LGBT Representation in Cartoons from 2010 Onward

In this article, I will explore LGBT representation in mainstream children's media from 2010 til the present day. The media discussed includes Steven Universe, Adventure Time, Clarence, Star VS The Forces of Evil, The Loud House, and Finding Dory (mentioned.)

Part I: Minor Characters and Background Queerness

When Finding Dory came to theaters, some people made a big fuss over a same-gender couple appearing in a scene for less than 5 seconds. People wanted to boycott over these innocent happy moms who didn't even speak. So to see a show on a mainstream network such as Cartoon Network, Disney XD, and Nickelodeon, have lgbt+ moments that could get them banned it pretty significant. This first part discusses some small lgbt+ moments in cartoons from 2010 onwards.

In Cartoon Network's Clarence, Clarence's friend Jeff Randell has two moms, EJ, the brunette, and Sue, the redhead. EJ and Sue are played by real life lesbians Lea DeLaria and Tig Notaro, respectively, which is a nice nod to queer parents who might watch Clarence with their child. DeLaria is recognizable as Big Boo in Orange is the New Black, and Notaro plays Barb on Transparent, two decidedly queer shows. If one goes by head shape, we can guess that EJ, the more masculine mom, is Jeff's biological mother. This is a nice way to combat the stigma that, in a lesbian couple with a butch-femme dynamic, the butch is more masculine and manly by default. EJ and Sue are shown to be competent parents, with no more issues than the different-gender parents on the show face. A major episode that features them deals with Jeff's desire to enter cooking competitions that is hindered by his severe social anxiety. EJ and Sue call upon Jeff's friends to help him. Despite Jeff having a meltdown year after year, they do not discourage him from entering the contest, and support their indecisive son.  EJ and Sue never have their same-gender parenthood called into question, or made a big deal of. They are a great example of subtly normalizing same-gender parents. 

There is also an episode that features two same-gender background characters, Kevin and his unnamed boyfriend, on a date. Spencer Rothbell, a writer and voice actor, said on Twitter, in tweets that have since been made private, that in the scene with the two men, "Originally the guy had flowers and they kissed on the mouth." It is unclear why Cartoon Network censored this moment. 

Howard and Harold McBride are Clyde McBride's fathers, of The Loud House. Clyde is Lincoln Loud's best friend. In Harold and Howard's first appearance, both are shown to be doting fathers, but especially Howard who gives Clyde a family photo to remember them by since Clyde is sleeping over at Lincoln's house and the dads won't be there to tuck him into bed. As Howard and Harold leave, Howard wails, "I love him (Clyde) so much!" They are loving parents, if a little dorky and high strung. Their ability to parent isn't called into question.

Steven Universe features a family of two moms and their son that show up as background characters in a couple episodes. They are human denizens of Beach City, and so far unnamed. They have had no speaking roles and could be easily missed by a casual viewer, so are not super great in terms of queer visibility, but are still a nice detail.

Star Vs the Forces of Evil features several background characters sharing same-gender kisses in the episode Just Friends. These characters are also unnamed and have no speaking roles, but Star deserves some credit for showing same-gender couples kissing. Many times an implied same-gender couple will get to hold hands but not kiss, especially not on the lips. Same gender PDA is a step towards normalization.

Part II: Main Cast Queerness

Princess Bubblegum and Marceline of Adventure Time have a complicated relationship, first explored in the episode What Was Missing, where Marceline sings the telling lyrics "I'm gonna drink the red from your pretty pink face." The main characters have something stolen from them, and we find out that what was stolen from Bubblegum was a band t-shirt Marceline gave her. Marceline thought Bubblegum didn't like the shirt, because she never saw her wear it, but Bubblegum explains that she wears it all the time, as pajamas. In Sky Witch, she is indeed wearing the shirt as pajamas. She smells the shirt, which we can assume has some of Marceline's scent left over. In the same episode, Bubblegum encounters a witch, Maja, who uses sentimental objects to fuel her magic. Maja states that the shirt has a powerful sentimental attachment. The episode Varmints shows that Bubblegum regrets that her and Marceline had a falling out and grew apart. She confesses that she loves Marceline and, having finally reconciled their relationship, the episode ends with Bubblegum napping on Marceline's shoulder. In the episode Take Her Back, Marceline dreams of herself as an aging woman, and in the dream, Bubblehum kisses her on the forehead, as if they are an old married couple. What started as subtext was clearly embraced by the writers, and with Adventure Time ending soon, it seems Marceline and Bubblegum will stay a couple through to the end.

