"This way we can be together even when we're apart," says Ruby to Sapphire during her proposal in
Steven Universe's Season five episode,
The Question. An episode that the creator, Rebecca Sugar, says was years in the making and something she has been looking forward to delivering to audiences for some time now,
The Question shines a light on queer marriage in children's television in an untapped manner.
"I trust children very much. I always feel like children understand, because children are still learning. The whole thing [Steven Universe] is a catalyst for conversation. I wanted to really create an image of a queer couple that makes sense together. Usually the couple is a man and a woman. But you don't show that true love can exist between two men or two women. I wanted to creat equal opportunity love stories for children. It's very important to me that all the characters are gender expansive and that [Steven Universe] is a gender expansive show. [The show's crew] all wanted to tell stories from our own childhoods that we hadn't seen reflected onscreen before. And we didn't want to hold back showing things that are very specific to us. I'm fascinated by animation as a medium because it gives this illusion of simplicity but its very difficult to create. It allows us to create iconography that has an amazing power to normalize things." - Rebecca Sugar, Creator, Steven Universe
Sugar makes some strong points, especially when it comes to children and learning. Its also interesting to see that there are multiple crew members looking to be represented through this animation, which means
The Question is likely only the first of what will hopefully be a long, diverse line of stories to come.
"Rebecca Sugar and Steven Universe have always been on the cutting edge of teaching young people the importance of representation. The show has created a safe space in the television landscape for young LGBTQ who see themselves reflected in these diverse characters whose lives they've followed through the show's five seasons. Love and acceptance is taught at an early age Steven Universe has been at the forefront of teaching everyone - kids and adults alike - that love truly is what makes the universe operate." - Jeremy Blacklow, Director of Entertainment Media, GLAAD
Check out the proposal below!
Steven Universe: The Heart of the Crystal Gems DVD will be available for purchase beginning August 14th.