Stop! Giant robots shouldn’t fight!
Steven Universe is an adventure show about
a boy with super powers derived from an
interstellar gemstone in his belly.
But in many ways it’s also a coming-of-age
story about a young man growing up and
trying to find his place in the world.
My gem!
Quick! Try and summon your weapon.
I don't know how.
Ah! It's fading! How do I make it come back?
Calm down, Steven. Breathe. D--
[Group sigh.]
Aww! I was really close that time.
Coming-of-age narratives for boys usually
involve an education in sex, sports,
hunting, or fighting.
Jonathan: These activities are framed as a
sort of rite-of-passage. In stories set in
sci-fi, fantasy, or superhero genres,
combat is almost always the mechanism
through which young men must prove
their worthiness.
This is usually not framed as outright
aggression on the hero’s part, but is
instead justified as the ability to “fight back.”
There are accompanying characteristics like
wit, determination, cleverness or confidence,
but learning how to be “tough" and proficient
in dealing out violence is consistently framed
as a necessary step for boys to complete
their journey into manhood.
As the series begins, Steven Universe appears
to be following in the footsteps of these
well-worn conventions. Steven wants his own
gem-powered weapon to help fight off
monsters like the other Crystal Gems.
But when he finally does conjure his weapon
it isn’t a weapon.
Steven, it’s a shield.
And this is where the series begins to
depart from classic genre expectations.
Rather than being disappointed at not
getting an offensive or aggressive skill,
Steven wholeheartedly embraces his
new defensive superpower.
Steven: Aw, what? I get a shield?
Oh, YEAH!
Hey guys, over here!
The show continues its subversion of
boy hero tropes when we find out that
Steven is a healer.
What?
I can see without my glasses!
Did I heal your eyes? But, how?
Jonathan: His mother had healing tears,
whereas Steven has...
Steven: The Juice box! I don't have
healing tears! I have healing spit!
Yeah, maybe a little gross. But when you
think about it, that essentially means that
Steven possesses healing kisses,
healing affection.
Yeah! Here goes something new and exciting.
Mmm, and GO!
Okay, you should be better now.
So, Steven’s a healer and his gem power is
centered around shielding others from harm
That’s especially interesting because in
many fantasy stories and video games,
those are both considered to be secondary
or support skills.
Medics and other protective spell casters
have often been gendered roles. They’re
roles that have been filled by women who
stand back and supplement the other warrior
classes, who have traditionally been men.
This convention has begun to change in
recent years, which is a really good sign.
But the gendering of these types of roles
still remains a pervasive pattern in media.
Giving these kinds of support powers to
the male protagonist is a fun if pretty
straightforward inversion. But I’d argue
that Steven has another superpower.
Something that’s even more important and
even more fundamental to his character and
to the show’s values as a whole.
You see, Steven is empathic.
You might even say he’s super-empathic.
Steven, your mother had healing tears that
flowed from her gem. She felt real love for
those around her. She felt real sorrow when
they were hurt. You have the Rose Quartz
gem now. I know that power is in you too.
Empathy is the ability to understand and
share the feelings or emotions of another
person. But empathy is not just feeling bad
for someone else. It’s actually feeling what
they feel, and that’s an important distinction.
It’s what separates sympathy from empathy.
Spirit, show yourself!
It’s close. I can feel it. It’s hurting
and obsessed.
Wait, how do you know?
I don’t, but I could just feel it. She was
yelling, and she was really freaked out.
As season one begins the show’s structure
seems to be following a fairly standard
“monster of the week” adventure show formula.
But then in episode 23, which is appropriately
titled "Monster Buddies," we start to get
the sense that this is not just a show about
going on fun adventures and fighting baddies,
like a lot of other shows in the same genre
tend to be. At the beginning of that episode
we see the Gems fighting a monster just
like they have many times before...
Pearl: One more attack should do it.
Jonathan: -- but this time Steven reacts
a little differently.
Steven: Yikes! Your arm.
