Luna on “The Loud House” Sends a Love Letter to a Girl
By: Alex Bonilla
On Thursday, June 15, an episode of Nickelodeon’s The Loud House called “L is for Love” premiered. The synopsis is rather benign, as most episodes of this family-friendly show are: “A love letter addressed to ‘L’ shows up at the house, and the family has to figure out who the letter in question is for.” While the main plot of the story can be left unexplained in case you want to watch the full episode, a plot thread that is intertwined with the story is that Luna Loud, one of the older Loud siblings, has a crush on a heretofore unseen character named Sam. Once they figure out who the letter was intended for and witness the unfolding of a romantic story, Luna feels more confident in expressing her crush to Sam. The ending of the episode proceeds as so:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8q9LNOe6gM
Yeah, Sam’s a girl, and Luna’s a girl. So, here we have one of the youngest animated depictions of same-sex romantic feelings. According to a bio posted by Nickelodeon, Luna is 15 years old on the show. Usually, if a gay relationship is portrayed in a children’s property, it’s either relegated to the background or a characteristic of a recurring character. For example, in The Loud House, there is already an adult gay couple, Harold and Howard McBride, that have appeared in four episodes so far in the two-season show. A similar kid-oriented program, Clarence on Cartoon Network, also has a pair of lesbian parents that appear infrequently.
And when such relationships are visible between main characters, it either has to occur somewhat subtly or use fantasy elements. A case of the former is the famous Korrasami, where The Legend of Korra creators clearly attempt to slowly build-up the nature of the two protagonists’ relationship across the final season of the program, up to the last moment of the final episode where they hold hands and walk off, finally crystallizing it for all. A case of the latter is Steven Universe, where you have an implied romantic relationship between Rose Quartz and Pearl, as well as an out-and-out relationship between Ruby and Sapphire. However, while those four characters can easily be identified as female, at the end of the day they’re not humans, and that is a distinction to be made when talking about LGBT representation in animation.
There will be those who wish that Luna’s attraction to girls would be portrayed in more than a one-off episode, and there might be merit to that argument, especially when you compare it to the work shows like Korra and Steven Universe did to develop their unique relationships. Of course, it’s yet to be seen if the show builds on this Luna-Sam relationship and how it handles that. However, just the idea that we’ve gotten to the point in society where two junior high-age characters of the same gender can feel affection for each other on a television show nominally aimed at a younger audience, and almost 24 hours later there’s no news coverage of the situation… maybe that’s a welcome sign of improvement.
Full disclosure: I don’t watch The Loud House, but if this is Nickelodeon’s highest rating show and their most critically acclaimed, then I think I can say the network might be headed in the right direction, and could indirectly be helping the rest of animation to inch its way down the same path of acceptance.
The next episode of The Loud House is expected to premiere on July 24, 2017 on Nickelodeon.
Alex Bonilla
Customer service and data cleanup guy for Sports-Reference, Alex finds solace in emotionally resonant television and bad puns. Also a member of the r/stevenuniverse moderation team.
22 Comments
Excellent job Alex. You think the rest of the family knows?
I don’t think it would be a big deal to the family. Look at Clyde’s parents. I like this cartoon. Except, why did they send the Hispanic family away?
Because they gonna have them their own show, list casagrande. Characters from the loud house are set to make cameos, specially Lincoln and Lori
Yes if they asked her if she gave Sam the note then obviously they know
Great article. I watch this show regularly with my child. I love that they treat same sex relationship as a casual thing. My daughter reacts in the same manner when she see the show. She never once asked why Clyde has 2 dads or why Luna sent a love note to a girl. I embrace shows and content like these. It is helping this generation see that there is nothing wrong or different.
Bless this show <3
Actually, in Study Muffin, she fell in love in Lincoln’s tutor, who’s a boy, so she’s bisexual.
No one is asserting what her orientation is here (The video title says that I guess but that’s not ours.)
Oh yea, I remember.
There’s more sexualities that include liking both genders such as Pansexual and Polysexual. Also, biromantic, panromantic and polyromantic. And, this article never mentioned sexual orientation, so there is no need to assume.
She had to move you should check out the episode. They had to move because her mom didn’t have the money so the moved into a city with relatives
it’s me. i made a cameo in loud house.
But can you play acoustic?
that’s all i do nowadays
Wonder if they are gonna have another episode about it
i just saw the ep and when i figured out luna was queer i was freaking out, in a good way though. like when lena oxton (tracer) was gay, i was really happy (no pun intended) for them. for some reason i just love seeing lesbians in shows or games idk lmao, this makes me like luna by 10 fold now!
My son love the show. He his dad and i were watching this episode. When Luna peeped around the corner and sam got tje note outta her locker it warmed my heart. People are who they are and they love who they love. Excellent plot!
Think this is a great way to introduce kids that love is love. That there is nothing wrong with loving someone of the same sex. It is well done.
Guess who’s getting hit with fire and brimstone than??? oh right, it’s me! Until then, I’m gonna go kiss some girls and guys and be bi as hell (pun intended). Bye!
I love this episode because it is telling bi and lesbians that they can get out there and do what they want. They can go out into the world and be themselves they don’t have to hide who they are just because they think that people are going to make fun of them. They can be who they want to be who they are themselves
What’s actually wrong with it? How would you feel if I told you that you weren’t allow d to love who you love?
? they showed it in the most casual way possible LOL,, no shoving here mr soviet