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Flores, Patricia Frances P. March 18, 2019

English 13 1st Documented Essay (1753 words)
Half Alien-Half Human Boy: Pacifist or Not?
Abstract:

Steven Universe (2013), although a cartoon, is an animated series that tackles a lot of serious and timely

themes, including LGBTQ+, self-love, unconventional families, and several political idealisms. As a cartoon,

this series is expected to promote anti-violence to children. This was pointed out by two analysts of this

series from Youtube, namely NotAVampyre and FandomMusings. They pointed out that Steven is not a

pacifist due to his several engagements in violent scenes. However, pacifism does not only mean that it is the

absolute disengagement with violence. There are several kinds of pacifism as defined by Stevenson and

Weiss. These kinds are: cynical, sentimental, political and ethical (Weiss) and individualistic pacifism and

modern pacifism (Stevenson). Throughout the essay, it was explained that Steven portrayed all the said kinds

of pacifism in different situations. He does not only portray one kind of pacifism. It depends on what

situation he is in.

“If every porkchop were perfect, then we wouldn’t have hotdogs.” – Steven Universe (“Steven Universe”,

2015)

This statement might be odd, but it binds the whole series of Steven Universe. It is one of the first

lines in the series that would make you hook up to it. If you read it as is, it sounds very innocent and plain.

However, when Steven explained that it means that if everything is perfect, we would not appreciate other

things.

This is how I can describe the series. It looks very innocent and naïve, but it contains so much

substance. Steven Universe is a series from Cartoon Network, and it is critically acclaimed to be one of the

best cartoon series of this generation due to its themes of LGBTQ+, self-love, unconventional families,

colonialism and pacifism (““Steven Universe” and the Importance of All-Ages Queer Representation” 2015).
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Steven Universe is a boy who lives with his foster alien family called “The Crystal Gems”, and they

save the Earth from the aliens that try to colonize or destroy it. If I were a kid, I would think that the set-up

that Steven has is odd. The boy, Steven does not have a mother anymore and even that his dad is still alive,

they were not living together. Instead, he has 3 aliens as his guardians at home.

Steven Universe has always been making headlines since its premiere. This cartoon tackles timely

issues in different themes to a younger audience. Rebecca Sugar once said in an interview in 2015 that it was

her dream to represent the LGBTQ+ such as her in a kids’ show (“'Steven Universe' creator on growing up,

gender politics, her brother” 2015). It is also the first cartoon to feature a same-sex wedding. Themes and

issues discussed are from gender stereotypes, self-love, same-sex relationships, mental health, and

unconventional family structures to politics in colonialism, imperialism, and pacifism.

Due to these themes, many viewers criticize this show and they made different opinions about it. As

a fan of the series, I read opinions and theories made by fans too in online communities such as Reddit or

Youtube. One of the most talked about topics is the politics involved in the show. The space empire built by

the Diamonds is most likely linked to colonialism and imperialism. As a cartoon, Steven Universe is

expected to promote anti-violence, and most of the fans agreed that Steven is indeed a pacifist. However, I

came across 2 videos from Youtube, namely from NotAVampyre and FandomMusings, (titled “Steven

Universe is NOT a Pacifist” and “Violence and Privilege in Steven Universe” respectively) which mentioned

that Steven Universe is not a pacifist because his actions that still involve violence. They argued that the show

promotes “anti-senseless violence” whereas it shows that violent ways may become a solution but only when

necessary. However, throughout the years, several authors argued about the definition of pacifism. In Paul

Weiss’ book called, “The Ethics of Pacifism,” he discussed that there are several types of pacifism, namely,

cynical, sentimental, political, and ethical. On the other hand, Stevenson (443) also discussed other types of

pacifism which are individualistic pacifism and modern pacifism.

