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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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The following presentation takes a broad lens of postmodern elements in a particular episode of Steven Universe that has sparked controversy among its fanbase.

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Steven Universe’s frustrating schedule is crucial to its success

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Steven Universe’s frustrating schedule is crucial to its success

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When Cartoon Network announced that its hit series Steven Universewas renewed for two more seasons and is returning to the airwaves in June, the fan reaction was... complicated. Most shows' returns would be greeted with praise, triumph, adoration, etc. But many of Steven's adult fans showcased the type of impatience we'd expect from the children who form Cartoon Network's target audience:

It's hard to blame these A.V. Club commenters. These are the agonized cries of a rabid, starving, pained cult following that has suffered through a frustrating season of TV. Most modern, adult-oriented programming either adheres to a strict weekly schedule or drops all at once on a streaming platform; Steven Universe has done neither of these things. In the past year, there has been just one six-week stretch of regularly scheduled new episodes, spanning last September and October. The other 20 episodes of the show's second season have dropped in now-infamous StevenBombs-heavily marketed, themed scheduling blocks in which Cartoon Network airs one new episode each day for a week. Steven Universe 'sfour season-two StevenBombs aired in March, June, and July of 2015, and this past January. Hiatuses have permeated the space between each, leaving the plot to lurch forward like the world's vainest, most self-aware toad. To make matters worse, the fan base knows that season three's production is complete, and that Cartoon Network is holding back a slew of completed episodes (spoilers have leaked).

Is there a method to this madness? Absolutely. When you look at both the history of animated television scheduling and the statistics Steven Universe has generated over the past year, the StevenBomb-hiatus cycle begins to look like a brilliant response to the rise of binge-watching, allowing the show to dominate not only TV, but also the online arena. Let's examine some reasons why frustration with Steven Universe' s schedule is misguided.

Cartoon Network has a lengthy history of irregular scheduling.

To get a feel for how Cartoon Network has treated its original series, we can go back to what many consider to be the channel's classic lineup: the Cartoon Cartoons of the late '90s and early '00s, which included such icons as Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls (the original, not the middling reboot), Courage The Cowardly Dog, Johnny Bravo, and Ed, Edd N Eddy. Overall, these shows tended to run on regular, weekly schedules in their first few seasons before descending into chaos as they aged.

Take Dexter's Laboratory, for example. When it premiered in 1996, its first season ran in two neat blocks: six episodes from April to June, and seven from November into the new year, with three segments per episode. With the exception of a break for the holidays, its second season aired weekly from July 1997 to May 1998-regularity Steven fans can only dream about. But its third season, which picked up in 2001 with a new creative director after Genndy Tartakovsky departed to focus on Samurai Jack, got off to an incredibly jumpy start. It took several months for Dexter's to find a rhythm; eventually, it settled into a few choppy blocks, each no more than five or six weeks, punctuated by randomly timed new episodes, a schedule that would continue until the show expired at the end of 2003.

It wasn't alone in this regard. The Powerpuff Girls' second and third seasons, arguably the peak of the show's popularity, featured new episodes in consecutive weeks exactly twice, from September 8 to September 22, 2000. Same deal for Ed, Edd N Eddy after its first season (its fourth season, which consisted of just 26 episodes in 13 two-at-a-time bunches, contained a nine-month hiatus). And while Courage The Cowardly Dog adopted a fairly strict weekly schedule in its third and fourth seasons, the show ceased production after that.

In many ways, the irregular scheduling of the Cartoon Cartoons made sense, setting the stage for how things have been ever since. Compared to live action shows, cartoons (excepting ) require much longer production timelines-even with today's advanced technology, animation still has to be done frame by frame in painstaking, expensive fashion. That's a major reason why Cartoon Network has never run more than 10 original shows at a time, and why episodes of these shows beyond the first couple of seasons air with increasing irregularity: once the run of initially ordered episodes is spent, it can take longer than a year to prep additional seasons. For example, Rick And Morty'sthird season, green-lit last July by Adult Swim, likely won't air until the end of this year; meanwhile, TBS renewed American Dadfor seasons 12 and 13 last fall, likely to expedite production on season 13.

Due to animated programs' idiosyncratic life cycles and its exclusive reliance on them, Cartoon Network has always been fueled by reruns: initially of syndicated Hanna-Barbera, Warner Bros., and MGM cartoons, then of the channel's own original programming once enough existed. There's never been enough fresh material-not enough shows, not enough episodes-to provide for brand-new content every week, or even a different schedule every night. And compressing its prized original series' new episodes into a shorter temporal life span would merely reduce the amount of time those series could be rerun, since the network's reruns now typically consist of currently active series and not everything can be Adventure Timeor Ed, Edd N Eddy (which aired for a surprising 10 years). By creating hefty amounts of space between new episodes, Cartoon Network artificially extends its shows' lives while giving the animators more time to create new material. And the network's main audience of elementary-school-aged viewers aren't the ones tearing up online forums as they wait for new episodes of shows.

Extra space between runs of episodes, though, doesn't necessitate any particular scheduling strategy for each individual run. Astute fans of Steven Universe might point out that StevenBombs are vastly different from the loosely spaced schedules of the Cartoon Cartoons, creating much larger gaps between new episodes that frustrate existing fans and might make it difficult for new fans to stick with the show. But Steven isn't alone in this regard.

Cartoon Network is increasing more programming bombs overall.

In fact, 2015 was the year that the bomb became a regular feature of Cartoon Network's original series.

Starting with the first StevenBomb in March of last year, everycurrently running show on the network has featured at least three weeklong bombs, with the exception of The Amazing World Of Gumball, which has had two. Adventure Time and Steven Universe, probably the twin standard bearers of Cartoon Network at this point, have each featured four such runs, including the November miniseries "Stakes"; that month, Regular Show, another network show that's reached icon status,got its first TV movie, which is essentially a bomb condensed into a single day. And The Powerpuff Girls rebooted with two straight weeks of daily new episodes, coinciding with an aggressive marketing pitch that included a website where fans could "Powerpuff themselves." Over the past year, August 2015 and February 2016 were the only months not to feature a bomb of one show or another.

