Amity Blight: Replacing Perfection With Happiness
The Owl House and the importance of pursuing what you want in life.
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Series: The Owl House. Genre: Fantasy/horror. Release Year: 2020. Creator: Dana Terrace.
I am a huge fan of The Owl House, a tv series created by Dana Terrace and streaming on Disney+. The show is about a creative human girl, Luz Noceda, from Connecticut, who accidentally walks through a magical portal and ends up in the Demon Realm. There, she meets a witch named Eda who agrees to take on Luz as an apprentice, and a cute dog looking demon named King who quickly becomes he good friend. For the first time, Luz makes some friends and is able to explore who she is and what she wants without the pushback she received from the adults in her life back in the human realm.
Luz also makes an enemy pretty early on. Amity Blight is the top student in her field of study at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics. She bullies Luz’s friend Willow, constantly shows off in class in a way that patronizes the other students, and, in a fit of jealousy over Willow and Luz’s attempt to help Willow pass the class, almost has Luz dissected. Amity is a fan favorite character, and I think a lot of us forget that last point sometimes.
What I love about Amity is that she doesn’t stay Luz’s enemy forever. It quickly becomes apparent that the Amity we meet isn’t who she really is. At school, Amity is one of the popular girls and one of the best students. She is aloof and cold and even cruel in her efforts to remain at the top of the class and social ladder. But when we see her outside of the classroom, we see a girl who is kind of timid and nerdy. Amity has a secret hideout in the public library where she reads her dorky fantasy novels. We also see some of her journal entries where she worries about calling one of her teachers mom and tries to think through her thoughts about Luz. When Luz and Amity have to go into Willow’s mind to restore her memories, Amity avoids showing a specific memory that makes her feel vulnerable and exposes who she is and why she cultivates such a strong public persona. There is a lot that has pushed Amity to think she needs to hide who she really is and maintain the image of perfection that the people around her think she needs to be. But, eventually, Amity realizes she can’t do that, and we learn more and more about who she is and who she wants to be.

In Avatar the Last Airbender, Uncle Iroh once said that, “Protection and Power are overrated. I think you are very wise to choose happiness and love.” Amity doesn’t really want to be perfect, at least not in the way she was taught that she had to be. In her debut episode when her title of top student is threatened, Amity stops at nothing to reclaim her spot. She shouts and leaps on a cafeteria table in the middle of the cafeteria, calls in teachers to perform a live dissection on Willow’s school project, and then takes matters into her own hands and uses her magic to try to stop Luz from escaping. By the end of the series, Amity is a little wistful about once having been the top student, but it’s clear that being at the top isn’t her main priority anymore. She’s made friends and figured out that there are things that are more important to her than status. Amity still strives to be the best she can be (as evidenced by her skill in magic), but that isn’t the only thing that she wants in her life anymore.
On the note of love, Amity goes from being an antagonist to Luz’s love interest. We find out pretty early on that Amity has a crush on Luz, and eventually the two begin dating. Where Amity once put her status above Luz (again, literally almost dissected the poor human), Amity allows herself room for romantic feelings and pursing what she wants despite the obvious blow to her status. Luz isn’t the most popular person in the boiling isles among the people Amity once associated with, but Amity chooses to be with her anyway.

On the note of happiness, there is an episode in which we see that Amity and Luz have started their very own book club focusing on the fantasy series that they both enjoy. When Hexide has a club fair so that students can learn more about the various school clubs and sign up for the ones they are interested in, Amity and Luz are there representing their book club. There is no way this book club helps Amity’s popularity or status as the top student, but she’s there anyway. She’s still studying hard and doing her best to be the best witch she can be, but she’s also making time for the things that she enjoys, like reading a fun fantasy novel.
There are so many responsibilities that we all have in our lives. Some things we tell ourselves we need to do, and some things we are told we need to do. Some of these are very important, and some are less important. As we go through life and navigate the pressures that we and society put on us, we also need to find the time to pursue the things that do nothing but bring us joy. We can’t hide from everything that comes are way, but we can certainly navigate those challenges and stresses and responsibilities and goals in a way in which we don’t lose who we are in the process.

Amity almost does lose herself. She is so caught up on beating Luz and making sure she doesn’t look foolish or less powerful in front of her community that she does some things she shouldn’t have done and is clearly stressed. When she finally takes a step back and realizes that it doesn’t matter that people will judge her for liking fantasy novels or for being friends with the less popular kids, Amity begins to find joy. She is happier than she was before and feels much more relaxed.
This show is wonderful for so many reasons, but I really appreciate the way it shows Amity’s journey of finding happiness. No matter what we do or where we go, we need to remember who it is we are and what it is that is important to us. Like Amity, it is important to find our own paths forward and not lose sight of our identities. Take some time for yourself and the things that you want to do.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Consider checking out my podcast, “Determination, Deliberation, and Dragons.” My friends and I workshop original stories, analyze books and films, and interview authors and other creative people.