Steven's Universe is my new summer discovery of a show. The show is bold, producing a fantastical plot that is able to explore a variety of identities ranging from body size, race, and sexual orientation. Most importantly, these identities don't feel forced or political, instead they function within the universe to allow the main character to explore the world with a normal that unfortunately isn't normal for most of the people who share the identities of these characters. I love this show and think it should be considered the benchmark for how to produce socially conscious material that's compelling. You would think that a fandom that spawns from this show would be as accepting and open minded as the characters in the show. Unfortunately they aren't. Instead they ridicule anyone who creates art that doesn't remain faithful to their interpretation of the source material. The argument is that the LGBTQ and the non-conforming community and women have a unique claim to the artistic material. First, thanks white people :D. And also thanks to SU for hardly exploring the racial dimension that exists in the show. But even if we found a person of color who identified with the aforementioned communities, would that person have a pure claim to Steven's Universe? I don't think so. There is only one group that Steven's Universe is for. Kids.
The thing about Steven's Universe that so many people from so many backgrounds don't get is that it's not about them. It's about the children. These shows are teaching children to have a much broader mind concerning gender, race and sexual orientation. It teaches kids that love cannot be caricatured as gay or straight, but instead is made up of actual interactions. As a bigger guy, it would've been nice seeing a chubby Steven be good enough for his friend Connie. A beautiful mother who also shared his grandiose stature caps off my love of this show. These characters reminded me of my childhood, but provided me with an alternative way to interact with the people in my life. If only I grew up watching this show, but I didn't. And neither did any of you producing all this ridiculous vitriol over a skinny Rose or a white cosplayer dressing as Amethyst.
In a world connected by the internet, we nerds need to be aware of when we hastily take material intended for kids and make it our own. We have a responsibility to either keep kids from seeing our mature takes of the show or producing material that will not poison the innocence of children with our bickering. I don't think the community is acting irrational, but how far is too far with this behavior? The fact that a girl attempted suicide because of the backlash from a drawing is ridiculous. Perhaps if people took the time out to critique her drawing in a level headed manner, the community would be represented as passionate and thoughtful gatekeepers of the content, not crude bullies. Fortunately for me, my blog is hardly read, so I doubt any of these over zealous fools will shower me with their discontent. But if they do, that's fine. I'm not a young girl. I'm a grown cis-gendered Puerto Rican man and I'm telling you that you don't own Steven's Universe. The children do.
The thing about Steven's Universe that so many people from so many backgrounds don't get is that it's not about them. It's about the children. These shows are teaching children to have a much broader mind concerning gender, race and sexual orientation. It teaches kids that love cannot be caricatured as gay or straight, but instead is made up of actual interactions. As a bigger guy, it would've been nice seeing a chubby Steven be good enough for his friend Connie. A beautiful mother who also shared his grandiose stature caps off my love of this show. These characters reminded me of my childhood, but provided me with an alternative way to interact with the people in my life. If only I grew up watching this show, but I didn't. And neither did any of you producing all this ridiculous vitriol over a skinny Rose or a white cosplayer dressing as Amethyst.
In a world connected by the internet, we nerds need to be aware of when we hastily take material intended for kids and make it our own. We have a responsibility to either keep kids from seeing our mature takes of the show or producing material that will not poison the innocence of children with our bickering. I don't think the community is acting irrational, but how far is too far with this behavior? The fact that a girl attempted suicide because of the backlash from a drawing is ridiculous. Perhaps if people took the time out to critique her drawing in a level headed manner, the community would be represented as passionate and thoughtful gatekeepers of the content, not crude bullies. Fortunately for me, my blog is hardly read, so I doubt any of these over zealous fools will shower me with their discontent. But if they do, that's fine. I'm not a young girl. I'm a grown cis-gendered Puerto Rican man and I'm telling you that you don't own Steven's Universe. The children do.
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