The overall effect was positive for Cartoon Network. According to the 2015 year-end Nielsen ratings, the network gained 15 percent more viewers in the 18-49 demographic-the largest relative growth by any of the top 25 basic cable networks, including channel-sharing buddy Adult Swim, and one of only five exhibitions of growth at all-and topped the 6-11 demographic (still its target group) to boot. In an era when television viewership as a whole is flagging badly compared to online streaming, the fact that adults are increasingly sitting down to watch Cartoon Network is nothing short of remarkable.

The precise cause of this growth isn't easy to determine, as we don't have access to all of Cartoon Network's numbers (the network didn't reply to requests for comment for this piece). But with a look at daily ratings, a few contributing factors can be teased out. One was the July premiere of We Bare Bears, a six-episode bomb that averaged about 2 million viewers per episode. Another was Teen Titans Go!, a series that isn't a Cartoon Network original (it's DC/Warner Bros.) that regularly drew more than 2 million viewers over the course of last summer. And "Stakes"and the two summer StevenBombs finished with similar stats,each averaging more than 1.8 million viewers per episode. Steven Universe hasplayed an important part in Cartoon Network's success, and given the obvious ratings boost of the StevenBombs relative to the other episodes of the series-the second and third were the most-viewed episodes of season two outside of the Uncle Grandpa crossover "Say Uncle," which had the luxury of activating two fan bases-the strategy drew a lot of attention to the show.

To really get a grasp of just how crucial the StevenBombs were and are to Cartoon Network, however, we need to turn to another source: Google Trends, a handy way to approximate the interest a show generates on the internet (effectively, how many people are looking to either stream it or discuss it).

This chart shows the American search traffic Google has received for Steven Universe since its inception in November 2013, measured relative to its peak (Trends won't allow you to see absolute numbers). The first significant incline, in March 2015, coincides with the first StevenBomb. Each spike after that falls on another StevenBomb. The slight hump in September-October 2015 represents the six-week period during which Steven aired weekly, and it's only about half the height of the peak reached during StevenBomb 3. Given that drop-off during the post-Bomb-era hiatuses hasn't approached pre-bomb nadirs, it seems like Cartoon Network has judged that the triumphant apices are worth the gaps between them.

Google Trends is an inexact way of measuring actual viewership-all the traffic could, in theory, be caused by a very small, hyperactive cadre of superfans-but the fact remains that season one of Steven Universe had a number of episodes crack two million television viewers, something that never happened in season two. To witness the show's internet dominance arise in spite of leveled-off or declining TV viewership is a testament to the fan engagement the series has built, and that engagement correlates pretty much exactly with the StevenBombs.

Now, let's look at Steven Universe in comparison to Cartoon Network's other top shows.

The red line is We Bare Bears; yellow is Regular Show; purple is Teen Titans Go!; and green is Adventure Time. If you're looking for definitive proof that Steven Universe is now Cartoon Network's flagship series, this is the closest you'll get. To be fair, when you look at the worldwide numbers over this period, Adventure Time rises significantly in 2014, and The Amazing World Of Gumball, which has British roots, becomes far more important. But neither touches Steven in 2015-not during the weekly period, not even during the hiatuses, but especially not during the StevenBombs.

So the StevenBombs are working. Why?

Out of all of Cartoon Network's original series, Steven Universe adheres closest to an overarching plot, which has thickened spectacularly in recent episodes. Adventure Time is populated by smaller story arcs that range anywhere from a few episodes to (loosely) entire seasons, but there's no clear endgame. In Steven, there's an active existential threat to the protagonists that will pervade even any one-off episodes the show does, and that threat isn't going away until the villainous Diamond Authority decides to abandon its ambitions to conquer and colonize Earth. In this regard, the show is more like Disney XD's Gravity Fallsor Nickelodeon's The Legend Of Korra than anything Cartoon Network has ever put on, with the possible exception of Samurai Jack (which never reached a conclusion, though the coming revival might fix that). Unsurprisingly, Steven Universe's Google Trends data looks far more similar to that of those other two shows than it does to Adventure Time's. ( SU in blue, GF in red, TLOK in yellow, AT in green.)

Steven has yet to hit the peak of interest that Korra generated at the end of its first season (likely because it's not able to draw on a preexisting fan base the way Korra did with Avatar); meanwhile, around the time of its series finale this past February, Gravity Falls reached all-time highs. The lesson here, though, is that more serialized shows, while they might not generate quite the rerun potential of episodic programs (you can't just sit down and satisfactorily watch a season finale like Steven's " Jailbreak" cold), create massive swells of online interest. This proves crucial to a network's vitality in an increasingly internet-based television world, where Cartoon Network's entire programming slate is available on Hulu, and children now spend more time online than they do watching the tube.

With an increasingly large role played in the industry by streaming shows released seasons at a time rather than by the old weekly model, creating an event that can generate discussion and hype is key to a series' success. The only contemporary weekly shows capable of creating such an event are Game Of Thronesand, maybe, Walking Dead. Otherwise, it's all about the fervor surrounding the release date of a full slate of House Of Cardsor Orange Is the New Black or Making A Murderer. With StevenBombs, Cartoon Network is able to approximate the gravity of a binge-watching event with a cohesive storyline while staying true to its cable nature, driving up overall interest in Steven Universe and the channel itself in the process. The hiatuses that come as byproducts of this cycle are necessary evils that have always existed in Cartoon Network's programming but feel exacerbated because Steven Universe is so damn good. If anything, the fact that they ache so badly means the show is an unmitigated success.

So embrace the breaks-if kids can deal with them, so can adults-enjoy the Bombs and gear up for a "Summer Of Steven" starting in June. Regardless of how the show is scheduled (and perhaps with the backlash against hiatuses, Cartoon Network will stick with weekly programming despite the StevenBombs' effectiveness), as long as Rebecca Sugar and company have made season three as compelling as season two, Steven Universe will continue to dominate.

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Steven Universe's frustrating schedule is crucial to its success

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When Cartoon Network announced that its hit series Steven Universe was renewed for two more seasons and is returning to the airwaves in June, the fan reaction was... complicated. Most shows' returns would be greeted with praise, triumph, adoration, etc.

