#Su crit

[autistic-ben-tennyson]

Steven Universe: A Complicated Relationship

I’m starting to fall out of love with this show. I used to be obsessed with it and it was important to me as a way of figuring out my gender and sexuality. Yet, my relationship to it has become more complicated as of late. I’ve defended it myself and have been passionate about it, yet seeing the way a lot of stans have acted has kind of ruined it for me especially due to dismissing any criticism. This is not me saying I hate it or think it’s irredeemable Nazi propaganda but not everyone who dislikes it watches Lily Orchard and there are valid things to criticize about it.

There’s definitely bad faith criticism of the show such as flanderizing Steven into a crybaby with those Jack Horner/Hitler memes or claiming it was made to attack Christians but some people do have valid points. The episodes Bismuth and Gem Harvest may have not intended to come off as racist but one could interpret them as forcing people to forgive their abusers or bigoted relatives. As someone who’s Asian and knows about the way we’re represented, the way Priyanka and Doug were portrayed in the early seasons as tiger parents has not aged well.

One other criticism I’ve seen is that the show copies a lot of old sci fi or anime tropes without recognizing the issues with them or removing them from their original context. I and others have compared the show’s ending to the Highbreed arc from Ben 10 Alien Force. The difference is that the Highbreed were treated as supremacists who needed to be stopped, not as abusive family. People can debate over whether they should have gotten more consequences but they were not treated as dorky relatives. The only one Ben befriends was a low ranking officer who became the new leader and convinced the high council to accept having their DNA changed. There’s also the human zoo, another sci fi trope that’s aged badly with the racist implications.

The series is also compared to a lot of anime. There’s references to Ghibli, NGE, Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball and many have compared the show’s idealism to that of magical girl shows like Madoka Magica. The difference is that those shows didn’t use subjects like colonialism as a backdrop for family drama. SW suffers from that as well especially with the rebels only wanting to restore the old liberal system while taking imagery from the Viet Cong. People who wanted a revolution story weren’t necessarily wrong as that’s what the early seasons did set up.

Some will accuse me of fandomizing the war but I’ve noticed a lot of the hardcore stans are white queers who support Israel or demand complete support for democrats. Not saying every SU fan is a bad person btw. There are a lot of decent people who are anti Zionist and like the show but a lot of these pop progressive cartoons as well as SW, Disney and Marvel/DC are used by people with gross beliefs to infantilize themselves and dismiss any criticism from POC fans. If mainstream kids media is where you’re getting your all political takes from then maybe you do need to branch out and watch more mature stuff. Watching NGE helped me grow up a lot and learn nuance.

As a recap, I’m not saying SU is a bad show or that people are bad for liking it. It was important for my own development as well as a lot of lgbt youth and was a jumping point for a lot of my current interests such as classic anime or Lisa Hannigan, who’s an amazing musician and is pro Palestine btw. Future did help me a bit with mental health yet people are allowed to dislike it or find that even if it wasn’t intentional, there are some implications that should be addressed. I don’t hate it and there’s some stuff worth defending in it but it’s not the greatest show ever and people who get all their politics from it need to grow up. Between it, TOH, Dead End and She-Ra, I think a lot of the pop progressive media that we have today will not age well and that’s something we need to accept.

[mood2you]

One thign thtat is sad about SU is the fusion cdanes stopped. no no no I want to see Ruby and Sapphire's first time, getting stuck in a hallway and both trying to go on the left and so on. Someone called that dacning to me and I laughed. And they run into each other.

[i-simp-for-fennorian]

I spy a sneaky Robbie.

[adorawasright]

sure, a lot of fandoms are crappy, but the spop fandom is quite possibly one of the most hostile fandoms i've ever been in. like i'm not joking. i've been accused of so much shit for not liking certain characters or ships. hell, not even the r/egular show fandom was like this, when it still had the love triangle plot going on.

and it's so odd bc spop is literally the queer "power of friendship" cartoon. i mean, the show itself has its shitty things, but i never thought the fandom would be worse.

[ankle-beez]

You claim a lot against SU Crit and how bad they are, but you’re the one letting them live rent free in your head. Move on with your life.

This anon got frozen in carbonite in 2018 after scrolling through my blog and only just now got unfrozen

[kadextra]

what I’m sad about the rebellion is that they don’t physically show up like man I just wanna see some guys, some new silly guys!!!! who’s giving the missions? why is every chair always empty. and hey masked person I know you exist pspsps appear for conversation you can literally talk like a regular person. maybe one day

[lastoneout]

Been watching that long ass takedown of Lily Orchard's old SU video and my god I will never be over how she just like, continuously calls a queer jewish woman a nazi for *checks notes* having the main character of her PG children's show find a non-violent solution to the main conflict instead of just immediately killing the big bad guys.

[s1mpl3sp0ng3]

looking back on the su discourse is really funny in some ways, like y'all were deadset on this 14 year old boy killing people huh

[slime-enby]

'Su isn't about literal fascists it's a vehicle to the power fantasy of getting ur transphobic grandma to understand' and it still sucks lmao

[neon-in-the-night-time]

casting directors of literally any percy jackson adaptation when they get to the part about clarisse wearing a xxxl t-shirt (meaning she is fat or at the very least muscley enough to be wearing a 3XL shirt that fits her comfortably)

[calypsolemon]

You know what kind of annoying about su crits? They make claims saying the crew did some tracing and stuff like that fight scene between pearl and holo pearl from that one anime even though I think other shows have done something like this before.

you know what is beginning to annoy me is getting asks about random shit SU crits have said, tbqh

[rooolt]

You are at a cafe, you bite into an eclair/cannoli/croissant (unclear) and out spills mayonnaise, the clerk turns to you and says “don’t you love a betrayal twist”, you then see your (ex?) boyfriend down on one knee, he opens a ring box to reveal a tiny rat with an engagement ring around his neck, the rat vomits mayonnaise and the ring is cursed

[nervousbreadpuppy]

i hate when people talk about kid shows and they miss the point of the entire show. "oh they should have killed the main antagonist" no they shouldn't have?

if aang killed ozai than he won. he would have let the principles of the air nomads die out. it is the only through the fact that he finds a way to end the conflict nonviolently that he is able to claim the title of the last airbender. sure he could've killed him but that would've been a different show.

and steven universe, the whole show is about coming to an understanding with other people. steven's whole thing is that he reasons and empathizes with people even when others don't think its worth it. the reason he even goes to the diamonds in the first place is because he wants to heal centipeetle, who he only became friends with because he disregarded the crystal gems who thought she was a monster. his whole arc is showing how he's right to be empathetic because everyone has a reason for being the way they are. him killing the diamonds would have spat on the face of everything he's learned in the entire series.

i think a lot of people have come to the conclusion that violence is the only way to deal with societal issues. the whole "firebombing a walmart" attitude. but there's a difference between self defense, and killing someone you don't agree with. everyone has a capacity for change, and to end someone's life is to rob them of that ability to change. violence is a last resort, when there's no other way to stop the hurt. do you really want to teach kids it's the only option?

[shadowcatzone]

the lengths i go to farm artifacts for yanqing istg

[enlightenedrobot]

Viziepop's stuff is way too niche and out if the way for you guys to be complaining.

[bobzora]

acheron so good she makes me want to complete gold and gears to unlock erudition blessings