With this week marking the end of yet another grueling hiatus, now feels like a perfect time to rain praise upon what I think is one of the greatest shows on television. For those of you who don't know, "Steven Universe" is a cartoon created by Rebecca Sugar and aired (rather sporadically) on Cartoon Network. It stars a young boy named Steven, who really wants nothing more than to enjoy life to its fullest - and to keep the world safe while he does it. Steven lives in Beach City with a group of three aliens called the Crystal Gems, all made from actual gemstones, who have remained on Earth for thousands of years in order to protect it from the rest of their kind. Being half Crystal Gem himself, Steven accompanies them on all kinds of wacky and perilous adventures, learning to control his Gem powers, making new friends and doing what he does best - being Steven.
So then, what is it about "Steven Universe" that makes it rise above the ocean of other cartoons out there? I could give you a list of answers ten miles long for that question - the characters are adorable, the music is wonderful, the writing is clever and charming. While I may consider all of those statements true, the main reason I love this show really boils down to two words: diversity and representation.
It starts with the character design. No two characters in "Steven Universe" look alike (apart from gems who are literal copies of each other, but that's a different story). Although the Crystal Gems are somewhat excluded from our concept of race, being multicolored rocks from outer space, the human characters in the show are incredibly racially diverse. Steven's best friend, Connie, is a person of color (no one's race is explicitly stated, but I believe she's Indian). A number of Beach City's citizens are people of color as well, including the Pizza family, who own and operate Steven's favorite pizzeria. This level of diversity extends to the cast of "Steven Universe" as well, with the majority of the show's main voice actors being non-white. The three Crystal Gems are played by Estelle, Deedee Magno and Michaela Dietz, all women of color. Thinking back on the cartoons I watched as a kid and how white-washed they were, "Steven Universe" certainly outstrips them all.
Another huge aspect of the character designs in this show is the various body types they represent. Again, no two characters look alike. Some of them are lanky, some are wide, some are short and stout, and some are skyscrapers. Steven is small and round, while Connie is taller and slimmer. The Crystal Gems are incredibly different from one another; Amethyst is one big punch packed into a short, curvy body, Pearl is limber and graceful, and Garnet towers over them all with broad legs that could probably crack a tree in half. One of the best parts about all these different appearances is that the Gems can choose what they look like. The only unchangeable part of a Gem is its actual gem. Other than that, their physical forms are completely malleable, and they can alter them however they want. With this in mind, we can infer that the Crystal Gems are perfectly happy with their bodies, since they chose whatever forms they have now. I feel like that is an extremely important message to promote, not just to kids who watch cartoons, but to everyone. Even though us humans can't change our looks that easily, if the Crystal Gems love themselves exactly as they are, then anyone can.
Now then, aside from character appearances, there are two other important areas of representation that "Steven Universe" excels at. The first is female empowerment. There are far more female main characters in the show than there are males. Steven is the only major hero in the show among a cast of powerful heroines, and he's the only Gem that identifies as male. Although the Gems are technically genderless, every other Gem that has ever been introduced in the show identifies as female. Unless something comes up in future episodes to disprove this, as far as we know, Gem society is made up entirely of women. All of their leaders, nobles, and fighters are women. Every woman Steven encounters, Gem or otherwise, is a serious butt-kicker. The female characters in "Steven Universe" are strong, intelligent, and - most importantly - dynamic. Even though they're so numerous, every female character has a unique personality, with their own motivations, triumphs, failures and struggles. Amethyst is fun-loving, chaotic, crude and insecure. Pearl, on the other hand, is meticulous, worrisome, soft-spoken and unshakably loyal. None of them can be pigeonholed or framed as stock characters. They are all incredible women, and I thank Rebecca Sugar constantly for sharing them with the world.
As for the second area of representation, "Steven Universe" gets about ten thousand gold stars from me for how beautifully it portrays LGBTQ+ characters. One of the show's main romantic relationships is between Ruby and Sapphire, two female-identifying Gems who are so wonderfully in love it makes me feel all fuzzy and warm every time I see them. Their relationship is so strong that they exist as a permanent fusion, meaning their physical forms are combined into a new, bigger Gem. The show has never disguised the romantic love between Ruby and Sapphire; every time they make an appearance, they exchange at least a few kisses and tender lines of dialogue, and they have an entire song dedicated to how much they love one another. These are definitely not just "gals being pals," and the "Steven Universe" production team has always depicted Ruby and Sapphire in a caring, wholesome, and thoroughly unapologetic romance. They are simply made of love through and through, and I have yet to find another kids' cartoon that represents a lesbian relationship so fantastically.
Ruby and Sapphire are not the only LGBTQ+ characters in the show, either. Although Pearl is not currently in a relationship, she remains completely dedicated to Rose Quartz, the former leader of the Crystal Gems and Steven's mother. These two were never explicitly shown to be romantically involved, but Pearl's feelings for Rose Quartz certainly go beyond mere friendship and fidelity. Several times throughout the first two seasons of "Steven Universe," Pearl tells Steven stories of his mother (whom he has never met), praising Rose Quartz and demonstrating how attached Pearl has always been to her.
One of the other main relationships of "Steven Universe" is between Steven and Connie, and this is where another lovely tidbit of LGBTQ+ representation comes into play. Steven and Connie are both relatively young - Steven just turned 14 in a recent episode - and as such, they aren't romantically involved. They do have fairly obvious crushes on each other, however, and their love as best friends knows no bounds. This bond comes into play when Steven and Connie accidentally fuse while dancing together, forming the first ever human-Gem fusion, who Amethyst later names Stevonnie. Even though Steven and Connie are both cisgender characters, Stevonnie is non-binary, and is the only character in the show to use they/them pronouns. They have only been featured in one episode so far, but Stevonnie still has a significant role in representing non-binary people, especially to children watching the show. Stevonnie is treated as absolutely normal, as are all the other LGBTQ+ characters, and when children have characters like them to look up to, it provides ways of understanding difference that are relatively easy to grasp.
In the long and the short of all this, "Steven Universe" is an amazing cartoon, one that can appeal to any number of audience demographics. I know children and college students alike that watch and enjoy this show. Even my mother has sat through an episode or two with me. It's a heartwarming story that carries a smorgasbord of important messages with it, and it deserves all the love in the world. I'm sure I could never express enough gratitude to Rebecca Sugar and the rest of the production team for bringing us this show. It means the world to me and a lot of other people, and I hope it continues to grow and amaze us all.
Oh, and if you've read all the way through this and your curiosity is buzzing, you can find the first two episodes of "Steven Universe" here (hide all the ads on the page for better video performance). I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.