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Steven Universe’s Stevonnie Is Bringing Non-Binary Representation to TV in a Brand New Way

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Steven Universe’s Stevonnie Is Bringing Non-Binary Representation to TV in a Brand New Way

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By Mey

One of the reasons positive media representation is so important is because when we see people who look like us and feel like us, we know who we are is normal, and because when we see people like us and are able to be happy and have friends and a full life, we know that can be our future too. In the last few years we've seen a lot more representation for queer and trans people, but that representation usually comes in just a few looks. When we get a new character who breaks that mold, it's even more important, because it means that people who've never seen someone like themselves on TV finally get to. Stevonnie from Cartoon Network's Steven Universe is one of the characters who's doing just that. Stevonnie is a canonically non-binary human character on a popular kid's cartoon. They are a person of color. They have wide hips and other curves. They have facial hair. They are never mocked or misgendered for being non-binary. They might be unique on television, but they look like so many people in real life, and that means the universe to those people who finally get to see themselves reflected on-screen.

Just like it celebrated lesbian love with Ruby and Sapphire forming Garnet, once again Steven Universe is using a fusion to explore queer identities and, more revolutionarily, to celebrate them.

In some of the latest episodes of Steven Universe, we got to see more of Stevonnie after a long time without them. Steven and Connie had been estranged after Steven hurt Connie, and they finally got together after talking things out at jerk teen Kevin's party. Kevin had invited them specifically because he wanted Stevonnie to be there because he sees Stevonnie as the coolest person he knows. While Stevonnie didn't show up at that party, they did show up in the next two episodes to go hang out with Lars in outer space. Just like Kevin, Lars repeatedly refers to Stevonnie with they/them pronouns and treats them with a lot of respect and admiration.

Many non-binary people, especially if they are assigned male at birth, have facial hair. For some, it's an unwelcome guest that might cause dysphoria, but for many others, it's an essential part of their look and attitude. Stevonnie has facial hair too. And not just a little bit. They've got full stubble going on. It's dark and thick and coarse. There's a beautiful moment in the latest episode, "Jungle Planet," where Stevonnie uses their sword to shave, which shortens their facial hair, but definitely doesn't get rid of it. Afterward, Stevonnie looks in a mirror and proudly admires their stubble. It's not just an unfortunate part of their body, they see their facial hair and they look good and they feel good. This is so much more than just a character design choice in a cartoon. Trans people never get to see themselves like this on TV. Every trans kid and adult out there who has a beard or mustache or whatever and feels weird about it got to see an awesome character just like them smiling at the fact that they have dark, poc stubble.

Bodies can look a lot of ways, but unfortunately, on television and in movies, we usually only see white, thin, cis bodies. When we do get lucky enough to see trans bodies, and specifically non-binary bodies, those still usually fit within a specific type of white and thin androgyny. Stevonnie is none of those things. Look at their hips! Look at their calves and feet! Look at their shoulders! Stevonnie is tall and, while they have a small waist, they are not the kind of person who could walk into a vintage store and find a million different things to try on.

One of the most remarkable, and even radical, things about Stevonnie's portrayal in Steven Universe is how much they're just allowed to be themself and be normal. Everyone just takes it completely at face value that they're non-binary and usees they/them pronouns. When Stevonnie meets up with Lars in space, they don't have to have a big conversation about pronouns and how to not be transphobic, Lars just uses they/them. Even Kevin, who is a complete terrible person who only thinks about himself and insults basically everyone he sees, has no issue using the right pronouns for Stevonnie. Stevonnie is even considered to be one of the coolest kids in all of Beach City. I can't think of another time I've seen a trans character, especially a non-binary one, who's been treated with such kindness and celebration on a TV show.

I hope you all enjoyed "Lars of the Stars" and "Jungle Moon" last night ✨ I'm so grateful to play Stevonnie. We have @rebeccasugar to thank for creating such dynamic and underrepresented characters like them on Network tv! #stevenuniverse @cartoonnetwork "I'm an experience" pic.twitter.com/DVaMmhZ3X2

- Aly & AJ (@alyandaj) January 6, 2018

Imagine being a young non-binary person and seeing that someone like you is treated like that. Or, hey, don't imagine it. For the first time ever, it's right there on-screen.

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Steven Universe's Stevonnie Is Bringing Non-Binary Representation to TV in a Brand New Way

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By Mey One of the reasons positive media representation is so important is because when we see people who look like us and feel like us, we know who we are is normal, and because when we see people like us and are able to be happy and have friends and a full life, we know that can be our future too.

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All These Black Characters and 0 Done Right — How Steven Universe Fails Its Black Fanbase, Part I.

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All These Black Characters and 0 Done Right — How Steven Universe Fails Its Black Fanbase, Part I.

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https://medium.com/@dtwps/all-these-black-characters-and-0-done-right-how-steven-universe-fails-its-black-fanbase-part-i-81e0b0b8c3fe

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Steven Universe Tackling Serious Subject Matter.

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Steven Universe Tackling Serious Subject Matter.

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In season 3 episode 19, (Alone At Sea) features domestic abuse showcasing the unhealthy relationship between Lapis and Jasper.

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Huge Milestone Steven Universe made for the LGBT Community 

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Huge Milestone Steven Universe made for the LGBT Community 

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Steven Universe made history becoming the first children show to feature an onscreen same sex wedding.
https://www.pride.com/stevenuniverse/2018/7/11/steven-universe-makes-lgbt-history-same-sex-wedding

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‘Steven Universe’ Thrills Fans With Emotional July Story Arc

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‘Steven Universe’ Thrills Fans With Emotional July Story Arc

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https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/steven-universe-rebecca-sugar-cartoon-network-1202865636/

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Steven Universe Is Garbage And Here's Why 

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Steven Universe Is Garbage And Here's Why 

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Well spoken video essay explaining in detail focusing on the flaws and problematic themes that connects back to world issues.

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Steven Universe is Garbage and Here's Why

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Main Characters Character & Fusion Chart

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Main Characters Character & Fusion Chart

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This chart displays each main character with the gems/human they fuse with.

