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Too often we think of (American) cartoons as chaotic, ADD nonsense that appeals only to kids who aren’t interested in real story or plot. Lord forbid any one of them makes sense. That’s one spectrum. On the flip side, cartoons meant for adults are exercises in how many vulgar and immature jokes Seth McFarlane can get away with at FOX. Granted, I know there are exceptions to the rule. I also know that there are adults who absolutely hate anything animated (and fun) because they’re only aware of cartoons that fit into the above categories. But there exists some cartoons that appeal to a wide spectrum of age groups that show profound layers of maturity in its themes and lessons, all subtly hidden in a colorful world of silliness and action. Today, I want to talk about one such cartoon: Steven Universe.

Steven Universe is such an intriguing (and for some, important) show. Simply put, it’s a show that isn’t afraid to go there when it comes to exploring different or complicated relationships, the loss of a loved one, and even sex. It deconstructs certain themes as organically as possible to show the viewer what it means to them (the creators and certain audience members who can relate), and they do it in such creative and beautiful ways.

First of all, if you haven’t heard of Steven Universe, it’s an animated series on Cartoon Network that follows the adventures of a young boy of the same name. He was born half human, half Gem. Gems are a mysterious extra-terrestrial species that posses magical abilities. He’s also the youngest member of the Crystal Gems, a team of guardians sworn to protect Earth. Every week they go on adventures, fighting magical monsters or visiting derelict locations once important to Gem culture. Throughout the series so far, Steven spends time figuring out his powers. He’s the first human hybrid in Gem history, so his powers are kind of fickle. When he’s not fighting evil with the Crystal Gems, he’s hanging out with other citizens of his hometown, Beach City. The tone and look of the series very much looks like a hybrid of magical girl anime and shonen anime (i.e. Sailor Moon and One Piece) with the main character as a chubby, happy-go-lucky, pubescent boy. Plus, the show’s cast break out into song once in a while. Bonus!

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One of the easiest and most straightforward subjects to explore is Steven’s family situation, including the bond with his human dad, Greg Universe. Steven lives in a house with the Crystal Gems, not with his dad. Greg lives in a van outside of his carwash business. He also generally prefers to stay out of “magic stuff,” which is why we don’t see him as often as we’d expect. Already this is an unconventional living situation for a young boy.

It’s unclear how much of a role Greg has played in Steven’s initial upbringing before the events of the show, but his care and influence can be seen in the activities they share together. As for the Gems, for all we know they could have been taking care of Steven since his birth (we’ll get to where his mother is in a minute). The Gems have been on Earth for thousands of years, at least as far back as the paleolithic era. Human concerns don’t necessarily matter to them, so it’s usually up to Greg to nurture Steven’s human side. Even though Greg prefers to stay out of “Gem business” or “magic stuff,” he will step in to support Steven whenever he chooses a different course of action than the Crystal Gems, and he will be there to protect his son if he’s in danger.

That’s not to say the Gems don’t love Steven as much as Greg does. The family dynamic is there, no matter how strange it looks to the rest of us. The Crystal Gems are his mentors, his teammates, his friends, and his mothers. Garnet, the stoic de facto leader of the group, would be considered more of the disciplinarian in the group while Pearl is more of the tutor, and Amethyst is the rambunctious friend/older sister. As for Steven’s birth mother, Rose Quartz, she had to give up her own physical appearance to give birth to Steven.

Going back to Garnet, she is the most likely to dish out loving advice when she feels Steven needs it. One such situation that Garnet unexpectedly embraces is when Steven and his best friend Connie accidentally fuse together. Fusion occurs when two (or more) Gems find compatibility between one another and fuse to become one new person. In the episode “Alone Together,” Steven is trying to learn how to fuse with the other Gems, but nothing seems to be working. He recounts the events of his day to Connie, his best friend and crush. They end up dancing together and fuse into entirely new person named Stevonnie.

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This entire episode was intriguing to watch. As mentioned in the beginning, Steven Universe isn’t afraid to tackle subjects like sex. I’m not necessarily saying that Fusion is a metaphor for sex itself. Rather, sex is merely a component to a much larger concept. The Christian view of sex is the joining of a man and woman, whereby at one point they are no longer two people but one person, metaphorically speaking. According to Garnet, what’s happened to Connie and Steven is an experience, “So make sure, it’s a good experience.”