In this essay I will talk about the different types of pacifism from different authors, how Steven

Universe portrays some of these types and which type does he truly portray.
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Before I proceed, there are some terms that I will use in this essay that should be given context. In

the show, Gems give off a physical form which is projected by the light from their gem. When their physical

form is hurt badly, it will be “poofed” back into the gem. Gems who are poofed can regenerate their physical

form if their gem is not shattered. Shattering of the gem of a Gem (character) is equivalent to the death of a

person because it permanently cannot regenerate to its physical form. However, if a gem is poofed and it was

put into a bubble, it cannot regenerate if it is still inside.

In the book, “The Ethics of Pacifism” by Paul Weiss, there were five types of pacifism discussed.

The first one is cynical pacifism. It is described as the disengagement to war by denying all the advantages of

war and anything else it involves (Weiss, 479). According to Weiss, cynical pacifists provide large amounts of

evidences to prove the disadvantages of war. These evidences solely cam from historical events and personal

experiences. The show portrayed this type of pacifism when it showed how Steven and most of the Crystal

Gems are against shattering gems due to Rose Quartz’ shattering of Pink Diamond lead to the Diamond

Authority to obliterate the remaining gems on Earth that resulted to the corruption of many gems.

The second type of pacifism describe in the book is sentimental pacifism. It describes as the

disengagement to war due to the belief that all lives are sacred (481). Weiss mentioned that sentimental

pacifism believes that “all men deserve to be treated as humans” which he describes as their “basic truth.”

However, he also said that those people who treat others inhumanly should be taken down. This is portrayed

in the episode from season 3 titled “Bismuth”, Steven strongly disagrees with Bismuth in using the weapon,

“Breaking Point” where it can “shatter a gem in an instant.” As their problems arises with the upcoming

presence of the Diamonds on Earth, the Crystal Gems devised several plans on how to deal with the

Diamond Authority. As Bismuth was “unbubbled” by Steven, more plans were proposed dealing with the

Diamonds. Bismuth suggested that they should use the breaking point because it can end the Diamond

Authority forever. However, Steven never wanted to ‘shatter’ a gem ever since his first encounter with

Malachite (fusion of Jasper and Lapis Lazuli) before they sunk into the sea. Steven tried to talk to Bismuth

out of it but instead, she reminisced a memory of her and Rose before Bismuth was poofed by Rose Quartz.

Bismuth became violent towards Steven because she was hurt by the fact that Rose Quartz never mentioned
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to any of the other gems the truth on Bismuth’s whereabouts which she made a conclusion that Steven was

Rose Quartz, hiding in a façade. Steven couldn’t control Bismuth’s emotions which led him into poofing her.

However, he promised that he will tell everything to the Crystal Gems about the truth on what really

happened to Bismuth before.

The following episode, Steven wanted to talk to his mother, Rose Quartz. He went to his room

which originally was Rose’s, to talk to his mom. Steven can make anything appear in his room that’s why he

can talk to his mother there. However, he made his mother appear in a way he wanted his mother to be. He

started questioning his mother’s actions after learning that she shattered Pink Diamond. He wanted to hate

his mother because she created war to the Diamond Authority by killing one of their members. He knew it

was not the best thing that Rose could’ve done, but in the end, he accepted it because it has been done.

The next type is called political pacifism. Political pacifists believe that all political ends meet

through non-resistance and not war (483). The best way to describe this is through Gandhi’s story since it is

his most popular idealism. Gandhi was imprisoned for 6 years. However, he was happy in prison while

gathering his strength and ideas (Clement 65). He never engaged through violent means and fasted in prison

instead. In the series, this type of pacifism in portrayed by Steven in the finale episode of season 4. He saved

his family and friends from alien abduction by surrendering himself to Aquamarine, the one who abducted

Steven’s family and friends. He said that he has Rose Quartz’ gem. This made Aquamarine take Steven in

exchange of his friends’ safety. Aquamarine took Steven to Homeworld for a trial in relation to Rose Quartz’

crimes.

Ethical pacifism describes as the disengagement to war at the account of justice (485). Another

author also defined ethical pacifism as “respecting social organization rather than individual conduct.”