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‘Steven Universe’: How Rebecca Sugar Turned TV’s Most Empathetic Cartoon Into an Empire

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‘Steven Universe’: How Rebecca Sugar Turned TV’s Most Empathetic Cartoon Into an Empire

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https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/steven-universe-how-rebecca-sugar-turned-tvs-most-empathetic-cartoon-into-an-empire-205732/

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Steven Universe: The Rise of Popularity in Internet Fandoms

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Steven Universe: The Rise of Popularity in Internet Fandoms

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Over the past several years there has been an insurgence of cartoons that have captured the hearts and attention of viewers of all ages across the internet. From Avatar: The Last Airbender and its impeccable world building and enrapturing plot, to Adventure Time with its surrealist humor and bright animation, it's become more and more common for cartoons to no longer be considered 'kids' stuff,' and grab the attention of older viewers. And over the past few years more and more talented and creative shows have joined the ranks. Shows such as Legend of Korra, Gravity Falls, and Over the Garden Wall have been the talk of many social media networks.

Among these shows a new favorite has begun to emerge over the past few months, a bright little cartoon called Steven Universe.

The show takes place in a world much like our own, in a small beach city full of pastel colors and soothing backgrounds. Its main character is a young boy named Steven, who is a part of the 'Crystal Gems', a group of women that fight off alien, gem-based invaders. Steven, fulfilling the role of his lost mother (who was the leader of the Crystal Gems), lives with the three gem and light based beings, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl. It's a short action adventure show, packed full of humor and creativity.

But it may come as a surprise to know that this show isn't actually new.

Steven Universe began in 2013, and only just recently started its second season. While there was a following for the show, it was at the end of the first season that its popularity really blew up.

So why exactly did this small show become the center of so many people's attention? What about it grabbed people so fiercely? And why now, two years after it's been on the air?

The overall consensus seems to be the same thing that drew people to so many other cartoons: The creative ideas, unique perspective, and storylines that audiences can engage in. Even among so many strong shows, Steven Universe is managing to make a name for itself using a clever style, likable and realistic characters, a unique mystery, a unique perspective on gender and sexuality, and a lot of heart.

(Warning: Some vague spoilers for the show are discussed in this article.)

Animation Style

At this point in the game, most know that style is important for any show to get popular, but this is especially true for cartoons. The nature of animation means that creators have to put forth some of their best artistic effort at all times if they want any chance of drawing in audiences. Artistic style is the basis of any cartoon series as it's the first thing an audience notices when the show starts, and it's what saturates and sets the tone for the entire series.

Adventure Time for example is saturated in bright, surrealistic colors and designs; fitting for the manic world it takes place in. Just from that people can take a good guess at what they are going to get in terms of stylistic storytelling and humor. Gravity Falls on the other hand is steeped in dark shadows and sharp angles, which all add the air of mystery and intrigue that the show has. Shows like this have a very distinct and unique style to them that let people immediately identify what to expect.

Steven Universe takes a similar page from these two shows. At first glance it may not be easy to distinguish the show from typical cotton candy colored cartoons, given that the color pallet is primarily bright pastels, which help to give it an almost calm, hypnotic sensation. This may attribute to why the show went so unnoticed for so long. But as people continue to watch, it becomes clear that this particular style is anything but boring. For the world the story lives in the art style is perfectly complementary.

The show's design displays a variety of tones and moods with its pastel colors, expanding past the style's typical limitations. The animators find a way to make their art visually interesting even when seldom exploring outside their pallet. This makes the rare occasion where darker or brighter colors are used within the show for dramatic effect all the more memorable, as it creates a fascinating contrast.

And this is what lends Steven Universe 's sets to really stand out once the audience becomes invested. The backgrounds can be very relaxing at times within the show, lulling the audience into a sense of contentment. However, the creators know when to pique the audience's attention with their sceneries, and use the show's adventure aspect to their advantage. As the show progresses we see a variety of beautiful and visually stunning backgrounds and set pieces. In fact, with its simple and realistic style, yet bright and soothing colors, it would be no stretch of the imagination to declare Steven Universe as one of the most visually striking shows currently on air. The creators know exactly how to use their environment and style to their advantage.

Much like other popular animated shows, Steven Universe's art style is also a reflection of its unique story and humor. The prevailing sense of danger one gets from both story and art from Gravity Falls for example is not present in the show, but yet the carefree style of Adventure Time that creates a lack of urgency in most episodes isn't used either. Instead the story and art come together to give each episode an impact and a stake in the outcome, yet it typically doesn't create a sense of doom or of overall danger. It's a good balance that fits the show well, and lends to its specific style.

Steven Universe has beautiful backdrops, but rather simple character designs, which is vital in the show's preferred brand of humor. The designs aren't quite as elastic as some, but they're flexible enough to allow a lot of fast paced movement and humor. Much like its art style, the humor of the show can often be much more relaxed. It's the type of thing that brings a smile to an audience's face, but will only occasionally make one burst out laughing.

Make no mistake though, the show is definitely humorous. Much like many of the shows that have gotten people talking, it gives unique jokes and has satisfying set ups with gratifying punchlines. Its humor isn't as random or manic as some cartoons, but it isn't fully steeped in realism either. It's a nice balance that allows the show to display a lot of creativity and garner a lot of laughs.

With its calming yet beautiful scenes, Steven Universe has given itself a very distinct style that allows the story and the humor to flow naturally.

Character is Key

Archetypes are common in any show, but they are especially emphasized in cartoons. This is because the shows are typically aimed at a slightly younger audience and creators want to make the characters more easily recognizable to children. This can be very limiting at times, making characters hard to relate to. But the shows that have created a home in so many people's hearts are often the ones that know how to take an archetype and use it to their advantage. This is a cue that Steven Universe took from some of its successful predecessors, managing to make its characters easy to identify, but still realistic enough to be sympathetic and genuinely likable.

Much like many other cartoons, the show features a young boy as the main protagonist of the series. While the use of children is common in animation it can often be tricky to portray them as realistic. Because series will often use more serious situations, children in adventure stories are frequently more solemn and restrained, doing their best to shoulder a lot of responsibility and 'save the day.' While there's no issue in this characterization on an individual basis, it's also unrealistic to expect that every child put in that situation would react accordingly. Children don't always fully understand the gravity of certain situations, meaning they don't always respond 'appropriately' to severe circumstances. Not every child, not even every person, will accept a huge amount of responsibility with an unnatural amount of grace. A good example of a more realistic portrayal might be Lilo in Lilo and Stitch, who is smart to be sure, but isn't overly serious and still carries many childlike quirks, making her believable.

