🐱 Cartoon Network Tried to Downplay The Queerness of Steven Universe

Cartoon Network Tried to Downplay The Queerness of Steven Universe

Rebecca Sugar says that Cartoon network encouraged her not to talk about the queerness of her series Steven Universe.

www.themarysue.com

Few shows have changed the landscape of animation like Steven Universe has. The series, which premiered on Cartoon Network in 2013, followed the adventures of young boy Steven Universe, who lives with Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, magical aliens known as the Crystal Gems. Created by Adventure Time alum Rebecca Sugar, the series quickly drew raves for its expansive and compassionate portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters and gender fluidity. Steven Universe was the first animated series to win the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Kids & Family Program in 2019, and took home a Peabody Award the same year.

But while the series reaped critical acclaim and a devoted queer fanbase, Sugar describes a very different attitude from Cartoon Network behind the scenes. In a joint interview with She-Ra and the Princesses of Powershowrunner Noelle Stevenson for Paper Magazine, Sugar described the pushback she received from the network.

Sugar said, “We strategized the concept of fusion to be able to explore relationships and include queer relationships. Central to that, one of the things we were excited about was to have the character of Garnet have a ton of screen time and be a main character.” In season 2 episode “The Answer”, the series revealed that Garnet was a fusion of two queer gems, Ruby and Sapphire. According to Sugar, the network was less than supportive.

“They told us point-blank, ‘you can’t have these characters be in a romantic relationship,’ but at that point Garnet was so established that audiences could instantly understand what the relationship was, the song had already been written, the episode had already been boarded so we were already in full production. I’m really proud of the patience we had and the time that we took to fully explore these characters at a time when that was not necessarily possible.
Back in 2014, 2015, 2016 I was told that I couldn’t discuss it publicly. They basically brought me in and said ‘we want to support that you’re doing this but you have to understand that internationally if you speak about this publicly, the show will be pulled from a lot of countries and that may mean the end of the show.’ They actually gave me the choice to speak about it or not, to tell the truth about it or not, around 2015/ 2016, by then I was honestly really mentally ill and I dissociated at Comic Con.
I would privately do drawings of these characters kissing and hugging that I was not allowed to share. I couldn’t reconcile how simple this felt to me and how impossible it was to do, so I talked about it. The show survived in a large part because of the support from fans. I’m really proud of the choice we made and what we were able to accomplish together. I’m so proud of my team who supported me through all of this, crafted the show and navigated this with me.
The way they put their mental health on the line to tell stories that were personal to them. It seems absurd to think that only a few years ago and really now, that a person’s job, their ability to make cartoons, could hinge on their sexual orientation, it’s profoundly unfair and ridiculous but true. That really needs to shift and is still in the process of shifting. I only understand what I saw from inside the framework of Cartoon Network and Turner, so Noelle, if you’d like to speak about this I completely respect and understand the difficulty of talking about going through something like this so definitely only share what makes you comfortable.”
Stevenson said she faced similar pushback from Netflix, even after She-Rapremiered in a post-Steven Universe world. She described support waning after the 2016 election saying, “At first it seemed like we were going to get this from the company, we were really excited about that and so we were setting things up in season one, we had the “Princess Prom” episode, then the election in 2016 happened and everybody got really scared. It was immediately, like Rebecca said, the same kind of pushback where we were told point-blank we would not be able to do this. Across the board, no romance. That was how broad it got! Let’s just be extra-safe, no romance whatsoever.”
Both series, which still boast a massive fan base, are proof that queer stories have a massive fan base, not just in animation, but across pop culture. The interview is a fascinating look at the creative process for both shows, and the determination of queer creators to make sure they get to tell their own stories.
(via Paper Magazine, image: Cartoon Network)

 

[Fanatical Pragmatist]

Yes, that's what was wrong with Steven Universe, that it wasn't gay ENOUGH!

 

[Kled]

I blame SU for starting this stupid fucking trend of having egregious, over the top anime references slapped about like a beaten wife. That new TMNT show is fucking filled with it. Anime is not some obscure weirdo shit anymore. Why do they need to force it through?

 

[-4ZURE-]

I like Steven Universe, but i dont think it will have a very lasting legacy, most of what the show did was already done in adventure time or in anime. And kids dont really care about romance, so that part of the show was lost to them, teenagers do, but they already have plenty of access to shows that deal with them, and im pretty sure most teenagers find Steven Universe tame and childish. Im a silly man, so I just watched it for the silly stories. I think my favorite episode was when they played baseball. One thing I will give it credit and it is underated is the musical aspect.

I think it will. The music is an aspect that will live on in many nerd groups. The show itself also has high moments every now and again. If anything, it will end up like Sonic. Never seen as good as the franchise it is based on (Mario, Adventure Time), has a terrible fanbase of cringe that transcends the show itself, half of it is actually good to warrant a fanbase, and the music is great no matter how bad the product gets. Not to mention the fact that Steven Universe in compasses 2010s culture the same way Sonic does the 90s, for better or worse.



