As a 19-year-old straight guy, I'm not exactly the target audience for Steven Universe. Despite being a fan of similar shows (like Avatar), I've always been hesitant to watch Steven Universe because it's a kids show and the fanbase has a reputation for being a bit... "weird." But this month I decided to finally check it out and oh my god, the show is legitimately so beautiful, I can't believe something this good was written for kids.
Here's a brief synopsis for people who don't know the premise: Steven Universe is an animated cartoon about the "Crystal Gems," a group of female magic alien warriors that protect the earth from monsters. The show follows Steven, a half-human/half-Gem boy learning to control his magic abilities while growing up in a small beach town. The show is really wholesome and all about optimism, self-confidence, and emotional intelligence, which are rare themes for a Cartoon Network show marketed towards boys. It's also considered revolutionary because most of the characters are female and/or LGBTQ+. Steven Universe is just NICE, that's the best word to describe it. It's all about kindness and acceptance, it has the chill vibe of a Ghibli film, and it has a score that sounds right out of lofi hip hop radio.
The episode that really sold me on the show was season 1 episode 36, titled "Alone Together." It's only 11 minutes long but not only is it the best episode of Steven Universe, it's maybe the best episodes of animated television that I've ever seen.
"Alone Together" hinges on the concept of "fusion," a specific magic ability of the Crystal Gems that allows them to combine physical forms to become a stronger. It was first introduced in an earlier episode as a Power Rangers-like fighting move, but it evolved to become a kid-friendly metaphor for physical intimacy. Two Gems fuse whenever they express love towards each other, romantic or platonic.
The premise of "Alone Together" is that Steven, while learning how to fuse, accidentally fuses with his best friend/love interest, a girl named Connie. The two of them spend a day combined as a non-binary intersex person. But what's so revolutionary and beautiful about this episode is how their fusion is treated. There is not an ounce of prejudice against them expressed by any character. They are treated as unquestionably beautiful and self-confident at every opportunity. Basically it's just 10 minutes of pure joy, of loving life. In a beautifully animated and scored montage they run along the beach, they jump into the ocean, and they go dancing. As one of the Crystal Gems remarks to them, "You are not two people. And you are not one person. You are an experience!"
Here's a clip of the main part of the episode.
In just 11 minutes, "Alone Together" explores well-developed themes of first relationships, coming out, consent, self-confidence, gender nonconformity, and queer joy. And it does all of that with kid-friendly allegories.
When I first watched the episode, I was surprised by how profoundly it affected me. I don't cry very often, but I was in tears for almost half in hour after "Alone Together" and immediately watched it three more times.
Here's the thing about me -- I've never actually admitted this before, but I've been questioning my gender for the last few years. I don't know if I'm trans or non-binary or even if I'm anything at all, I've just been thinking about it a lot. But I've always been way too self conscious to do anything about it, or even to be open about it. I wouldn't pass as anything other than masculine, so I'm afraid that identifying otherwise would make relationships impossible. That's why "Alone Together" hit so hard. It shows a non-binary person that's beautiful and self-loving, regardless of their gender nonconformity. I'm never going to be able to look fully feminine, and I don't want to look fully masculine. Steven Universe showed me (and all the kids growing up watching it) that the in-between is still beautiful.
So beyond being just a flawlessly constructed and surprisingly deep episode, "Alone Together" also possibly changed my life. From what I've heard, Steven Universe does that for a lot of people. I'm so happy that there's an entire generation of kids growing up with exposure to these themes.
I know this year has been difficult for a lot of people, to say the least. If you need some wholesome energy in your life, like I did, I highly recommend checking out Steven Universe. It's on HBO Max right now in America. And if you have a free 11 minutes, please at least watch "Alone Together" (You can watch it first, it's mostly standalone). Sometimes it's nice to just relax and watch some wholesome cartoons!
TL;DR: Steven Universe made a beautiful episode about a non-binary person, which helped me with my gender identity.
Submitted September 26, 2020 at 12:40AM by DreadPirate616 https://ift.tt/2FRQkXx
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