I find Steven Universe Future very interesting as a deconstruction of both ¨child fantasy/scifi adventure¨ and as deconstruction of the series on itself.
It shows that many of the things that Steven went through in the main series were in fact, traumatic and he never fully processed those events until very recently. It presents the idea that if a kid went through all the adventures Steven went through, these situations would end up to be emotionally draining for them.
The idea of Future came from the creator trying to potray how it can be tiring to be after a huge fight against someone, that you may end up winning but it can leave you scars in the aftermath.
It is also somewhat intended to be a deconstruction of anime shonen (the ones characters fight huge battles) by showing how it is hard for the protagonist to adapt to a normal life after the big adventure is over.
Because Steven has been exposed to such violence as a child- and frequently on top of that- now his mind (and gem) react violently to more simple mundane situations since he is in constant ¨flight or fight¨ survival mode. His gem powers are connected to his emotions, and they react in different ways to either defend Steven or eliminate what it could be considered a threat.
It is also worth of pointing out that some of these extreme reactions that Steven has present themselves when he is alone with some gem that has really hurt him or his loved ones in the past, such as it is the case of Jasper and White Diamond in "Homeworld Bound". These two characters also act as parallels to Steven in this series, something i'll get to a bit later in this analysis.
Another thing that Future does that is tied to Steven's trauma is show the consequences of how Steven was raised by the gems and Greg.
Growing up, Steven felt like he had to be like his mother, Rose Quartz, which made him tie a lot of his identity around her. In the early seasons he would get worried a lot about his powers not working correctly and feeling useless as part of the Crystal Gems team. This changed over time but it left a general impact on his character.
Steven's parental figures had a lot of emotional baggage that came from the loss of Rose giving up her gem to have Steven or from the gem war when it came to the gems. Because of this, Steven often felt gulity and felt that he had to ¨fix¨ the gems and Greg to some extent, and they would vent their problems on him, not fully realizing how they were pressuring Steven in a situation of feeling that he had the obligation dealing with their own issues.
This is called parentification, and it means that when a child is forced to ¨grow up¨ way to soon and take adult responsibilities that shouldn't be for a child. Kids growing in this type of families are forced to take care of their parents' well being, for one reason or another. It could either be due to trauma the parents have or them being neglectful, for instance.
When you grow up in a situation like this, it is likely that you get used to push your own feelings and needs down for the sake of your caregiver. You feel like what you feel they don't matter or they aren't important as others'. You believe that it is your job to make other people happy or having to fix them in some way. Emotions like anger or sadness (mainly the first) are dismissed nor really treated as valid for the child.
So Steven put himself into this role of having to fix others, his identity became tied to be the ¨helper¨, to be useful to others, often as a way to get proper attention. And his more ¨negative¨ emotions like his anger or sadness were things that he felt that he had to hide or bottle them up inside of him.
The problem is that in SU Future Steven finds himself in a reality that the gems don't longer need for him to fix them nor he has that many problems left to solve. The main bad guys have been defeated and they are working on paying for the atrocities they commited. There are some gems that antagonize Steven but they aren't exactly a real threat from what it is shown. Steven can finally live more or less in peace.
It terrifies him because he doesn't know who to be without being the helper, without having to fix other' people problems. He doesn't know how to make relationships work without having something to solve. And for so long he tried to be like his mother, only to find out that she wasn't as great as everyone told him she was, and now that he is free to be whoever he wants, he doesn't know how.
And all this really stresses Steven out, making his trauma symptoms way worse. He goes through this identity crisis, feeling like he is losing the ones he cares about as he feels they don't longer need him. Everyone is moving on to new places, except for him.
One character that shares a lot of parallels to Steven in Future is Jasper.
She goes through similar identity crisis of not knowing who to be, she keeps ¨training¨ since fighting is all she knows to be as a quartz soldier. She isolates herself from others, just like Steven, she believes that she doesn't deserve to be helped. She is stuck in a similar state to the one Steven is in Era 3.
It isn't a surprise to see why Jasper is the one that makes Steven learn he has these new powers in "Little Homeschool" and why thematically it fits Steven coming back to visit her in ¨Fragments¨.
¨Fragments¨ would be the turning point of the series, where everything that has happened in the mini series comes together. Steven feels like he can't tell the gems what is happening to him, so he goes to Jasper to hide away from them.
Jasper, with all the issues she has, decides to help Steven by doing ¨training¨, which would be a very unhealthy way of dealing with his problems. Steven grows to be big and tall as Jasper and is constantly glowing pink.
The two having a sparring match... which culminates in Steven letting his power out and shattering Jasper.
Steven returns home and it is able to get Jasper's gem back together, but the thing is Jasper comes out telling Steven that now she sees him as her diamond.
Steven is horrified by everything that happened. He accidentally shattered a gem and was able to repair like her was nothing, almost becoming god like. He has been called and compared to what he feared the most: a diamond.
As result, he sees himself as terrible as the Diamonds are and decides to visit them to find a way to ¨cure¨ his issues by them using their powers on him. He has been avoiding them for so long because they are an important source of his trauma, specially White Diamond.
Something that is fascinating to me is Steven seeing that the Diamonds are doing well and are happy with fixing the damage they caused and him getting frustrated by that. These gems who have mistreated him and attacked him and his family are thriving while he is getting worse each day that passes by. It is uncomfortable but the thing is that people who hurt you can change and get better while you can get worse at the same time.
One moment i really like from this episode is when White Diamond tells Steven how unique he is: He is part gem part human. I think this is important because it highlights how isolated Steven feels in his situation- the gems can't fully relate to him because he is human and the humans can't exactly understand all this mini war that Steven was exposed to during his teenage years.
This is highlighted in episodes like ¨Bismuth Casual¨. In this episode Steven tries talking to other kids from his age and act normal, only to realize he feels so out of place around him since he grew in very different circumstances from them.
White Diamond tries helping Steven by ¨letting him talk to himself¨ which makes Steven confused and have an intrusive thought, almost making White Diamond crush her gem into a pillar by controlling her.
Terrified, Steven runs away again. He tries to pretend everything is fine. He goes to Little Homeworld but only causes a mess with his powers around the place until the gems, Greg and Connie confront Steven, which leads him to confess that he shattered Jasper and almost crushed White Diamond's gem into a pillar.
He sees himself as an irredeemable monter because of this, which makes him freak out and turn into a giant kaiju monster.
It is important to remember that he turns into a monster like form cause that how he views himself now. He calls himself a ¨fraud¨ since he feels like he has been lying to everyone about what was really going on with him all this time. And as long as he views himself as a monster, he keeps being stuck in that form.
It isn't until the gems and his friends come and embrace him in a hug, calling out for him, by telling him that they still love him and will help him through his issues that Steven goes back to normal.
I believe it was important for Steven to transform into this monster like form since his family and friends needed to see Steven at his worst for Steven to understand that he doesn't have to hide this more ugly part from them. That because he presents these symptoms in a complicated or more serious case, it doesn't mean he isn't worthy of love nor help. He still deserves it just as much as the gems and people he has help through the series.
Steven Universe Future ends with a time skip of a few months, with Steven preparing himself to leave Beach City to find who he is supposed to be outside this ¨helper¨ role that made his identity for multiple years during his childhood and teenage years. He is ready to face the unknown and finally being able to move forward.
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