However many times, when stories don't take an unrealistically mature approach to child characters, they go the opposite direction, making them overly silly or reckless. They are often treated as the joke of the series, the one always getting something wrong or doing something ridiculous. Again, there are times when this is a legitimate approach. There are children who never take anything seriously, and who are very foolish. But when that seems to be one of two characterizations found for children it can start to become repetitive and uninteresting. This is because most people, and even most children, can't identify with this. They will see a role model or a funny character to laugh at, but they won't see themselves.

This is part of the reason why specific shows have gotten popular recently. These shows are often the ones that can take a more human approach to characters, specifically, child characters. This makes them more sympathetic to both kids and adults. And Steven Universe is a great example of such.

Steven is the protagonist of the show, so he has a large role to play in the series. He's always in the middle of the action, going along with every adventure. But he's always playful and fun loving, providing a fun contrast and making him more easily identifiable. The show works to create a three-dimensional character that not only feels real, but acts like a real kid.

Steven is a very realistic child character. He is funny, relaxed, and often over enthusiastic. He can get caught up in little details and facts (such as snakes not having arms), and can often end up letting his attention drift away from more technical aspects of his role. He can also have very real and child-like doubts. He's typically very happy-go-lucky and will give any idea a try at least once, but that doesn't mean that things don't faze him. He can get angry or annoyed just as a child or person naturally would in certain situations. He can lash out and he can be uncertain. And while he's usually having fun during missions, he seems to at least grasp that there is some severity to the situations. The fact that Steven manages to be a typical kid, even in an atypical situation really lends itself to making the character seem very natural. Because of this audiences form a more in depth attachment to him, see more of themselves in him, and become even more invested in the show.

Of course the other characters share this quality. The three gems that Steven lives with, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl also fall into typical tropes. Garnet is stern and stoic, Amethyst is fun and wild, and Pearl is orderly and intellectual. But the show works to expand past these archetypes as well, unveiling hidden depths and traits one wouldn't necessarily expect. On top of this, all three come together to try to understand how best to take care of Steven, and though they aren't always right, it is always heartwarming to watch them try. This gives each of the characters a more three dimensional appeal, even while sticking to these familiar character tropes.

This authentic approach to both Steven and the gems makes them incredibly likable among fans, giving people a reason and way to sympathize and identify with the characters, earning a place in the audience's hearts.

The Draw of a Good Mystery

A show such as Gravity Falls thrives off of mystery and intrigue. Even if an episode doesn't revolve around figuring out the central mystery that surrounds the entire story, then it centers on some kind of individual mystery that needs to be solved. It's proved to be a unique angle for the show and is part of what draws people to it.

But Steven Universe is a bit different. The show doesn't focus around any kind of deliberate mystery, at least not from how it first appears. There's no unknown force or big bad that seems to be affecting their lives every day or interconnects with every mission. Instead the show just drops the audience into a new world, one that seems a bit like ours yet different at the same time. For an entire season the audience simply lives in the world provided to them. But it becomes clear that there are a lot of things that aren't known. This is when the viewers begin to ask questions. Questions about the history and lore of this fictional world, about the backstories of characters, and about what the deeper meaning behind some character actions may be.

But the creators are good at keeping their cards close to their vests, and only answer small questions one at a time. As the show progresses the creators gradually reveal these underlying questions and build up the history of this world. But it isn't until the season finale that a significant portion of the pieces all click into place.

It's an interesting tactic on the show's part. It's not trying to thrive off of mystery, that's not its primary draw. But the mystery is there nonetheless, even if it's more in the background and smaller details. This of course is a huge draw to older viewers. Often children are more content to just live in the world provided to them, they don't necessarily need to know the why, but they can enjoy the reveal regardless. However many older viewers do notice these little mysteries and ask these questions. This coupled with an interesting style and realistic characters makes people more likely to come back to the show. They keep watching out of curiosity, hoping to discover a new secret or uncover a new mystery.

And as we've learned, the internet loves a good mystery.

The Blatant Approach to Gender and Sexuality

Gender and Sexuality may seem like an odd topic to address in a kid's cartoon, but it's no longer as taboo as it used to be. Shows such as Adventure Time and Legend of Korra have tried their best to break the mold, providing strong illusions to romantic relationships between two female characters. Adventure Time especially has tried to take different approaches to gender, something that can be seen in the character BMO, who is portrayed as gender-fluid, one day referring to themselves as he and another as she. Some of these topics have been brushed on in shows such as Spongebob Squarepants, but they've always been used primarily for laughs, and rarely for educational or representational purposes.

Because so many shows have been progressively trying to find more ways to discuss these issues without risking getting pulled from the air, there has been a wave of new and inventive ways to try and address gender and sexuality. And those that succeed are often the ones that catch public, specifically internet, attention.

This is probably where Steven Universe stands out among many other popular shows.

To begin with Steven Universe already has a significant line up of female characters. Of the main four characters, only the title character is male. The supporting cast is also incredibly diverse, both in race and gender. This topic becomes even more interesting though when evaluating the Crystal Gems. Technically the gems are agendered. They are aliens, whose physical forms are actually just stones that act as a sort of 'heart'. The bodies that they use are hard light manifestations, much like a very solid hologram, meaning that they have no physical gender. But of course that concept can be difficult for children to wrap their minds around, which is part of the reason why even humanoid robots are often portrayed with either masculine or feminine traits. So, in following that trend, it seems that all gems identify themselves as female. This means they use female pronouns, dress feminine, and are designed to look more like women. But don't be fooled, their genders are entirely of their own construction, which presents an interesting idea in and of itself.

And because the gems have no true gender, yet they all need to be identified with gendered pronouns, the creators use this to their advantage in order to portray different sexualities.

Throughout the show there have been many different instances of romantic intent between the gems. Specifically, the character Pearl often talks about Steven's mother, Rose, through a romantic lens. From her continued dialogue, as well as from flashbacks where she was shown to be very clearly jealous of Steven's father, it's clear that she had unreciprocated feelings for Rose.

