“Steven Universe” and Rebecca Sugar’s Visionary Role in Animation

We often perceive cartoons to be nothing more than collections of colorful characters and strings of jokes. Yet it’s important to create well made and meaningful cartoons because they are often our first encounter with the media and come at a time when we are first learning about the world and ourselves. “Steven Universe,” created by Rebecca Sugar on Cartoon Network, strives to show kids that every one of them has self worth and is accepted. Its message of love for everyone, love in its purest and most universal state, serves to create a powerful foundation for all kids. The show’s simple, clever, and wholesome approach to mature themes also speaks to both young kids and older viewers.

“Steven Universe” centers around a chubby eponymous boy who is half human and half Gem. The Gems are an alien race from Homeworld. Steven (Zach Callison) lives with three Gems, Pearl (Deedee Magno Hall), Garnet (Estelle) and Amethyst (Michaela Dietz), who together make up the Crystal Gems: a group sworn to protect the earth. It all sounds cheesy and childish, and it sure is for the majority the first season, as the gems teach Steven to use his powers while he runs around making plenty of puns and singing about food. But, especially in the beginning, through Steven the show exemplifies a naïve and idealistic view of the world that may not be reality, but can definitely remind viewers what to strive for in life.

The Crystal Gems’ background and interaction with humans exemplifies the show’s somewhat optimistic message. All gems are created to fit a specific role in Gem society and any deviation from that mold is punished. Any feelings are discouraged. This creates the perfect setup for the Crystal Gems’ eventual confrontation with Earth, which represents the total opposite perspective. Originally a Gem colony to be destroyed for the purpose of resource collection, Earth is saved by the Crystal Gems. To the Gems, Earth is their opportunity to break free of Homeworld’s rules, where they can explore who they are and want to be. It is a safe haven for outcasts. And it is a place where they can form relationships with humans and each other. Contact with humans, especially Steven, drives the Gems to develop compassion and love. Rose Quartz (Susan Egan), Steven’s mother, is particularly enthralled by living life’s capacity for change on earth. “But you, you're supposed to change. You're never the same even moment to moment. You're allowed and expected to invent who you are. What an incredible power—the ability to ‘grow up,’” she proclaims in the episode “Greg the Babysitter.”

Originally proposed to be inspired by Rebecca Sugar’s childhood and her relationship with her brother, “Steven Universe” is an exploration of the premise of growing up. Both Steven and the Crystal Gems develop as they learn the importance of love toward oneself and others from interactions with each other. This concentration on emotions, self-esteem, and relationships drives the stories much more than fights against “bad guys.” The show, currently a couple episodes away from the end of its fifth season, continues to present countless scenarios for character growth and focuses on adult themes and messages that even older viewers can learn from. Such themes have included consent, rape, jealousy, honesty, PTSD, trust, toxic and abusive relationships, depression, and grief over the death of a loved one.

But for me—and for countless other fans—the most important theme the show has focused on has been self-love: to accept your faults and learn to work on them while still loving yourself. Sugar’s effort to spread this message doesn’t even end with the show. This year she teamed up with Dove to create several short videos that cover bullying and comparing looks through a special Self-Esteem Project.

To make the subject of relationships more understandable for a young audience, Sugar came up with the concept of fusion: two or more gems can form together into a single gem that is a visual representation of their relationship, whether it be familial, platonic, or romantic. The stability of the fusion depends on the level of sync between the characters that form it. Thus viewers care about the way characters positively deal with their own and their relationship struggles because the formation of a likable fusion depends on this.

“Steven Universe” is also a triumph for queer visibility, and a showcase of the huge amount of effort Sugar has put into the show in the name of representation. Just this July 4, the show made animation history with the first homosexual marriage proposal ever depicted in a cartoon show. Though other cartoon shows have portrayed gay marriages, those characters were always side characters. In “Steven Universe,” however, this romance is a key plot point, and the marriage is a culmination of the character development of the lovers that is closely tied to their development as characters and the overall plot.

When Sugar initially proposed the show, she described it as being about her childhood and her relationship with her brother, and a large part of those are childhood love. One’s romantic feelings for others are a large part of growing up and shouldn’t be viewed as adult themes. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Sugar has said, “We need to let children know that they belong in this world. You can’t wait to tell them that until after they grow up or the damage will be done. You have to tell them while they’re still children that they deserve love and that they deserve support and that people will be excited to hear their story.” Growing up not seeing anyone similar to her and then being told as an adult that she had to exclude a part of her own childhood allowed Sugar to realize how imperative it is to have representation early on. Having to deny or hide a part of themselves, kids will grow into adults that will have restraints to talk about their own stories. The setbacks she had left a mental toll on her, due to how personal the matter is to her, and working on the show has allowed Sugar to explore and express her own identity. She came out as bisexual in 2016 and as a nonbinary woman only a few months ago.

When Sugar initially suggested for the two female characters to be married in 2013 or 2014, gay marriage wasn’t legal in the US, and Sugar was clearly told that such content wouldn’t be considered G-rated. This pushed Sugar to continue to strive for fair representation. Sugar had many conversations with the network and received many notices of censorship in foreign countries. She admitted that around 2016, she told the producers, “If this is going to cost me my show that’s fine because this is a huge injustice and I need to be able to represent myself and my team through this show and anything less would be unfair to my audience.” Evidently they let her keep the show and, after many years, have finally allowed her to tell the story she initially envisioned.

Rebecca Sugar’s perseverance to showcase queer relationships makes her one of the greatest activists in animation in this decade. It’s evident in the respect that the creators of other shows such as “Adventure Time” and “Gravity Falls” have for her, as well as in the recent push for more representation in the industry. And the focus isn’t something that comes unnaturally to the show. It's one part of the show’s whole message that everyone can and should be accepted—the message that gives viewers of any age the foundation to find peace with themselves and become positive members of society.