Sure, you can peel one layer off of this situation and see a metaphor for sex between two adolescent characters, but then you’d be missing out on the whole onion. The whole interaction between Connie and Steven as Stevonnie alludes to something more happening. Like all real romantic relationships, they work best when both parties are in tuned with each other. They understand one another’s wants and needs while mutually experiencing life together equally. If you want to take it a little further, Fusion is almost like a marriage, depending on how long it lasts. (Some Gems will only stay fused with each other during a rather difficult conflict).

Connie and Steven aren’t mentally mature for the concept of romantic love just yet, so Stevonnie is more an exploration of each other’s feelings and creating a new support system in this newest stage of their already close friendship. Again, peel another layer about what Fusion is and this suddenly becomes a deeper analogy for complete trust between two people, in this case best friends.

Stevonnie’s presence on the show adds something else to the profundity of this one episode: eliminating the need for gender labels (and the baggage that come with them).

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Stevonnie, as an individual, brings the idea of androgyny or sexual ambiguity. In the series, Gems don’t necessarily identify as either male or female. But for the sake of using pronouns, they go with “she.” Stevonnie isn’t your typical female build you usually see in cartoons. She’s presented as a figure that can be found attractive by both men and women, but exudes a feminine nature (Connie) to balance out the masculine tendencies (Steven). Her voice is female, but alternates between a typical high feminine pitch to a lower masculine one. Her body is well toned and sturdy but has slightly accentuated hips and chest. Stevonnie’s clothes are a combination of Steven’s and Connie’s respective outfits, but is more revealing. This means that she’s rather accepting of her body and with who she is.

Other than the fact that we the viewers generally recognize the Gems as female, we come to the same conclusion with Stevonnie (because it’s just easier). However, we know Stevonnie is both a boy and a girl so it truly makes classifying her gender socially (and biologically) difficult. This further compounds one of the overall ideas “Alone Together” could stand for: that no one needs to be associated or labeled by their perceived gender or sex, nor should anyone be treated different because of it. You can be comfortable being a girl or a woman and still like things normally associated with guys, and vice versa. OR, and I think this is the larger point the creators are trying to make, you can just identify yourself as not a man or a woman but just a person who is uniquely you and no one else.

I’m still pondering over Connie’s reaction when she and Steven un-fuse. Maybe it’s because she’s finally overcome a fear thanks to Steven? I’ve watched the episode numerous times, and have yet to fully understand it.

Continuing on the theme of love, there are definitely two characters that demonstrate true romantic love, commitment, and understanding. All of these boil down to Garnet.

This is where we start to get into SPOILER TERRITORY: Garnet is actually a fusion of two Crystal Gems, Sapphire and Ruby. In “Jail Break,” we’re introduced to Sapphire and Ruby for the first time. Steven meets Ruby first. Her only concern was to escape her cell and find Sapphire. When they finally do reunite, something amazing happens:

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As Steven notes in a later episode (“Love Letters”), Garnet is a relationship. Ruby and Sapphire would rather be together as Garnet than be apart as their individual selves. Because without the other, one sees herself as incomplete. This is where the marriage analogy for Fusion fits in.

R&B singer Estelle, who voices Garnet, even gets to sing about the importance of her existence as a relationship while she’s fighting a Gem who abhors the idea of Fusing with another Gem (to become stronger).

Some countries still consider same-sex relations illegal, which is why Marceline from Adventure Time has never come out on the show. I’m not entirely sure if Steven Universe airs in these same countries, but if they do, then they just got away with something truly profound. The only argument I can think of that progressives can use is that Gems technically don’t identify as male or female, biologically. Furthermore, to my knowledge, this would be the first documented kiss between two female-looking characters on a kids’ show. Sooooo…yeah. #Winning!

That’s what I love about this show. You don’t always get a simple answer, especially when it has to do with something so complex as Love — there are so many different types that it can’t be seen as one simple thing without considering the others. Real life hardly ever has just one answer for you. It all boils down to your own experience and where you choose to go from there. To me, that’s what I get from Steven Universe, and I’m glad they’re exposing kids to these types of discussions. If you’re a parent watching with your kids (as you should be doing), not only would you know what your child is talking about when they ask you for further insight, but you’re likely able to enjoy watching the show yourself because it is something more than just a mindless cartoon. Layers for days!

 

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Christina E. Janke

Christina is the co-host of “Intro to Geek” on Shauncastic and Editor-in-Chief at Agents of Geek. Her love of all things Mass Effect knows no bounds. She also carries an obsession with comic books, video games, and quirky television shows. Her heroes are Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Gail Simone. She hopes to be just like them when she grows up.