Did you see it? No? Okay. Let’s rewind it
and watch it again. Ok. So, notice that
the creature's arm is damaged during this
encounter.
Steven: Yikes! Your arm--
Jonathan: And seeing this, Steven expresses
concern for her well-being, while grabbing
at his own arm. Essentially, Steven is
super sensitive to others. He possesses the
capacity to vicariously experience other
people's feelings. When someone else is
hurting, Steven hurts. He feels their pain
as if it were his own.
This kind of super-sensitivity is especially
rare for boy heroes because in our culture
emotional intuition is still stereotypically
associated with women. And as such, media
often frames it as overly sensitive
"girl stuff." But on this show,
things work very differently.
Steven: Well, I think you're pretty great.
Jonathan: In this universe, it’s common
for male characters to act in caring and
emotionally sensitive ways.
You can watch my full episode about that
right here.
Later, Steven makes friends with another
monster and names her Centipeetle.
At first, they're both afraid of each other.
But remember from my last video that being
afraid is not a negative trait on this show.
And Steven's fear is reasonable; the monster
is indeed dangerous. But Steven is resolute
in his conviction that monsters are not
all bad, that there is still good in them.
Steven: It looks so scared. Uh, hi.
Aw, it's okay.
Look. Please don't be scared of me.
See, I'm not going to hurt you.
Jonathan: Now critically, Steven's belief
that his new monster buddy can be redeemed
is not framed by the show as childish
idealism. Instead it's looked upon as
honorable and commendable.
Stop! You don't need to fight!
This isn't you! You're not a monster anymore.
You're more than that.
The larger lore of this universe also works
to validate Steven's empathetic convictions.
Recall that the Crystal Gems all have
extraterrestrial superpowers because of
their gemstones. In the episode "Ocean Gem,"
we learn that all the monsters our heroes
have been fighting each week are actually
gems themselves, or more accurately they
once were gems but they've been corrupted.
I can't believe Lapis would do this.
Gems shouldn't fight each other.
We're always fighting gems, actually.
What?!
Oh, how do I put this?
All gems aren't necessarily good.
All those monsters we fight used to be
just like us! Right, Pearl?
Yes, but they've become corrupted and
broken. We have to take care of them,
subdue them, contain them. It's the best
we can do for them for now.
This also illustrates one of the core values
of the show, which is the belief in the
possibility of transformative redeption.
The truth is Rose Quartz had tried to use
her powers to save these monsters too.
But she was never able to heal them.
Never? But if she couldn't do it.
Who knows. Maybe when you have better
control of your powers, you might help
them in ways even your mother couldn't.
Even this one.
Steven: I'll keep it safe.
Jonathan: And Steven, along with his
supercharged empathy, are often the voice
of that message.
Steven: Wow...wait for me Centipeetle.
I promise I'll heal you up someday.
He sees the redemptive possibility in
everyone and everything, even when the much
more experienced gems may be a little
skeptical. For Steven, no one is unworthy
of compassion or empathy, even monsters.
Steven, be careful.
But this just happened. Maybe I can do
something. Jasper, it's okay. I'm here.
I just wanna try and heal you.
It's uncommon to see this kind of empathy
on television, especially when expressed
for the "bad guys." While it is true that
most "good guys" in media do demonstrate
some empathy for their friends, their
family, and their allies, those feelings
are very rarely extended to their enemies.
And it's almost unheard of in programming
aimed at children, which tends, more than
most, to break narratives down into simplistic
good versus evil, easy to digest lessons.
[Duck Tales theme song plays]
Jonathan: In most animated shows, the "bad
guys" simply can't be reformed. If you look
at everything from, say, Duck Tales to the
Batman universe, you'll notice that the
villains are by and large framed as evil
by nature. Villainy is not just something
they do. Villainy is what they are.
The prisoner will stand.
Jonathan: So any attempt at rehabilitation
is ultimately doomed to fail.
And the belief in the possibility of
redemption is therefore often framed as
foolish or naive or worse—something
that can actually endanger society itself.
