The other week in class we had an entire day dedicated to a new show on Cartoon Network called Steven’s Universe. The show follows a boy named Steven and his odd gem family. The episodes that we watched had a family unit of 5, two of them were humans and the other three were a gem based alien race. This really looked at the idea of what is a family and who is allowed to have one. Similarly to Lilo and Stitch where Nani is not seen as a fit provider and she is told she cannot have a family. The gems face a similar struggle when trying to raise Steven and prove to the community they are a family even though they are a bit different. In the show the gems take on human women forms but they do not consider themselves human and they make that point clear throughout the show. The episodes that we watched seemed to focus on larger social issues in a playful and childlike way. The show looked at certain identities that are not seen in mainstream media very much at all as well as the idea of what is a family?
Steven’s Universe alluded to transgender and asexual people in society. Since the gems are not human but take on the physical appearance of women, most of them do not fit the
‘ideal woman mold” in one way or another. Some had more masculine features and tendencies, talked a certain way, or even didn't fully identify with being a woman. These illustrate what it can be like living in this modern age and identifying as transgender. in the episode the gems were seen as outcasts, made fun, and were not even trusted to have a family because they were different. It wasn't until the very end of the episode when the two family units realized how much they had in common with each other that the ostracism stopped.
The second episode that we look at was an episode where a male and female character fused together and made one person. They became a beautiful creation that was the perfect mix of male and female. This new being was romanticized by everyone that saw them man or woman. This was the shows way of depicting someone who identifies as Asexual. Again the character was ostracized by general society and did not fit in anywhere. It was not until the end of the episode and the two characters unfused that the real message was shown. You have to love yourself and surround yourself with people who love you, the rest of the world does not matter.
I was not aware of Steven’s Universe until this class and I am honestly so happy to have seen it. I am so glad that kids are being shown other identities and different kinds of people in a fun and childlike way. It is a powerful tool to spread this message to children and teach them about all the different types of people they could encounter in their lives. The show also spreads a powerful message about unconditional love and being being proud of who you are. The Steven’s Universe presentation was interesting and very well done I loved it!
