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"The Hidden Gem"

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“If every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs!” – a line from a kid’s show that goes by the title, Steven Universe. I spent the whole month of august watching every episode and all the content it could provide me.

This Emmy-awarded animated show took place in a fictional town called Beach City, where ageless alien warriors known as the Crystal Gems live in an ancient beachside temple. They project female humanoid forms from the magical gemstones at the core of their being. The Crystal Gems protect the Earth from the disasters the Homeworld Gems caused centuries ago. They are then joined by Steven Universe. He is a hybrid son of a fellow Crystal gem known as Rose Quartz and a human named Greg Universe.

After they wrapped the show in January 2019, “Steven Universe: The Movie” follows in September. Telling a story of 16-year-old Steven all grown up and the Crystal gems making peace on earth, then suddenly gets interrupted by a gem stuck in the past, known as Spinel, that wanted to take revenge on Steven’s mother who left her alone. A twenty-episode epilogue series then began airing in December of 2019 titled “Steven Universe: Future”. It shows Steven facing the future ahead of him and the other characters. He deals with all the trauma he gained from his childhood but then receives help from the characters he all helped in the past.

When Rebecca Sugar, the creator of Steven Universe, executed a number of complex topics we face in our everyday life for the young audiences to easily understand from a different perspective with such care amazed me. This makes her creation well appreciated by both adults and kids. The storytelling makes it distinct from the usual kid’s show norm and even common adult shows. The characters were made to deal with stress in a clear-eyed way and then properly recover from different obstacles are seen in it. We get to see inclusive and mature queer representation as well when we found out one of the main characters, Garnet, was part of the LGBTQIA+ community. It had to be the boldest move for Sugar to make since we rarely get to see these themes in television before. A revolutionary show that plenty of audiences loved was made owing to this.

Everyone in the making of the show was called the “Crewniverse”, and as I watched the documentary of the movie I realized that it needed so much work and absolute love to put into it to be a whole. From writing and creating the storyboard, compositions of the songs, the new character designs, animation making, and reuniting the voice actors, to the finalization—their work began to mean even more to me.

For it to be an ongoing cartoon on the channel, Cartoon Network, their visuals needed to fit the standard that they had for recognizable characters, color combinations and details easy on the eyes, and more kid-friendly ideas for a plot. This contradicts the pilot episode they made that had a lot of detail in the background and the character designs, a darker color palette, and a much more terrifying monster to defeat. This ground-breaking style Rebecca preferred required changes. In the end, some elements still made it, and the pastel color palette worked beautifully with the story’s feel. I appreciated the countless little details they added to the backgrounds or their personalities in episodes that added context to what the life of the characters looked like. Every character felt real in the show and each had their own story.

The musical numbers and songs are one of the big parts the fans loved about the show. It added so much emphasis to the storyline. They couldn't stop getting stuck in my head since they were made to be catchy. It’s interesting how a different instrument was associated with the theme of each main character. In Garnet’s theme, we hear more bass and synth, Amethyst gets the drums, we hear the piano in Pearl’s songs and background, and chiptune if often paired with Steven.

Steven Universe may have its flaws too, such as the filler episodes that don’t gain anything from the plot, the shallow writing of some characters, the inadequate animation some might say, and the bad twists. These are well-known mistakes of the show that the producers had the potential to improve. Though this is what they have given us and if every porkchop were perfect, we wouldn’t have hotdogs! Meaning, that if everything was perfect we won’t enjoy it that much and that’s how life is. When you watch the first few episodes, it may just seem like continuous nonsense entertainment, but once you get interested in what they are up to and start even predicting what’s going to happen, it will be worth the watch.

It was said that Rebecca as the creator, held this show personally and partially based it on her experiences in real life. Teaching kids how love, both for others and ourselves, can help us persevere through life's hardest challenges is the show’s most lesson to the audience. With the complex storyline they have created, the lessons and the sense of reality still hits you. Having seen their adventures, and how they faced a variety of challenges, and experienced growth together made me feel too connected to its story. It’s a show that I will treasure as I get through life. As I end this, I will finally get to say farewell to this Steven Universe phase I got into. After all my research I have consumed enough, and I will recommend my friends to try and give it a watch too. This shall be my act of gratitude for showing me another perspective on being human.

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Should chivalry still be practiced in this day and age?

A combination of qualities expected from an ideal knight, especially courage, honor, courtesy, justice, and readiness for the weak is the main idea of chivalry. It was known as the ideal behavior of men towards women. It dates back to the 11th to 12th century when it was developed as a code of honor for the knights at war. While people in the past used this to set ground rules for knightly behavior, people today view it as a trait to appreciate in people you meet. Should it still be practiced in this day and age even if the reason it was created is now irrelevant to our situation today? Yes.

When acts of chivalry are done only by men in the past, practicing these today can make it valid for everyone to do. Women and non-gender conforming individuals can be chivalrous too. There have been many changes in how we treat women in the 21st century. Society learned that when we treat people equally, no matter what gender they are, we feel seen and recognized for what we can do. Therefore, these “roles” of chivalrous men can dissolve into a ubiquitous influence from anyone. An example could be just voluntarily opening the door before someone enters. It does not have to be a man or woman, that said, you can be chivalrous to anyone thus, anyone can be chivalrous too. Though, don’t feel forced to practice it, for it is not a ground rule or requirement we must have like the knights in the past. However, we can all do our best to show it in ourselves. People today need the chivalric values of mercy, justice, and humility to be seen around them because when these are met, people can do so much more and feel recognized for how they are. This encourages them to make a better impact on their surroundings as well. It helps to create a polite atmosphere in society that help people progress in their careers and personal relations. This is supported by the fact that violence is on the rise today and respect for others can be a foreign language to some people. Practicing chivalry can make people feel warmth around you and build up their trust when it comes to knowing how you act.

Even so, I did think that chivalry infers inequality. It undermines women’s performance and well-being when the treatment they get shows benevolent sexism. It can also make us ask: “If men do not do this for other men, why do it for women?” In our time today, considering that women are now accepted as equals to men—chivalry, therefore, does not apply to men only, but to people of every gender. It is now a quality anyone can have and everyone can receive. I understand that some might say it is outdated or old-fashioned to still follow it today since this was based on the idea of women being inherently weaker, that they require a man’s aid or protection to function day-to-day. This practice comes from the past, granted that it can change through time. Nevertheless, having this good value is a timeless trait as it takes note of our morals.

Chivalry can be seen to be a misogynistic attitude that insults women or anyone—leaving them thinking that they are belittled and unable to do the task before them. However, both feminism and chivalry value respect when you view them as a whole. When we attempt to be chivalrous towards some people, they may not look at it that way and find it as uncomfortable. This should be a reminder that we should know when to stop when people are signaling that they feel uncomfortable.

I do believe that chivalry should still be practiced in this day and age because it can make a positive difference in everyone's life by bringing it back with a new purpose. People who can attain it cannot be limited to only men anymore but everybody. It is not a must nor a prohibition but an option to improve how you respect people around you.