(Stevenson 445). It shows that ethical pacifism is more sympathetic rather than hostile. It is important in this

idea that a solution must maintain the proper decorum of the state, unless it will not be considered a solution.

In the series, Steven Universe showed this in the season 5 episode “Reunited.” Steven initially did not want

to fight the Diamonds, who crashed Garnet’s wedding. However, the Diamonds activated the Cluster, which
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made him leave with no choice but to fight them. When Steven got knocked out, he woke up in his astral

projection form, which means that he can only communicate mentally. He tried reaching out the Diamonds

through this way, and he informed them that he, Rose Quartz, and Pink Diamond are the same. He

sympathized with the Diamonds instead of fighting them once again.

Individualistic pacifism describes war as pure evil (Stevenson, 440). It does not justify any possible

solutions those are related with violence. In relation with the series, it can also be related to the episode

“Bismuth.”

Modern pacifism focuses on what caused the war rather than its “strenuous moral appeal.” It does

not wholly condemn struggle and force. Force should be organized to be able to become tolerable (449). In

the episode “Legs to Homeworld,” the Diamonds found out that they did not obliterate the remaining gems

on Earth. Hence, they all got corrupted instead. This was the problem that the Crystal Gems have been

solving ever since the war ended. As Yellow Diamond says, they need their highest leader to fix the problems

on corruption. Even with various warning from everyone, Steven became diplomatic. He wanted to talk to

White Diamond instead of using violence to convince her in his plans.

In the series, Steven truly does not portray absolute non-violence, but this does not mean that he is

not a pacifist. The fault of NotAVampyre and FandomMusings in their statements is that they only relied on

one definition of pacifism, which is the absolute disengagement of violence/war. Through this essay,

different definitions of pacifism were given from different authors like Stevenson and Weiss. Steven showed

different kinds of pacifism although out the entire series, and in different situations, may it be in relation with

politics or family. Steven is not stuck into one kind of pacifist. He is a different kind of pacifist in different

situations he encounters.
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Works Cited

“Steven Universe is NOT A Pacifist, Lily Orchard.” Youtube, uploaded by NotAVampyre, 21 June 2018,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWUt3bGtp1o

“Violence and Privilege in Steven Universe.” Youtube, uploaded by FandomMusings, 25 August 2018,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-Uez_T6tzA

Andrew Fiala. 21 Feb 2018, Pacifism in the Twentieth Century and Beyond from: The Routledge Handbook of

Pacifism and Nonviolence Routledge Accessed on: 12 Mar 2019

https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9781315638751-4

Clément Catherine. Gandhi, the Power of Pacifism. H.N. Abrams, 1996.

Farmer, Daniel Diederich. “PACIFISM WITHOUT RIGHT AND WRONG.” Public Affairs Quarterly, vol.

25, no. 1, 2011, pp. 37–52. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23056821.

Fiala, Andrew, "Pacifism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2018 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.),

URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/fall2018/entries/pacifism/

Howe-Smith, Nia. “'Steven Universe' Creator on Growing up, Gender Politics, Her Brother.” EW.com, 15

June 2015, ew.com/article/2015/06/15/steven-universe-creator-growing-gender-politics-her-

brother/.

Mey. “‘Steven Universe’ and the Importance of All-Ages Queer Representation.” Autostraddle, 13 Mar. 2015,

www.autostraddle.com/steven-universe-and-the-importance-of-all-ages-queer-representation-

281482/.

Stevenson, Robert C. “The Evolution of Pacifism.” International Journal of Ethics, vol. 44, no. 4, 1934, pp. 437-

451. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2378257.

Sugar, Rebecca, creator. Steven Universe. Cartoon Network Studios and Warner Bros. Television, 2013

Weiss, Paul. “The Ethics of Pacifism.” The Philosophical Review, vol. 51, no. 5, 1942, pp. 476–496. JSTOR,

www.jstor.org/stable/2180601.