For an honest opinion, the show is pretty average. It was really good for the first season or two, and had a great set up with the invasion stuff. I think the thing that really makes Steven Universe disgusting in the SJW appeal is that unlike the Star Wars sequels or the other sjw franchises, the show itself had potential to be a CN great. If they just gave proper conclusions to arcs instead of Steven cry and get peace, the show could have been great. It was serious, funny, and overall had some well written characters in its early years. Even the LGBT stuff that we hate on today was not all that bad. Say what you want about Garnet, but the show heavily built up to it and the relationship makes sense in the context of the show’s mechanics. They established fusion and had multiple hints of Garnet being one.

Ultimately, the 2010s CN series were very hit-or-miss. The shows did comedy well, but got way more interesting when they were serious. The issue though was that they had no idea where to take plot lines. Regular Show, Steven Universe, and Adventure Time all had issues on following through on story arcs. Steven just sticks out the most as it was the best at it in its early days, and they felt the need to shove in tons of liberal ideology towards the end. Out of all 3, I say Adventure Time is the best. Sure it has many, many flaws, but the character writing was the strongest in Adventure Time and I enjoyed a good amount of the world building when it was tied to an actual main character.

Also Steven Universe is better than Disney trash like Gravity Falls and Star Vs. The Forces if Evil.

 

[kobox666]

I think it will. The music is an aspect that will live on in many nerd groups. The show itself also has high moments every now and again. If anything, it will end up like Sonic. Never seen as good as the franchise it is based on (Mario, Adventure Time), has a terrible fanbase of cringe that transcends the show itself, half of it is actually good to warrant a fanbase, and the music is great no matter how bad the product gets. Not to mention the fact that Steven Universe in compasses 2010s culture the same way Sonic does the 90s, for better or worse.



For an honest opinion, the show is pretty average. It was really good for the first season or two, and had a great set up with the invasion stuff. I think the thing that really makes Steven Universe disgusting in the SJW appeal is that unlike the Star Wars sequels or the other sjw franchises, the show itself had potential to be a CN great. If they just gave proper conclusions to arcs instead of Steven cry and get peace, the show could have been great. It was serious, funny, and overall had some well written characters in its early years. Even the LGBT stuff that we hate on today was not all that bad. Say what you want about Garnet, but the show heavily built up to it and the relationship makes sense in the context of the show’s mechanics. They established fusion and had multiple hints of Garnet being one.

Ultimately, the 2010s CN series were very hit-or-miss. The shows did comedy well, but got way more interesting when they were serious. The issue though was that they had no idea where to take plot lines. Regular Show, Steven Universe, and Adventure Time all had issues on following through on story arcs. Steven just sticks out the most as it was the best at it in its early days, and they felt the need to shove in tons of liberal ideology towards the end. Out of all 3, I say Adventure Time is the best. Sure it has many, many flaws, but the character writing was the strongest in Adventure Time and I enjoyed a good amount of the world building when it was tied to an actual main character.

Also Steven Universe is better than Disney trash like Gravity Falls and Star Vs. The Forces if Evil.

I agree with most of your points, but Sonic grabbed kids when they were young, so now there is plenty of nostalgia around it. I really dont know how popular it was with kids. It has a really stong adult fanbase, but adults will move on to the next hip thing, or most will, kids are they the key, if kids really liked it, then in some years it will have a resurgance and there will be always a market for it. Otherwise i think it will fade to a very niche fanbase.
I really wish more shows would take cues to the show in regards to the music.

 

[Kulee Baba]

I blame SU for starting this stupid fucking trend of having egregious, over the top anime references slapped about like a beaten wife. That new TMNT show is fucking filled with it. Anime is not some obscure weirdo shit anymore. Why do they need to force it through?

For real. I was driving with a friend and he put on Logic's latest album "No Pressure" and I got amused that this mainstream rapper was constantly throwing out regular video game and anime references, it even has David Hayter's Snake in the first track as a cameo. Then I remembered that Logic was a child in the 90s and grew up watching Adult Swim anime.

We're far past that age where Anime is this shameful secret we have to hide from our peers and the older generation. Shit is totally mainstream. You're not making sly dogwhistles to your closet weebs anymore. Middle aged men know what anime is.

 

[DiamondTiara]

All the fucking cartoons since this decade, even late Magical Horse Girls have been crippled by the same ideology, mainly propagated by Disney.

Disney is a hive for all this modernist bullshit about "choose your gender" and enforce this shit on a kid's show. Even Hasbro once they hired the jew Haber and the homosexual Vogel, both from Disney importing the ideology to everything they are in contact with.

