Steven Universe, a show that has gotten significant praise for its storytelling, animation, and diversity. A show that everyone, from young to old, can sit and enjoy with smiles on their faces. But, looking a bit deeper into the show, you might find something more interesting, something more influential, something more Marxist. Now, I know I will be lynched for saying that Steven Universe has some Communist undertones to it, but hear me out.

Let’s start with the design of the characters, more specifically, Steven. He has a red shirt with a yellow star in the center. This is very similar to the Vietnam flag created in the 1940’s and was inspired the red flag of the international communist movement since the Paris Commune of 1871. This is reflected on all of the main Crystal gem’s attire since they all have stars on them. In fact, the Crystal gems represent the main thesis of Communism.

In Steven Universe, there are two groups of gems, the Crystal gems, and the Homeworld gems. The Crystal gems represent a pure Marxist society. In “Arcade Mania”, Pearl states that Garnet was not their leader and that they had no leader, like a Marxist society. The Crystal gems fight like a group, everyone having a part they have to play. They all have the exact same training, with Rose teaching Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, and them training Steven. As they are the only Crystal gems left, they must fight together to show their highest potential. That is where the thought of fusion comesInto play. Fusion is not only “just a cheap tactic to make weak gems stronger”, but it also is the best way to show how powerful the Crystal gems are together. It gives the gems a sense of equality, making sure that they can work like one, like one working party with one goal in mind. Yes, fusion can also be related to the marriage of two gems, but even in that case, it still shows the power of one group.

Now let’s talk about the antagonists for a moment, the Homeworld gems. Homeworld is a planet ruled by the remainder of the gems. It is run by three elites, Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, and White Diamond. From this, we can already tell that this society is run like an oligarchy, a form of government where there are multiple rulers at a time. During the show, there is also a class system mentioned in Homeworld; the Diamonds are on top, pearls are servants to the wealthy, peridots are worker gems, and bismuths are the architects. This is very similar to the class system described in the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx, where there is the bourgeoisie, or the wealthy managers and leaders, and the proletariats, or the workers. In the show, the Diamonds are shown to be the bourgeoisie, and the Peridots, or any other gem, are shown to be the proletariats. This is the exact system of government that Karl Marx rejected. The Crystal gem’s system of leadership resembles Marx’s ideology more, as there is no leader, and the gems work as a group, where no one is left behind. In fact, the break between Homeworld and the Crystal gems started because of a war, similar to the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. I know that this post was probably off about certain things, but what is true is that Steven Universe is a weird cartoon and it was really fun seeing if this wacky show had some communist exploits