alador. She is later grounded by Odalia but is saved by Luz and Amity kisses her for the first time.[35][36][37] Alongside her friends, Amity confronts her parents to get them to stop producing Abomatons for the Emperor and learns that Odalia is sticking with Belos, so she furiously disowns her, and destroys the factory with help from Alador.[38][39] After the Day of Unity begins, Amity, along with Willow, Gus, and Hunter, helps Luz fight a transformed Belos. She and her friends are sent through a portal by King, who did so to save them, and they find themselves in the Human Realm, meeting Luz's mother, Camila, for the first time.[40]

Season 3

[edit]

Months later, Amity grows accustomed to life in Gravesfield, but she, and her friends, are continuously looking for ways to get back to the Demon Realm.[41][42] After Flapjack, Hunter's palisman, finds a hidden scroll that appears to lead to a supply of Titan's Blood, but the scroll is taken from her by a Belos' possessed Hunter, who activates a portal to the Demon Realm in a cemetery after Hunter expelled him from his body. After a guilt-stricken Luz reveals she accidentally introduced Belos to magic when she traveled back in time to meet him when he was originally known as Philip Wittebane, Amity reassures her and tells her she won't leave her, while they cross the portal into the Demon Realm, with Luz and Camila soon following. Amity and the others come across The Boiling Isles after it had been taken over by the Collector, where many of the residents have been turned into puppets. Many of Amity's classmates are in hiding at Hexside to avoid being captured. She confronts Boscha for the first time in months, where she asks Amity to be her friend again. Disgusted, Amity turns her down and cuts ties with her for good, but she and the others help Luz defeat Kikimora after she had disguised herself as a Hexside student. In the aftermath, Amity and the others are captured by the Collector and turned into puppets, in which she tells Luz to use a light glyph to protect herself. After Luz defeats Emperor Belos and society returns to normal, Amity befriends The Collector and greets her girlfriend in open arms and they share a kiss. Years later, on Luz's 18th birthday, Amity and the others surprise Luz with a "King-ceañera" for helping rebuild the Isles on her previous birthdays since. The Collector, who had been redeemed before Belos' defeat, returns with fireworks as everyone including Luz and Amity watch together.

Reception

[edit]

Amity's character was received positively. She was described by Jade King of The Gamer as engaging in a "necessary queer rebellion" whose lesbian identity plays into her character arc.[13] King also described Amity as "deep, a bully turned rebel" like Luz.[43] King also compared Amity's character to Katara in Avatar: The Last Airbender, since Whitman is the voice actress of both characters, and argued there are similarities between these two characters.[2] Joshua Fox of Screen Rant praised the storyline around "Amity being lesbian and having a crush on Luz".[9] and Tegan Hall of the same publication praised Amity's character for being ambitious, caring, nerdy, and protective.[44] James Troughton of The Gamer argued that the "unashamed queerness on screen" in the series is displayed by Amity and her friend, Luz.[45] However, Kevin Johnson of The A.V. Club was critical of the series, stating that he wasn't "buying the developments between Amity and Luz" and said that trying to find depth in Amity's characters while "ignoring her earlier treatments towards Luz...is disingenuous".[46]