There are other points throughout the series as well, such as when Steven and his friend Connie fuse. Fusion is described as being the mental and physical combination of two people, typically gems, to create what essentially amounts to a separate person that makes up the sum of their parts. As someone who is half human and half gem, Steven is able to fuse with Connie, a human, to create someone new. Because Steven is technically male, and Connie female, their new counterpart has no true defined gender. Not in dress, voice, or design. As the episode progresses we see people of both genders express attraction towards 'Stevonnie,' none even taking notice of the apparent lack of definitive gender. This episode in particular seems to really sum up how the show handles both gender and sexuality, by treating the two as if they are simply a fluid part of life, and that anything "different" by our standards is simply accepted as a nonissue by the characters.

The show truly got noticed for these efforts however in the final episode of the first season, when its popularity really took off. In the episode it is revealed that one of the main characters, Garnet, was in fact a fusion (the name for the person that fusing creates) the entire time. The two 'female' gems, Ruby and Sapphire were shown to be very much in love with one another, and clearly romantic. They choose to fuse with one another to create Garnet, in order to be in what is considered the 'ultimate relationships.' Because the show was so open with the two's relationship it gained a lot of attention for pushing past many of the perceived boundaries in addressing same sex relationships.

And because the gems are technically agendered, the creators are able to avoid any problems revolving around the issue. They have a built in 'out.'

It's an ingenious set up, and Steven Universe really took off as a result of being willing to experiment with gender and sexuality. Gender identity is a large theme of the show, yet acts as more of an undercurrent than anything 'in your face,' making the issue feel very natural. Many shows will use same sex relationships for humor or sexualization, but Steven Universe 's was willing to push past previously established boundaries in order to portray a loving same sex relationship. This makes it unique in its time, and is a large part of what captured the attention of so many new viewers.

The Importance of a Strong Emotional Center

At the end of the day there's always one surefire way to make an impression on any audience: heart. Mindless and sugar coated cartoons can be enjoyed, no doubt, but there is a reason why they often go ignored or are seen as fun background noise by mature audiences. These shows simply have little to no heart. They're there to be fun, bright, and funny and little else. There's nothing to identify with or apply beyond the basic lessons taught to children by any other TV show.

It seems like an obvious statement, but the shows that resonate with audiences are the ones that offer the most heart. Just considering the shows that have gotten popular over the past few years, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Adventure Time, Legend of Korra, Gravity Falls, and even many shows from the past, one can see a definite trend in what really gets people talking. These are the shows that offer mature morals, and present a lot of heart.

Heart of course is a very vague descriptor, so what would it actually be considered? Do other shows not have emotional moments or sympathetic characters? No, not necessarily. When a show is considered to 'have heart' what is meant is that the emotional aspect of the show is always present, even if it isn't always the focus. So many times in a show there will be softer emotional moments throughout episodes, and in each episode we feel a real emotional investment in whether or not the problem is solved. When something bad happens to a character we don't just go "aww, poor thing," instead we really feel their pain and identify with it. "Heart" is what allows the audience to have a stake in the outcome of the show. And ultimately that's how a good show gets a major following among mature audiences.

And heart is something Steven Universe has plenty of. Much of this plays into characterization, as previously mentioned. But the show allows ample time for an emotional connection with the audience. The show is constantly in touch with its different relationships. The individual relationships between Steven and his caretakers, between the gems themselves, between friends, and even between Steven and his absent mother, are a testament to this. There's a lot at the creator's fingertips and they use it to their advantage. The show is full of subtle moments, where the audience can glean a sense of the type of turmoil characters feel from a backhanded comment or an unexpected reaction. But there are other moments as well, when emotions can no longer be repressed, and both the characters and the audience experiences a sense of catharsis. It's a common tactic in strong storytelling and has proven to resonate with audiences.

The show's heart in combination with its style allows it to be as silly or serious as it needs to be. So an episode about a character breaking down isn't out of place any more than an episode about putting on a play. This is because even within these episodes the show knows how to balance out laughs with sincerity. An episode can focus on heavy subjects but manage to keep its light hearted humor and hope, or it can focus on light topics but always allow room for real emotional stakes in the outcomes.

Heart can take many forms in shows, especially in cartoons. But it's clear from its growing popularity that Steven Universe has a distinctive emotional center that it has developed into something unique, identifiable, and, most of all, heartwarming.

With its soothing art, short run time, and fun escapades, its understandable why this show was largely overlooked by the masses for a significant period of time. But when looking at its stunning scenes, unique and genuinely entertaining humor, likable and realistic characters, interesting mystery and plot, progressive gender and sexuality representation, and heartfelt moments, it's easy to see how it eventually caught the attention of so many people. It took a while for the show to reveal some of its cards, but as soon as it did people flocked to it.

People are attracted to Steven Universe, and cartoons in general, because they offer something unique and creative. Its giving audience's something new. People who grew up with different shows are looking at today's animations and saying "I've never seen that done before in this way." And so long as Steven Universe can continue doing that, giving new humor, new stories, and a new world, it will continue to catch the attention of both children and adults alike.

What do you think? .

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Steven Universe: The Rise of Popularity in Internet Fandoms

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Over the past several years there has been an insurgence of cartoons that have captured the hearts and attention of viewers of all ages across the internet. From Avatar: The Last Airbender and its impeccable world building and enrapturing plot, to Adventure Time with its surrealist humor and bright animation, it's become more and more common for cartoons to no longer be considered 'kids' stuff,' and grab the attention of older viewers.

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5 Episodes Of Steven Universe That Deal With Social Issues We Still Don't Talk Enough About

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5 Episodes Of Steven Universe That Deal With Social Issues We Still Don't Talk Enough About

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https://www.theodysseyonline.com/episodes-steven-universe-deal-relevant-issues-society-social

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If you could only know what we really are...

You've watched the internet explode in joy and tears every time Steven Universe comes on TV - but you're still not sure who Steven is, much less whether or not Universe is actually his last name. If you're the uninitiate, let us walk you through the ins and outs (with as few spoilers as possible) of Cartoon Network's biggest hit in years.

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What is Steven Universe?

Steven Universe is an all-ages animated series that airs intermittently on Cartoon Network. Episodes run at about 10 minutes long, and - depending on timeslot - are either aired alone or in half-hour blocks of two. It comes from the mind of animator Rebecca Sugar, making it the first Cartoon Network original series created by a woman.

