(l2r: Garnet, Amethyst, Steven, Pearl)
It seems like it's harder to find original programming, wether it's television or film. Though there's a lot of great television out right now, it's pretty standard and many of the situations are predictable. Cartoon Network, though, produces a lot of media that's innovative, creative, and fun. One of their newer shows that really impressed me was Steven Universe.
The show follows Steven Universe, a boy who is half human and half "gem" ; a type of supernatural person with powers. The supporting characters are all admirable female characters. (I dislike the term "strong female character" just because it's somewhat vague.) There are three Gems; Pearl is knowledgeable but worrisome, Amethyst is carefree but impulsive, and Garnet is level-headed but fierce. All of the characters range in body type, demographic, and of course, personality.
The minor characters are rather developed as well, and there is a diversity in terms of personality, body types, race, sex and gender. One of the best parts of the show is that the Steven, a male character, looks up to Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet, all female (or at least they identify as female.) It's really important to see a boy character look up to three female characters; that's usually not the case.
I think representation is important, more so for children's media. When children see people similar to them in the media, it has a positive impact. I know when I was little, I felt empowerment from girl characters like the Powerpuff Girls or Numbah 5 from Kids Next Door. I feel like Rebecca Sugar, the creator of the show and also the first woman to have a show on Cartoon Network, is conscious of this.
There is also the topic of the characters and how queer the show's characters are. Though a lot of people have found different instances in the subtext, there was one scene where two characters who identified at female were reunited and they showed affection with each other. It was confirmed by someone on the show's crew that it was romantic. This is one of the most important representations on the show, because LGBT characters are so scarce in children's media; they're almost non existent. The queer characters represented in the show help children who might feel different, and it tells them, "You are not alone."
This seems like an awesome show! I'm not much of a cartoon person, but this seems like something I'd really enjoy. I love that the show has well represented female characters as well as lgbt characters. I agree with you that it is so scarce to see lgbt or even "strong" female characters in any sort of media, let alone children's television. I think it is important that kids are "exposed" at a young age to characters that are lgbt and females that are represented well because I think it makes it easier for children to maybe "grasp the fact that not everyone is a heterosexual cisgendered white male and that's okay.
ReplyDeleteI ABSOLUTLEY LOVE Steven Universe since the very first episode. The concept of the show is amazing because he is learning to be a “man” with the help of three women. You never find that in a show and the fact that each female character brings something different to the table to help Steven is another good concept. Garnet teaches Steven how to be tough, while Pearl teaches him how to be a compassionate person and Amethyst teaches him how to live on the edge. Yes there are male characters such as his dad who allows Steven to grow from them and his “friend” Lance who Steven gets into situations with occasionally. At the end of the day the show teaches us that a boy doesn’t need a male around to teach him how to truly be a man. If you haven’t watched this show you should because it is AWESOME!
ReplyDeleteI love that you wrote about a show with LGBT characters. I think it is important for cartoons to have characters that represent real LGBT people, because there are too many examples of the stereotypical gay man, such as Big Gay Al in South Park.
ReplyDeleteI do not watch a lot of cartoons, but it seems to me that the “strong” female characters are in the adult cartoon shows, such as Lois in Family Guy or Lisa in The Simpsons. I really like how in Family Guy the gender roles are reversed in Lois and Peter. She’s often fighting people to stick up for him, and he’s sometimes very feminine and gets his feeling hurt easily. And as for Lisa, well we all know, Lisa is awesome. If you didn’t know, here’s some examples why- http://www.mtv.com/news/2140944/lisa-simpson-feminist/
It seems that recently with the Dora “movement” we are now seeing more children cartoons with these themes. I will have to check Steven Universe out because it sounds like a great show I would encourage my future nieces and nephews to watch!
Ive never heard of this show until now but I actually like the idea. The diversity in the character is evident and the point you made of Stephan looking up to woman is great. You really don't ever see that in television period. Not only did I notice that, but the leader of the group has a physical appearance that isn't really "leader material" in children media. For on shes the darkest of the group, the tallest and her face is covered. All characteristic aimed to children to perceive evil, yet their the good guys. Another character that stood out to me was Lars. His appearance is one parents try to keep their children from doing so young (gauges and creative hairstyle). I'm really surprised with the creativity and boldness in this show to be for children.
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