Ruby and Sapphire of Steven Universe, who make up Garnet when fused, are in a healthy, stable lesbian relationship, and exhibit one of the healthiest relationships in the show. There is an episode, Keystone Motel, in which they split apart because Garnet is having mixed feelings about being betrayed by Pearl. Each apologizes for not being considerate of the other's feelings and they reunite, stronger for it. In The Answer, an episode which explores Garnet's backstory, we learn that Ruby and Sapphire faced stigma for being what is essentially an interracial lesbian couple according to gem culture. Gems of different types are not supposed to fuse, and fusion is meant to be a battle tactic only. Ruby and Sapphire fusing for love was unheard of, and racism and homophobia nearly cost them their lives. They were able to escape the oppressive society on Homeworld and live together as Garnet on earth. Ruby and Sapphire are shown to be very affectionate, holding hands, kissing one another on the face and neck. They have yet to kiss on the lips on screen.

The show also makes it clear that Pearl, one of Steven's guardians, was in love with his mother, Rose. Their fusion dance is very intimate and ends in a censored kiss, which was cut out from the UK airing of the show. 

The episode Mr Greg has Pearl sing a ballad about mourning Rose and accepting that Rose chose Greg, Steven's father, over her. The lyrics are telling. "After all these years, I never thought i'd lose ... You won, and she chose you ... it's over, isn't it? Why can't I move on?" Her song is about her moving on from Rose in both the sense that Rose chose Greg as a partner, and in the sense of moving on from mourning Rose's death. There have been many episodes about Pearl mourning Rose, but this one finally sees her get some closure and make up with Greg, who she treated coldly out of jealousy and because she partially blamed Greg for Rose's death, since Rose died in childbirth.

The episode Last One Out of Beach City focuses on Pearl being attracted to a human woman. This aired after Mr Greg to show that Pearl was trying to move on, but we can tell she hasn't quite moved on, as the mystery woman, who remains unnamed, resembles Rose in body type and hair color. Since the episode's airing, the woman has not been seen or mentioned, even though supposedly she gave Pearl her number. I think a good way to show Pearl's development would be for the Mystery Woman to dye her hair a different color from pink, and then Pearl would have to figure out if her attraction to the woman was genuine or she was just projecting her attraction to Rose onto her.

Pearl is a complicated character as far as representation goes. She is a lesbian, but has also treated other characters poorly because she was so bad at coping with grief and rejection. Having your lesbian, mentally ill with PTSD, war veteran character have emotionally abusive tendencies towards other characters makes her complex, yes, but also does not put lesbians in a great light. A good example of this is Rose's Scabbard. Pearl gets upset thinking about Rose, runs away to be alone, and Steven follows her. She jumps onto dangerous floating rocks and Steven nearly falls trying to catch up. She is too caught up in her grief to help him or apologize for letting him fall. Steven even mentions this incident in Last One Out of Beach City: "That's the most scared i've been since you almost let me die!" The line is played for laughs, but it shows that Steven still remembers how Pearl endangered him.

In the Star VS The Forces of Evil episode Sleepover, a character who's only known name is StarFan13, is asked who she has a crush on, and replies "Star Butterfly, of course!" Nobody makes fun of her for this. Often times, queer characters are reduced to the "stalker with a crush" trope, and while StarFan13 is an obsessed fan, her and Star are shown to be friends who genuinely enjoy one another's presence. Star isn't creeped out by StarFan13 and doesn't shy away from being affectionate with her even after StarFan13 confesses her feelings. Star doesn't reciprocate, as far as we know, but their relationship is no worse off. 

PART III: Gender

In Star VS The Forces of Evil, Marco Diaz has a female alter ego, Princess Marco, shows no objections towards people using "she her" pronouns for them, and seems to actively enjoy wearing a big, poofy princess dress. Princess Marco has her own merchandise which Marco gets paid for. In an episode titled Fetch, a magic dog essentially has dysphoria. While she discusses her dysphoria, the camera strangely focuses on Marco. She says, "I thought if I zapped myself with your wand, I could quiet my troubled mind." Marco canonically has body dysphoria. In the episode Naysaya, Marco is cursed with a second head that speaks all his insecurities, and one of them is "Marco Diaz covers the mirror when he showers because Marco is ashamed of his own body!" This hints that Marco may be transgender. Season 2 has concluded without a definite confirmation, but with season 3 and 4 confirmed, Marco may just be the first openly transgender character on a Disney cartoon.

Steven Universe handles gender in a complicated way. One one hand, creator Rebecca Sugar has stated that the gems are gems and technically not male or female in a Reddit AMA. This would make them nonbinary. On the other hand, we have yet to have the gems explain that they call eachother, and allow human to call them "she her" and refer to them as "women" out of convenience even though, being aliens with one sex, those terms aren't accurate. A creator saying characters are transgender, but never stating it in-show, is not true representation. It is akin to J.K. Rowling stating that Dumbledore is gay after all seven books have come out, and only lightly implying it in the series itself. The representation is lacking and can feel like it was put in for "diversity points" instead of being treated with care. 