Sugar is one of a busy generation of animators to have come out of Cartoon Network's epic Adventure Time series and gone on to craft their own successful, original projects - she shares that "origin story" with folks like Natasha Allegri ( Bee & PuppyCat) and Patrick McHale ( Over the Garden Wall). While on Adventure Time, Sugar took storyboarding duties - which, in Adventure Time production lingo, is synonymous with "writing duties" - on episodes like "It Came From the Nightosphere" and "Simon & Marcy," both of which were nominated for an Emmy. "Nightosphere" was actually her first storyboarding work on the series.

But she's probably best known to Adventure Time fans as the person behind some of the show's most enduring music, including " Fry Song," " I'm Just Your Problem," " Nuts/Remember You," and, of course, " Bacon Pancakes." And Sugar's keen musical talents are in full force in Steven Universe, even in the voice cast. British singer/songwriter Estelle plays a lead role in Steven Universe as the Crystal Gem known as Garnet, and the show has boasted cameos from the likes of Aimee Mann, Patti LuPone and Nicki Minaj. (Other names of note who play recurring roles in the series include Joel Hodgson as Mayor Dewey, Sinbad as Mr. Smiley, Brian Posehn as Sour Cream and Tom Scharpling as Greg Universe.)

But Steven Universe's cast has another thing that sets it apart from many kids' cartoons: It's overwhelmingly composed of actors of color. That's a rare choice for a children's show that is not primarily about racial themes - not to mention a show in which a large portion of the cast come in literally every color in the spectrum. And in animation, a medium where the actor's appearance can always be easily divorced from their character's, it's clearly a deliberate choice, too.

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Who is Steven Universe about?

Steven Universe is what happens when a generation who grew up watching Sailor Moon and other Magical Girl anime alongside standard Western Saturday morning fare grows up and becomes animators.

The show follows the adventures of a group of warriors known as the Crystal Gems as they fight to protect life on Earth from monsters and other threats. Our superheroic roster consists of Garnet the inscrutably cool team leader; Pearl, the voice of reason; Amethyst, the hothead; and our main character, the titular Steven Universe (yes, it is his last name), the bumbling kid sidekick and the only boy on the team.

It also follows the Crystal Gems' interactions with the citizens of their hometown, Beach City: Steven's failure to launch father Greg Universe; his sheltered, overachieving best friend (and maybe more, someday) Connie Maheswaran; Lars and Sadie, the employees at the local doughnut shop; and many more.

Nothing is simply what it seems at first glance in Steven Universe

Now, these are all simplistic descriptions of these characters - but they're also how the Crystal Gems, et al. appear upon first watch: as stock tropes from team action cartoons. Steven Universe is, in good part, about Steven growing up, and it's not afraid to start the series while he's still very much an excited, inexperienced kid.

But, since the beginning of the series, we've explored Steven's complicated relationship with his mother, the founder and former leader of the Crystal Gems, who "gave up her physical form to bring [Steven] into the world" (a line of dialogue that's casually tossed off in the second episode without so much as giving the viewer a chance to gasp). We've also watched him grow into his Crystal Gem powers, turning from the trainee team member who only gets to go on the easy missions to a fully fledged Crystal Gem. And we've watched him, the only known human/gem hybrid, learn how best to embody his role as the link between two cultures.

We know the understandable reasons why Amethyst craves attention and approval, and acts out when she can't get it. We know that Pearl's worrying and need for order is an important part of what keeps the Crystal Gems together. We know that Garnet ... well, Garnet's still cool. We just know that she's even cooler than we originally thought.

Nothing is simply what it seems at first glance in Steven Universe. Even episodes that start out with stock plots never finish that way, and the show subscribes heavily to the Adventure Time/ Gravity Falls rising scale of world building and emotional complexity.

But where Adventure Time does its explosive plot events whenever it feels like, Steven Universe is clearly playing by plan. It is possible to look back at the series' second episode, "Laser Light Cannon," and find foreshadowing for events that took two seasons to become fully apparent to viewers.

What are those events? Westernized Magical Girl adventures are, after all, not everybody's cup of tea, nor does the phrase properly indicate the show's surprising depth, or even the majority of its subject matter. So if you're willing to hear some spoilers in order to find out whether you'd really be interested in the show, keep reading.

If not, click here to scroll past the spoilers to where we talk about Steven Universe's general themes.

Steven refers to himself as "half magic" on his mother's side, but the series is actually rooted heavily in science fiction - in Steven Universe, sufficiently advanced technology really is indistinguishable from magic. The Crystal Gems are actually thousands-of-years-old rebels from an alien empire who turned from their conquering ways when their leader, Rose Quartz (Steven's mother, or, in some senses, his previous form) realized that the native life on Earth had inherent value greater than the planet's mineral core. It is implied that the war between the Crystal Gems and Homeworld took place during human prehistory or possibly even earlier, and that it significantly altered Earth's geography from the continental shapes we are familiar with.

While Gems always present in a way that humans would recognize as female and use female pronouns, they do not have sex or sexes. Gems aren't even strictly corporeal: their humanoid forms are actually projections emanating from the gem that forms the core of their physical being - giving them powerful regenerative and shapeshifting abilities. Most important of these is their ability to form Fusions, composite beings made up of two or more Gems - and thus proportionately larger. Every well-matched Fusion, we learn, is a concrete being with her own personality, identity and desires, who exists only when her component gems fuse.

In fact, in the climax of season one, Steven Universe reveals that Garnet is a fusion of two smaller Gems, Ruby and Sapphire, who care for each other so much that they choose to live as one being. Garnet is the physical embodiment of their relationship. To get metaphorical, it's also the moment that the show rips down the curtain labeled "Subtext" to reveal a mural of the word "TEXT" in large block print: Gems identify as female. Gems love. Gems have same-gender relationships. The leader of the Crystal Gems is literally a large, super strong lesbian made up of two smaller lesbians.

And Steven Universe presents this idea with a triumphant musical number - the series' first solo song for Estelle, Garnet's voice actress - that is also a fight scene and an escape sequence that takes place on a crashing alien ship.

