steven universe is structural
one thing that often bothers me about other media is that itās thoroughly morally individualistic. instead of being skeptical of authority, itās only skeptical of the Bad People having authority. nothing wrong with the system itself, only the individuals within it. we didnāt need to dismantle the fire nation, we just needed a Good fire lord. we donāt need to challenge the audienceās perception of the status quo, we just need to make sure theĀ āright peopleā are on top of it.
this is a huge reason i love steven universe. it is consistent that NO ONE should be a diamond. not a single person. steven isnāt here to be the good prince - neither him nor rose were above causing harm through that role.Ā
none are above becoming worse through power over others.Ā
instead, steven universe is here - the show and the person - to find how we can dismantle those mental and material hierarchies. it looks as people as theyāve been shaped through millennia of socialization. it change peopleās circumstances rather than thinking they should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and just magically know whatās right.Ā
in short - it knows you werenāt born good.
but thatās why it also knows you can become better.
whether itās through realizing the power you held over others was never justified, no matter how little you understood your own privilegeā¦
or whether itās through realizing how others hurt you, in turn, molded you in such a way where you felt justified in taking it out on othersā¦
or whether it was through realizing that you were expressing toxicity that you had never fully unlearned, no matter how much you tried to disavow it.
every gem is shaped by their circumstances. as is every person.Ā
until steven could look at this as a network of circumstances, rather than individuals making choices based on someĀ āindividual moralityā seemingly handed down by the stars, he couldnāt truly forgive his mother. or himself.Ā
but justā¦ putting things in perspective, understanding how circumstances and power shape decisions and relations in ways that are too big for any one person to control - for anyone to try to control - helps you appreciate the immense power of simply accepting yourself.Ā
even if you werenāt made perfect, you can become a good person. you can bond with others to collectively reshape those societal ills. you can find it in yourself to forgive, because even if others didnāt understand what they did wrong, well, neither did you, once. and itās okay - weāre all shaped to take the blame ourselves, even for things far outside our control.
if itās one thing white diamond and steven have in common, itās the flaw of thinking their responsibilities and faults are individual. that they must perform a role, because everything in the entire world seems to point towards that being their destiny. knowing better, being better, even if you donāt say it out loud.
thatās why steven could understand white like no one else could. instead of realizing the way the world around them had hurt them, they were both socialized to takeĀ individual responsibility. if something goes wrong, theyāre āto blameā.Ā they have to make the decision for everyone. they have to make the right decision, or itās no oneās fault but their own.
they bought into individualism, again and again and againā¦ until steven was faced with the truth - heās just himself. being forced to take responsibility for his mom and the crystal gems was socialization he needed to unlearn to accept that. he cannot fill the shoes of his mother, she was always barefoot.
that socialization impacted him in countless ways, instilling him with guilt over everything that goes wrongā¦ so itās fitting that the most radical thing he can do is simply love himself. not because, butĀ in spite of what the world told him to be.
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