By Darian Kuxhouse, Campus Carrier Opinions Editor
I am twenty years old and I love cartoons. Specifically a cartoon about alien gem-women who have amazing powers and fight other aliens all while being the cutest gay moms to a spunky Cookie-Cat loving kid. “Steven Universe” beautifully captures complex emotions and is somehow relatable to both kids and adults.
Each character has their own problems and the show does an amazing job portraying things like anxiety, healthy relationships, consent and, most extensively, inclusivity. From the beginning, episodes have tackled topics such as unconventional family dynamics and gender fluidity by integrating them into the lore and backstories of the characters.
Garnet, the level-headed matriarch of the show, clearly portrays a healthy lesbian relationship. Gems can “fuse” together to become a new, stronger being, and Garnet is a fusion of two gems who fell in love. She stays permanently fused as a testament to the fact that she is stronger and happier when they are together.
Rebecca Sugar, the creator of “Steven Universe,” spoke on how there is a certain kind of love represented in media that is innocent, pure, simple and just makes sense. LGBT love is currently not a part of that representation. She recently told PBS Art Beat in an interview about her upcoming children’s book, “What you learn as a kid when you don’t see any of those stories or relate to any of those stories, is that you are denied the dream of love, you are denied the idea that your own feelings are pure, innocent, lovely, romantic feelings, and to me, that’s what this is all about.” By leaving these portrayals out of mainstream children’s TV, kids are getting a clear message that anything other than a heterosexual world is out of the norm and not welcome.
The book, “The Answer,” traces the story of how Ruby and Sapphire, two Gems from different backgrounds, fell in love and came to fuse into Garnet. But the book is also part of a larger, changing story about how cartoons portray LGBT characters for kids.
Other characters in the show, such as Lapis Lazuli, portray other serious, almost taboo subjects, like PTSD. Lapis’ character was trapped inside a mirror for centuries and was forced to do other people’s bidding. Later, she fused with an abusive and power hungry gem and kept them trapped at the bottom of the sea to protect her friends. She has a lot of trust issues, and for a long time was afflicted with anxiety whenever she was around water. She shows most of the signs of PTSD, and exposing that to children in a way that they can connect to and understand is an incredible achievement.
A recent episode, “Mindful Education,” explored feelings of guilt. Steven, the half-human half-gem main character, felt guilty in regards to his mother — he feels as though he can’t live up to her memory and that he is a disappointment. The most powerful line from this episode was, “You have to be honest with yourself about how bad it feels so you can move on.”
The characters are troubled and hurt emotionally, dealing with intrusive thoughts over multiple episodes and sometimes multiple seasons. Things don’t just get wrapped up in the 11-minute episodes. The different body types and races are unique enough to make them stand out in terms of representation, but to have the characters react in such complex ways is what makes it believable.