But on Steven Universe things are more
nuanced. Here, the "bad guys" don't just
do bad things because they're intrinsically
or inherently evil. They do bad things
because of their history and their
circumstances. Now the bad guys are no less
dangerous, but it does mean there always
exists at least the possibility for
redemption. And that possibility is what
guides and shapes Steven's actions.
Wait. Let me try talking to it.
Hey. How's it going? Can you hear me?
Are you in there somewhere?
And this brings us to the final point
I want to make in this video. A critical
part of Steven's super-empathy is that
it's always actionable. The actionable part
is key. Not only does he feel for others...
Steven: Oh, oh! She's coming back!
Jonathan: ...he also does something about it.
Steven: Alright, everyone be supportive.
Jonathan: Steven consistently intervenes to
de-escalate and resolve conflicts.
Lapis! I don't want to fight anymore.
I said I don't wanna fight!
Jonathan: In the episode "Ocean Gem," we
get to see Steven using all of his
superpowers to de-escalate a potentially
cataclysmic situation. He ends the fight
and ultimately resolves the conflict by
talking it out with the antagonist.
Lapis, I'm coming up to see you.
Steven: Lapis.
What are you doing here, Steven?
What? I... No. What are you doing here?
This thing, the ocean, this is crazy!
Can't we work this out? We gems should
be friends.
Jonathan: Steven talks with her, he listens
to her, and he treats her with empathy
and kindness.
I just want to go home.
Jonathan: In the end, he even uses his
healing powers to mend her broken gem, even
after she's tried to hurt him,
his friends, and his family.
Thank you, Steven.
Now it's not all kumbaya in Beach City.
The Crystal Gems are not pacifists. Our
heroes are often forced into battle, but
when that happens Steven still expresses
his discomfort, even when
he's under attack by mutants.
Steven: They're all over us. They're
attacking the drill. What do we do?
Jonathan: So win or lose, the specter of
violence and confrontation weighs heavy
on his heart.
Something doesn't feel right about this.
Then use the D-pad.
No. It's just, these things. We can't just
leave their gems out there. They're going
to form again later. If I could just bubble
them, then they'd be safe. Come on.
We've got to help them.
And of course there's tension and discord
among friends from time to time, sometimes
even leading to physical fights, but on
this show those issues are ultimately
resolved through means other than violence
and domination, often at the insistence
of Steven himself.
So it was all my fault? Hoho, you totally
weren't even trying to sync with my dancing.
You should know how I dance by now.
Steven: Stop!
Come on, guys. Please stop fighting.
Why don't you just leave!
Admit it. I'm just an embarrassment to you.
Amethyst, please, no more! I know you're
upset, but I can't bear to watch you two
hurt each other.
It's Steven's undying faith in the
possibility of redemptive transformation
that drives his efforts to prevent fights.
You, listen to me now. You are talking
about things that you do not understand.
Garnet, stop, please! It's not worth it.
We're done here. Let's just go home.
Wait, don't! Come on, baby melon.
We have to stop this.
If that thing hurt you, so help me, I'll...
No! It didn't do anything. Garnet, don't
hurt it! I accidentally let it out of its
bubble, but it didn't even try to hurt me.
It's not like the other monsters.
It's just scared and confused.
Everything that we've talked about in this
episode is extremely rare for boy heroes
on TV. But it really shouldn't be.
The world could use a whole lot more of
Steven's superpowers. We need more role
models for boys where empathy and
de-escalation and diplomacy are framed as
brave and heroic behaviors.
Haha, yeah. That's what I'm talking about.
You got that much needed counterpoint to
our cynical worldview.
The good news is that unlike a magical
shield or healing saliva, you don't need
an interstellar gemstone to practice
empathic behaviors. Now it may take us
some time to learn how to wield them
effectively, but we all have access to
those very human superpowers.
I hope you enjoyed this in depth exporation
of themes and messages on Steven Universe.
If you'd like to see more videos related
to media and manhood, you can help fund
the Pop Culture Detective Agency
over on our Patreon page.