Steven Universe , like a crystal gem, has many different sides . It’s a show on Cartoon Network starring a young boy named Steven and his adventures with the Crystal Gems, a ragtag group of immortal warriors trying to make the world a better place. It tackles situations most adult shows are afraid to touch, like loss, relationships and even death.
At New York Comic Con, iDigitalTimes spoke with the insightful Rebecca Sugar, the show’s creator, along with Jennifer Paz, the voice of Lapis, about the show and why it’s message has resonated with so many fans, regardless of age or gender.
Here Comes A Thought
The third season of Steven Universe was filled to the brim with LGBT-friendly metaphors, high-stakes action and songs about confronting scary emotions. The most impactful tune has to be ‘ Here Comes A Thought ,’ from the episode “Mindful Education” which tackles an incredibly grown-up topic; learning to accept loss and getting back up again.
“‘Here Comes A Thought’ was a really personal one, I was going through a very difficult time and I needed that song for myself, and I was working on it aside from work and I was trying to make something that had everything that I needed to hear at that time,” Sugar said, who also studied mindfulness meditation while working on Steven Universe . “There were little things about it, the pace of it, I didn’t want it to be slow, it’s supposed to feel calm, when you are in that state of mind and someone says, ‘hey it's fine, chill out,’ you don’t appreciate it at all, you need someone to go ‘everything’s fine, everything’s fine’ and for someone to be there at that level with you.”
Lapis + Jasper = Trouble
Lapis is one of the newer Crystal Gems. Stuck in a mirror for millennia, she has a hard time connecting with others and opening up. According to Paz: “I love the irony of her, she has really great one-liners, she’s very dry but she controls water, which is very funny, she’s still mysterious, very different than the other gems.”
Unlike the other Crystal Gems, Lapis’ fusion is a byproduct of a terrible situation. Lapis fused with Jasper, one of the “bad guys” from the Gems’ home planet, in order to keep her contained to the bottom of the ocean. The byproduct, Malachite, is a confused and angry mess, stuck in a constant battle against itself.
According to Sugar, Lapis and Jasper’s relationship “is extremely toxic. They are bringing out the absolute worst in each other. A lot of times when people describe a toxic, awful relationship it’s sort of just like ‘it’s bad, just stop it,’ but people don’t necessarily talk about why it’s such a hard thing to do. There’s always more going on, it’s almost never that black and white.”
In the episode “Alone At Sea,” after escaping from Jasper and breaking free of Malachite, Lapis has to confront her abuser once again. Lapis does everything in her power to get away, while also dealing with the fact that Jasper made her stronger. In the end, Lapis manages to overcome her inner demons and banish Jasper back to the watery depths below.
“There is a part of her that’s afraid of her own power, she’ll sit and read magazines, laying around like she’s retired. But that strength she exerts [...] she can take it very far to get control over her own situation again and she’s aware of that,” Sugar said.
Even Paz was blown away by this story: “as I was reading the script, I was like, ‘Wow, she’s really going there,’ and I think it’s important to teach kids that this is an unhealthy thing and it’s wrong.”
Sugar sees her character as a realistic representation of how abuse survivors respond to these kinds of situations. . “Lapis is really interesting to me because when you're in that position when someone is taking advantage of you, you want to feel like you are in control of something or someone and I think that’s something she really needs and recognizes, she needs to feel like she has a grip on something,” Sugar said.
Steven Universe is currently on hiatus, but will return to Cartoon Network for Season 4 sometime in the near future.