Others praised Amity's character evolving outside her "relationship with Luz"[47] and the growing romantic relationship between Amity and Luz.[48][49][50] This included the season 1 episode "Enchanting Grom Fright", when Amity and Luz dance together for the first time[51] and the season 2 episode "Through the Looking Glass Ruins". The latter episode received significant attention and press over Luz and Amity's growing relationship and its ending, in which Amity kisses Luz on the cheek.[52] Amity's relationship with Luz, known as "Lumity", was chosen by fans as a top ship on Tumblr in 2021,[53][54] and otherwise garnered attention from fans[33][55] and critics.[56]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e King, Jade (June 21, 2021). "The Owl House Is Showing Young Viewers The Necessity Of Queer Rebellion". The Gamer. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  2. ^ a b King, Jade (August 13, 2021). "Amity Blight Just Unleashed Her Inner Katara And It's Absolutely Badass". The Gamer. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  3. ^ Terrace, Dana (September 3, 2020). "Hahaha perhaps Amity might attempt at dressing in a "punk aesthetic" to impress people but she'd never feel comfortable in those clothes. She's definitely more of a jock in my mind". Reddit. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Cervantes, Isabel (June 16, 2022). "'The Owl House's Luz Noceda Offers A Refreshing Take on the 'Chosen One' Trope". Collider. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  5. ^ King, Jade (March 21, 2022). "The Owl House's Luz Noceda And The Fear Of Disappointing Those You Love". The Gamer. Archived from the original on September 22, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  6. ^ Humphrey, Julia (September 14, 2022). "'The Owl House' Season 3 Sets Spooky Season Release Date". Collider. Archived from the original on September 21, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Storz 2022, p. 51.
  8. ^ Jones, Rendy (October 14, 2022). "The Owl House Made Queer Disney History. Its Legacy Will Be Remembered". Them. Archived from the original on January 14, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Fox, Joshua (May 22, 2022). "Why The Owl House Season 2 Is The Next Step For LGBTQ+ Animation". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on December 20, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  10. ^ King, Jade (August 3, 2021). "The Owl House's Luz Noceda And Amity Blight Are Girlfriends Now And I'm So Happy". The Gamer. Archived from the original on September 29, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  11. ^ Hogan, Heather (May 28, 2022). "Luz and Amity Make Queer Kissing History on Disney's "The Owl House"". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on December 19, 2022.
  12. ^ King, Jade (August 1, 2022). "Happy Anniversary To Lumity, The Cartoon Gays That Took Over My Life". The Gamer. Archived from the original on August 5, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  13. ^ a b King, Jade (August 7, 2021). "The Owl House Is Right To Exist In A World Without Homophobia". TheGamer. Archived from the original on August 10, 2021. Retrieved August 10, 2021.
  14. ^ King, Jade (March 3, 2022). "5 Things I'd Love To See From Lumity In The Owl House Season 2B". TheGamer. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  15. ^ Jones, Rendy (June 22, 2022). ""The Owl House," Queer Love, and the Beauty of Lumity". Cherry Picks. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  16. ^ "Pride Spotlight: Luz Noceda and Amity Blight from 'The Owl House'". Nerds & Beyond. June 24, 2022. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  17. ^ Cervantes, Isabel (June 16, 2022). "'The Owl House's Luz Noceda Offers A Refreshing Take on the 'Chosen One' Trope". Collider. Retrieved April 16, 2024.
  18. ^ a b King, Jade (October 7, 2022). "The Owl House New York Comic Con Panel Was A Bittersweet Return For A Beloved Show". The Gamer. Archived from the original on January 15, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  19. ^ Terrace, Dana (September 3, 2020). "Ooo FUN FACT! In development Amity had a very different hairstyle. After drawing this character in the unaired, unanimated pilot I decided I liked this look better for the character. That's why they have a similar silhouette!". Reddit. Archived from the original on January 25, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  20. ^ a b "Disney Might Have Their First LGBTQ+ Lead Character in The Owl House". Pride.com. August 5, 2020. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  21. ^ Desborough, Jenny (August 17, 2021). "Pansexual Meaning As Mae Whitman Opens Up on Sexuality". Newsweek. Archived from the original on August 17, 2021. Retrieved November 26, 2021. Original Reddit thread here
  22. ^ Terrace, Dana (September 2, 2020). "Luz is a little bit of a bonehead. Very relatable. That being said Luz has been so distracted with Eda's curse it makes it hard to see what's right in front of her". Reddit. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  23. ^ Terrace, Dana (September 2, 2020). "I definitely think Luz is her first crush (or at least her first big crush). That's why it's so overwhelming haha". Reddit. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  24. ^ Terrace, Dana (September 2, 2020). "Not at all! No, the main focus of the series will never be on any romantic thread but that doesn't mean those threads aren't important. And I'm thrilled that people connect to our characters! It just means that audiences are invested and that's a wonderful thing. World building and lore is only as important as it relates to our characters, in my opinion". Reddit. Archived from the original on September 3, 2020. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
