Steven Universe And The Necessity Of POC-Coded Pearl

If you’re an animator searching for the secret formula to diversity, you couldn’t do much better than taking notes from Rebecca Sugar’s Steven Universe. Just the sheer number of non-white voice actors and characters alone is astounding (and that’s before delving into the topics of gender, sexuality, and alternative family styles). By itself coding animated characters as people of color without resorting to harmful stereotyping, especially in a majority white society, can be challenging to the say the least. Equally important, however, is the ability to include depictions of people of color that challenge our notions of even commonly accepted attributes or bring fresh insight to repeated narratives. It stands to reason that in a time where activism-centered hashtags like #WeNeedAAPIStudies fight for educational equality we also need to reclaim representation in arts and entertainment instead of letting whiteness be the cultural default. Enter Pearl. One of the main obstacles stopping people from accepting a POC interpretation comes from Pearl’s physical characteristics. Even with their shapeshifting abilities, though, none of the gems’ skintones allow them to successfully pass for human except for Rose Quartz (yes, former supervising director Ian Jones-Quartey explained this as having to do with some forms of rose quartz being peach in color, but that sounds suspiciously convenient) and possibly Amethyst as a person with argyria. Garnet, contrary to many fan artist depictions,…