SU is just the flagship of this abomination but you have to keep in mind, it's all entertainment from the USA that follows that model. All that shit made in CalArts, trannies and pedos altogether shaping your kid's brains while the father is busy working hard to pay for that shit. TV shows, Ellen Degeneres, movies, social network propaganda, and of course you bought your kids a fucking iphone because everyone has one, and it's now his/her only perception of reality.

Later they accept on the biased idea that "society is changing" "maybe we should evolve too" "that's progress, let it be" and in a couple of years you find your teenager hanging or with a hole in the brain after writing "I am a beautiful little princess" on the wall. Bravo fuckers!

https://twitter.com/cartoonnetwork/status/1275881555777462272

Subtle pedophile reference.

 

[Drain Todger]

I tried watching a couple episodes of SU once, but I was so nauseated by the art style and the annoying protagonists, I could barely choke it down. I dropped it immediately.

Is there any chance we’re ever gonna get a whole Korgoth of Barbaria show, or is saccharine-sweet faggotry like Steven Universe the only thing the networks air these days?

 

[Amber the Hedgehog]

SU was at start although not awful a pretty boring show. I think the show didn't really know what it wanted to be and so lacked focus. It was too mundane for fantacy, too tame and lacking consequences for action and had too much magic and fighting to be slice of life. You didn't know what each episode was going to be about but not in good way. Characters were okey but nothing that special. Only Pearl and Amethyst had real personality and conflict, but others were eather one note or kinda just there including Steven himself. Art was again just okey. Colors and backgrounds were nice but otherwise there was nothing to write home about. There was potential so I can see why it was allowed stay but mostly it was pretty uninteresting.

SU got pretty good and shoot up in popularity around when Peridot and Jasper first appeared. SU had finally made it's mind that it was drama and world building heavy action show. So the show mostly pushed aside the mundane town, only showing up occasionally to serve the plot or give breathing room. SU finally had some real bad guys that stuck around and the crystal gems were in real danger. We started to learn about gems as unique species and culture, and what we learned wasn't all sun shine and rainbows. Genuinely cool looking places and consepts, plot that moved and even character conflicts that had weight. Unfortunately this didn't last long because as the show started to get recognized the writers started to one up eachother, especially in terms of what got Twitter attention. Mostly this was new gems and fusions, "shokking" revelations and lesbians. Lack of focus wasn't an issue anymore but now it was lack of leadership that eating SU.

Sugar was always too permissive show runner that over values artistic freedom in a group project. This wasn't that bad at start because most shows have looking for footing period when inconsistency tends fly easier but as the show's canon solidified the inconsistency started to weight it down. This was evident pretty much all aspects of SU, characters design were all over the place, powers didn't carry from episode to episode, when plot moved and stopped made little sense and overall what was going on didn't seem that thought out beyound what sounds cool. Most of it looked pretty fixable but unfortunately that would have meant Sugar being thoughtful and strong. Demanding united vision and keeping standards, instead of going with first draft and what would make "bigots" mad.

 

[NerdShamer]

They clearly didn't succeed, what a piece of shit show. Gumball was pretty much the last good thing CN did. Also Rebecca Sugar is a bitch.

Ed, Edd, n Eddy was the last bastion of entertainment for CN. Everything after it was either CalArts or poorly written.

 

[Titos]

Ed, Edd, n Eddy was the last bastion of entertainment for CN. Everything after it was either CalArts or poorly written.

I wouldn't call Gumball Calarts by any means, sure it's "Mixed Media" which is kinda cliche but it does it well. I can maybe understand badly written but that's mainly due to it trying to deal with kids who have the attention span of a squirrel which I can't really blame the writers for, at least they put in decent lessons and stories in between the screaming and they insert good gags. Also Samurai Jack came out after EEnE so you're a pleb.

 

[NerdShamer]

It really says an lot that this is the best scene of the entire show.

I wouldn't call Gumball Calarts by any means, sure it's "Mixed Media" which is kinda cliche but it does it well. I can maybe understand badly written but that's mainly due to it trying to deal with kids who have the attention span of a squirrel which I can't really blame the writers for, at least they put in decent lessons and stories in between the screaming and they insert good gags. Also Samurai Jack came out after EEnE so you're a pleb.

Yeah, but Samurai Jack was an after-hours show. It's almost like saying that everything on Adult Swim is better than CN, which is kind of easy to do.

 

[CatParty]

Seriously?
How about Looney Tunes? The Simpsons? Ren & Stimpy (or maybe Invader Zim)? GI Joe? Scooby-Doo? Adventure Time?

And that’s not even getting into anime like Sailor Moon or Voltron.