  25. ^ Gunderson, Alexis (October 12, 2022). "The Owl House: A Witchin' Primer". Paste. Archived from the original on December 8, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  26. ^ Radulovic, Petrana (August 18, 2021). "The first half of Owl House season 2 hits Disney Plus with the show's future in question". Polygon. Archived from the original on October 13, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  27. ^ Kirichanskaya, Michele (September 4, 2020). "How Musical The Prom, The Owl House, and She-Ra Are Reinventing an Age-Old Heterosexual Tradition". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on December 18, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  28. ^ King, Jade (August 8, 2022). "She-Ra's Princess Prom Episode Will Live On In Our Gay Hearts Forever". The Gamer. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  29. ^ King, Jade (May 21, 2021). "The Owl House Is Proof That Disney Should Be More Accepting Of Queer Stories". The Gamer. Archived from the original on June 16, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  30. ^ King, Jade (January 10, 2022). "Two Years Later, The Owl House Remains A One Of A Kind Show". The Gamer. Archived from the original on October 16, 2022. Retrieved February 10, 2022.
  31. ^ Furtado, Camila Carvalho (2022). "Método". Representatividade LGBTQI+ nas narrativas audiovisuais "A Casa Coruja", "Hora de Aventura", "She-ra e as Princesas do Poder" e "Steven Universo" [LGBTQI+ representation in the audiovisual narratives "The Owl House", "Adventure Time", "She-ra and the Princesses of Power" and "Steven Universe"] (PDF) (Honors Thesis) (in Portuguese). Centro Universitário de Brasília. p. 29. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  32. ^ Storz 2022, pp. 54–55.
  33. ^ a b Bishop, Rollin (August 4, 2021). "The Owl House: Luz and Amity Are Girlfriends and the Internet's Loving It". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  34. ^ Princess Weekes (April 19, 2022). "'The Owl House' Continues to Deliver LGBTQ Rep to Feed My Inner Queer Child". The Mary Sue. Archived from the original on June 9, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  35. ^ King, Jade (May 22, 2022). "The Owl House Just Gave Us The Lumity Kiss We've All Been Waiting For". The Gamer. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  36. ^ King, Jade (May 29, 2022). "Queer Representation Should Never Be A Competition". The Gamer. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  37. ^ Storz 2022, pp. 56–57.
  38. ^ King, Jade (April 11, 2022). "The Owl House Understands The Fear Of Making Yourself Vulnerable". The Gamer. Archived from the original on April 11, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  39. ^ Pelucacci, Lindsey (Winter 2022). ""I'm gonna study everything!": Bisexual Orientations in Dana Terrace's The Owl House". Frames Cinema Journal. 20 (20): 145, 154–155. doi:10.15664/fcj.v20i0.2516. S2CID 253649314. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  40. ^ Budgeon, Rebecca (June 12, 2022). "The Owl House: 10 Best Luz And Amity Quotes". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  41. ^ Dominigues, Noah (December 16, 2022). "The Owl House Releases Synopsis for Season 3's Second Special". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2022.
  42. ^ King, Jade (September 23, 2022). "The Owl House Season 3 Time Skip Is Confirmed And That's A Big Deal". The Gamer. Archived from the original on October 9, 2022.
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  44. ^ Hall, Tegan (September 14, 2020). "The Owl House: 5 Reasons We Love Luz (& 5 We Love Amity)". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on June 4, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  45. ^ Troughton, James (December 23, 2022). "I Didn't Realise Just How Much I Needed Representation Until The Owl House". The Gamer. Archived from the original on December 23, 2022. Retrieved January 14, 2023.
  46. ^ Johnson, Kevin (July 11, 2020). "The Owl House still doesn't have a handle on its central trio". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on August 17, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  47. ^ Sheridan, Brian (June 30, 2021). "The Owl House: 10 Things Season 2 Has Already Delivered". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on July 1, 2021.
  48. ^ Adams, Tim (August 9, 2020). "The Owl House: Disney Animated Series' LGBTQ+ Relationship is No Longer Subtext". Comic Book Resources. Archived from the original on August 10, 2020. Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  49. ^ "'The Owl House' makes history with Disney's first bisexual lead character". Variety. August 15, 2020. Archived from the original on August 9, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2021.
  50. ^ King, Jade (August 3, 2021). "The Owl House's Luz Noceda And Amity Blight Are Girlfriends Now And I'm So Happy". TheGamer. Archived from the original on August 3, 2021. Retrieved August 4, 2021.
  51. ^ Bollinger, Alex (August 17, 2020). "Disney's new animated series "The Owl House" stars an out bisexual girl". LGBTQ Nation. Archived from the original on August 21, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2020.
  52. ^ Rude, Mey (July 12, 2021). "The Owl House's Luz & Amity Just Had Their Gayest Episode Yet". Out. Archived from the original on July 12, 2021. Retrieved July 12, 2021.
  53. ^ Monteil, Abby (December 5, 2022). "The Top 12 Ships on Tumblr This Year Were All Queer". Them. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
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  55. ^ Wells, Tiffany (April 2022). "The Owl House". The Gay Agenda: Being Accepted in Children's Media (Honors Thesis). Georgia Southern University. pp. 32, 35. Archived from the original on May 10, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  56. ^ Vallie (July 2, 2022). ""The Owl House" Is a Place For All Us Queer Weirdos to Stick Together". Autostraddle. Archived from the original on August 8, 2022. Retrieved February 18, 2023.

Bibliography

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