The existence of Ruby and Sapphire isn't the episode's only reveal at the close of season one: The centuries of relative peace that the Crystal Gems have spent fighting the dregs of a Gem army, mutated into unrecognizable monsters, are over. Homeworld has had centuries to develop technologically since they last visited Earth - the Diamond Authority is coming to finish what it started.

And that's without addressing the human characters in Beach City, who are just as important to the development of the show's characters as its plot and setting reveals. But that's enough about the show's story. What's just as important in understanding what makes Steven Universe a hit is its themes.

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What is Steven Universe about?

Rebecca Sugar has said that her biggest inspiration for Steven Universe is her own childhood spent playing video games, watching cartoons and hanging out with her own brother, Steven (who, incidentally, designs backgrounds for the show). Above all, the Gems are a supportive and loving family, and it's easy to see the sibling archetypes in its main cast: Garnet as the ineffably cool older sibling, Pearl as the older child trying to mother the younger before they've really developed the maturity to do it, and Amethyst as the bigger kid who forgets their brother can't play as rough as they do.

But if the Crystal Gems are a family, they're one defined by an absence: the loss of Steven's mother, Rose Quartz. Multiple episodes in the series explore what losing Rose meant to each of the Gems, as well as Steven's struggle with the pressure to live up to the charismatic, powerful example that she set as a Crystal Gem - when he only knows her through what others have told him.

In fact, there's a lot of Steven Universe that is about grief, grieving and loss, in episodes like "Indirect Kiss," "Maximum Capacity," "Lion 3: Straight to Video" and "So Many Birthdays." So much so that we've got a whole article about it. But it's far from the show's only theme that you wouldn't expect in kids' TV.

Steven Universe is gleefully creepy when it wants to be, showing influences from stuff as far out of Cartoon Network prime time fare as Akira - in an episode in which Steven's efforts to learn shapeshifting result in him becoming a crawling mass of uncontrollably multiplying cat heads with minds of their own.

Among its other virtues, this is a show where an episode revolves around the main character accidentally creating an army of hostile, faceless watermelon boys. It's a show where one episode ends with a cute Beach Boys-type ditty with the final line "I learned to stay true to myself/by watching myself die."

And no discussion of Steven Universe would be complete without talking about its music, either its instrumental score - an inventively orchestrated slew of chiptune-inspired pieces from Aivi Tran and Steven "Surasshu" Velema - or its spontaneous musical numbers, or its scenes in which characters sing just because they brought their ukulele along so why not compose a song on the spot about giant warrior women. In fact, let's take a listen to "Giant Woman."

For extra credit, listen to "Let me Drive My Van Into Your Heart," Greg Universe's ode to falling in love with the giant warrior woman Rose Quartz, until you realize you can sing one song over the other's chords and vice versa.

Steven Universe uses music to advance major character arcs, to deftly display a character's internal emotions, and simply because a number of its core cast are musicians anyway. And as you may have noticed from the images in this post, the show is a treat to the eyes as well as the ears - it's a beautifully drawn, gorgeously animated series full of inventively designed characters and monsters. There's a reason why the fandom is full of "gemsonas" - people love imagining what they might look like if they were a Gem.

the malleability of gender definitions is the show's most subversive positive theme

But the show's strongest themes are about gender, identity and love - love between people of all genders. Identity in episodes like "Tiger Millionaire," which maintains that fandom and heroic roleplay have considerable value when you struggle to find acceptance in the rest of your life. Love, in episodes like "Keystone Motel," which is about how two people can get mad and spend a little time apart in order to resolve their disagreement, and that's normal and ok. Love doesn't mean perfection.

Steven Universe deftly packages all of these ideas in ways that are as nuanced as they are all-ages-appropriate, and it does it so well that it has to be watched to be believed. Sugar says her goal is for the show to be " subversive in a positive way." Perhaps the zenith of this idea comes in Season 2, where Steven Universe devotes an entire five-episode arc to the idea of consent. Soliciting intimacy from someone under false pretenses is wrong and hurtful, the arc establishes, even if it filled your emotional needs. And the show has devoted other episodes to "morals" like "Infatuation is not the same thing as love."

Or take "Alone Together" as an example. The core theme of that episode is that as you grow up and start to look like an adult, people may react to you in new ways. That attention can be confusing, and if it makes you uncomfortable you have the right to tell them to stop and get angry if they ignore you. They're wrong for making you uncomfortable, and you didn't do anything wrong to deserve their attention.

But with Steven as a main character, the malleability of gender definitions is the show's most subversive positive theme. Steven is never made to feel insecure about being a boy in a feminine role - either as a Crystal Gem or as a kid whose magical powers are entirely defensive and manifest only in shades of pink. His dominant personality traits are affection, empathy, kindness - and they're established repeatedly as traits that make him an essential part of the Crystal Gems. Steven's kindness wins battles - his encouragement and empathy keeps them together as a team.

Steven is not only a character whose abilities are implied to be triggered by his maternal instincts - he's the vanishingly rare male hero who is trying to live up to his mother's formidable legacy, rather than his father's. He sings a whole catchy song about how he thinks seeing a giant, powerful woman be giant and powerful would be really cool, for crissakes. He's the toxic masculinity antidote.

"subversive in a positive way"

There is, of course, more depth here in regard to a lot of these themes - but not any that can be gotten into without spoilers for some of the show's most exciting moments. If you really want to see how well Steven Universe plays with ideas that no other all-ages Western animated show is playing with - certainly no other series that has reached its level of popularity - you'll have to check it out yourself.

If there's one episode I recommend starting with, it's "Tiger Millionaire." If it doesn't seem like your cup of tea, the show's probably not for you. But no matter where you start, the good news is that you have the whole series ahead of you to binge. After that, you can join the rest of in waiting for the next StevenBomb.

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If you could only know what we really are... You've watched the internet explode in joy and tears every time Steven Universe comes on TV - but you're still not sure who Steven is, much less whether or not Universe is actually his last name.

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Writing in Subtext: The Brilliance and the Problems of 'Steven Universe'

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Writing in Subtext: The Brilliance and the Problems of 'Steven Universe'

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https://www.popmatters.com/writing-in-subtext-the-brilliance-and-the-problems-of-steven-universe-2495418384.html