Lol isn’t su just calarts crap

 

[Tasty Tatty]

"All I wanted was to show graphic lesbian sex to as many young children as I could. The idea of 8 year olds watching my drawings scissor each other gets me excited. Also, why are people becoming increasingly anti-gay I don't get it"

LOL, and people can't even deny the target of this show is kids as everything is coded to appeal to children:

If you knew nothing about these shows, only with the images as reference, you'd think they both are for toddlers about magic and rainbows. Only one is.

The irony is that the show is made with subjects that small kids have no interest about, it's for adults with childish minds who can't create anything that would appeal to teenagers or adults. Think about it, create animation for adults that includes violence and sex isn't taboo anymore. A show about lesbians warriors could have been interesting to watch if done properly. But they aren't adult enough to pull something like this successfully. Small children watch SU but they don't get any of the messages they want to transmit, as much, Steve good = villain bad and "mom, buy me the toy".

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

I blame SU for starting this stupid fucking trend of having egregious, over the top anime references slapped about like a beaten wife. That new TMNT show is fucking filled with it. Anime is not some obscure weirdo shit anymore. Why do they need to force it through?

For real. I was driving with a friend and he put on Logic's latest album "No Pressure" and I got amused that this mainstream rapper was constantly throwing out regular video game and anime references, it even has David Hayter's Snake in the first track as a cameo. Then I remembered that Logic was a child in the 90s and grew up watching Adult Swim anime.

We're far past that age where Anime is this shameful secret we have to hide from our peers and the older generation. Shit is totally mainstream. You're not making sly dogwhistles to your closet weebs anymore. Middle aged men know what anime is.

From my experience, the people do this to only the selectively approved anime that they watched growing up (DBZ, Cowboy Bebop, Naruto, etc.)

They would never do this to, say, the likes of Kaiji, Angel Cop, To-Love-Ru! or anything that goes against the grain

 

[BisquitDoughHandsMan]

I guess this is as good a place as any to say that I laughed my ass off for days when I first heard Schnitzel speak.

 

[Amber the Hedgehog]

LOL, and people can't even deny the target of this show is kids as everything is coded to appeal to children:

View attachment 1509410View attachment 1509417

If you knew nothing about these shows, only with the images as reference, you'd think they both are for toddlers about magic and rainbows. Only one is.

The irony is that the show is made with subjects that small kids have no interest about, it's for adults with childish minds who can't create anything that would appeal to teenagers or adults. Think about it, create animation for adults that includes violence and sex isn't taboo anymore. A show about lesbians warriors could have been interesting to watch if done properly. But they aren't adult enough to pull something like this successfully. Small children watch SU but they don't get any of the messages they want to transmit, as much, Steve good = villain bad and "mom, buy me the toy".

Except Steven Universe toys didn't sell. There were few play sets made for this show but that's kinda it. If they sold there would have made more. I have seen plenty of Adventure Time and BareBears products, toys and otherwise, but not much SU. Only things have been adult collectibles like funco pops and mini figs. There has been multiple series of them so they probably sold reasonably well. This honestly indicates that SU doesn't interest kids but does appeal to teens and twenty something women.

 

[Tasty Tatty]

Except Steven Universe toys didn't sell. There were few play sets made for this show but that's kinda it. If they sold there would have made more. I have seen plenty of Adventure Time and BareBears products, toys and otherwise, but not much SU. Only things have been adult collectibles like funco pops and mini figs. There has been multiple series of them so they probably sold reasonably well. This honestly indicates that SU doesn't interest kids but does appeal to teens and twenty something women.

You know what? Now you mention it, I've NEVER even seen bootleg SU toys. But I've seen many others. Bootlegs happens when a popular product is expensive and people want a piece of that sweet money...

 

[Fek]

And here I thought it was gay enough having to sit through a Rainbow Brite movie back in the day.** That pales in comparison to this Steven Universe bullshit. What a faggoty mess.

**It was for my sister's sake, I swear.

 

[Jones McCann]

>GLAAD
>Outstanding Kids & Family Program

Pick one

 

[Otterly]

Is it that shows shouldn't have LGBT+ representation period or that when they're incorporated, it's typically poorly handled or in your face?

Edit: I see why. Some countries don't tolerate LGBT+ representation, so to err on the side of caution, that would have to be omitted.

It’s just about age appropriate content. A show for little kids shouldnt have ANY sexuality in it, straight or gay or whatever. Inappropriate exposure of young kids to sexual shit is abuse and grooming.
A show for teens or young adults might have a slight degree of romance or sexuality in but it’s got to be age appropriate. Even ten or so years ago the idea of exposing kids to that degree of sexuality in cartoons would have got you on various lists. They frame objection as being homo or transphobic but that’s a straw man - it’s sexual themes too young that are the issue.

I have relatives with young kids and it’s noticeable how few kids programs dont have some kind of woke angle these days. It’s pretty grim.