Ben Upbin- Steven Universe and the Hero’s Journey

I So in the discussion about St. Theresa and her journey, I thought about the man who followed St. Teresa’s journey. About how long and tiring it must’ve been; walking around with no knowledge that this journey will lead to anything significant. That got me thinking, what if someone, destined by an artifact to go on a journey, didn’t want to go? I realized I had already seen this in what was one of my favorite cartoons, Steven Universe. Steven Universe perfectly balanced the average kid with superpowers cartoon with the harsh reality of family trauma and mental health.

Steven universe stars the titular character Steven, who is half human and half gem; an alien race from space made of a gemstone and a hologram like body. Steven’s mother, a gem who gave up her physical form to have Steven, was a rebel of the race and a fugitive. The show follows Steven as he learns to master his powers, and in the later seasons, fix the problems his mom caused at the expense of his mental health.

Because Steven possessed her gemstone, every gem believed him to be his mother in a disguise. Steven was also always being compared to his mother’s mastery of her powers by the gems who trained him. Towards the end of the last season Steven begins to break down as he tells everyone that he never asked for any of this to happen. Just because he has his mother’s powers doesn’t mean he wants to have her legacy. He always had to put others before himself and that caused him extreme mental health issues.

I think the dark side of some artifacts is that not everyone will react to the same journey in the same way. And on that note, others may not react to someone on a journey in the same way someone else on the same journey.