steven universe is structural
one thing that often bothers me about other media is that it’s thoroughly morally individualistic. instead of being skeptical of authority, it’s only skeptical of the Bad People having authority. nothing wrong with the system itself, only the individuals within it. we didn’t need to dismantle the fire nation, we just needed a Good fire lord. we don’t need to challenge the audience’s perception of the status quo, we just need to make sure the “right people” 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 isn’t here to be the good prince - neither him nor rose were above causing harm through that role.
none are above becoming worse through power over others.
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 they’ve been shaped through millennia of socialization. it change people’s circumstances rather than thinking they should pull themselves up by their bootstraps and just magically know what’s right.
in short - it knows you weren’t born good.
but that’s why it also knows you can become better.
whether it’s through realizing the power you held over others was never justified, no matter how little you understood your own privilege…
or whether it’s through realizing how others hurt you, in turn, molded you in such a way where you felt justified in taking it out on others…
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.
until steven could look at this as a network of circumstances, rather than individuals making choices based on some “individual morality” seemingly handed down by the stars, he couldn’t truly forgive his mother. or himself.
but just… 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.
even if you weren’t 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 didn’t understand what they did wrong, well, neither did you, once. and it’s okay - we’re all shaped to take the blame ourselves, even for things far outside our control.
if it’s one thing white diamond and steven have in common, it’s 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 don’t say it out loud.
that’s 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 take individual responsibility. if something goes wrong, they’re “to blame”. they have to make the decision for everyone. they have to make the right decision, or it’s no one’s fault but their own.
they bought into individualism, again and again and again… until steven was faced with the truth - he’s 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 wrong… so it’s fitting that the most radical thing he can do is simply love himself. not because, but in spite of what the world told him to be.
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