The show recognizes that the gems gender isn't set in stone with Amethyst in particular. A shapeshifter, some of her forms are male. Her wrestling persona, Purple Puma, is decidedly male, and in his debit episode, Steven accidentally calls him "she" and then corrects himself. Purple Puma is a good argument for Amethyst being gender fluid, but is treated more like a drag persona, and Amethyst's feelings towards their gender are not fully explored. 

There are two characters who use "they their them" pronouns: Smoky Quartz and Stevonnie. Smoky is make of Steven and Amethyst, and Stevonnie is made of Steven and Connie. Both fusions are a mix of a boy and a girl, and while some nonbinary people feel they are both male and female, not all do, so it doesn't send a great message to have the only characters that use "they their them" pronouns do so because of that. No human so far has used gender neutral pronouns for themself. Of course nonbinary people can use "he" or "she" pronouns for themselves, but to have every supposedly nonbinary character except the two made of a boy and a girl do so leaves many nonbinary people poorly represented. 

It is also somewhat uncomfortable that Stevonnie, who is made of a 12 year old girl and a 14 year old boy, appears to be an adult who is rather sexualized. In their first appearance, the camera pans over their body as they caress their new form. They are sexually harassed by an antagonist, Kevin, and he is rightfully portrayed as sleazy and in the wrong, but the show doesn't show the same qualms about the audience gazing at the underage, curvy Stevonnie with the camera. Smoky Quartz has serious self esteem issues and hates themself. Again, these characters are complex, and complex is good, but the way they are portrayed can have unfortunate implications. 

Children's media has come a long way, and is slowly allowing for more queer characters, but still has a long way to go. 

WHO NEEDS VINES? WE GOT SIX SECOND FILMS!

Alyssa Zelman

MDIA 1020

Section 4

WHO NEEDS VINES? 

WE GOT SIX SECOND FILMS! 

April 23rd, 2014

Lamps: A story of love, family and betrayal.
Description: When darling Cynthia tells Albert she's pregnant, it seems as though life couldn't get any better for the Light family. But when the child is a flashlight, tensions arise. Was darling Cynthia having an affair?

Beautiful World

Alyssa Zelman

MDIA 1020

April 22nd, 2014

Section 4

Beautiful World

http://photopeach.com/album/9p7yna

Don't Go Back Into The House!

Alyssa Zelman

April 13^th, 2014

MDIA 1020

Section #4

Don’t’ Go Back Into The House!

            Cabin In The Woods is one of many horror movies, such as the Scream series, that tries to put a new spin on classic horror tropes. Cabin is unique because it doesn’t merely question the foolish behaviors exhibited by most protagonists in horror movies. It attempts to explain them. At the very start of the film, the audience is shown that the scenario we are about to witness is an elaborate set-up by a mysterious group of people. They are mysterious not because we as the audience do not get to peer into their lives, but because we are not immediately told the reason behind their actions. The protagonists behave as they do because they are being manipulated, not because their actions represent their true personalities.

            There are five main characters who are forced to embody five typical horror protagonist roles: the slut, the jock, the scholar, the fool and the virgin. Jules is cast as the Slut, Dana the Virgin, Marty the Fool, Curt the Athlete, and Holden the Scholar. The technicians failed at properly casting the roles. Before the five friends begin their journey to the cabin, we are given glimpses of their unaltered personalities. We are told that Dana is having sex with one of her professors, which, were she cast properly, would make her the Slut and not the Virgin. Later in the movie, we are told that Marty had an unrequited crush on Jules, which might make him the Virgin. By the end of the film, he also proves himself to be much savvier than we would expect, despite being a stoner. He might be better suited to the role of the Hero. Holden and Curt seem as though they were forced into opposite rolls, and if they had switched, the ritual might have gone as planned.

            The controllers manipulate the personalities of the characters through the use of drugs. They spray pheromone mists into the air that are designed to inhibit common sense, spike Marty’s weed (though they miss the stash that he actually takes with him on the trip to the cabin) and poison Jules’ hair dye. This is the explanation for why the characters tend to fail at the basic “fight or flight” response. The hypnotic drugs, combined with voices whispering subliminal messages to them, keep them from making wise decisions. A voice tells Marty to take a walk outside. Marty is immune to the drugs because he uses marijuana, but in his attempt to thwart the voice, he obeys it. He is aware that his friends aren’t behaving true to their personalities, but is dismissed for being high and paranoid.

            Human nature it tampered with almost immediately. The friends stop at a gas station where a creepy old man warns them about the cabin. The controllers comment something along the line of “he practically screams death, but they chose to go to the cabin anyway, it’s not our fault.” It clearly is their fault since the friends have had their inhibitions lowered by the drugs. One way or another, the controllers would have forced the friends to go to the cabin or some other horror location. Once they arrived at the cabin, common sense would tell them to explore every room to be sure nobody was occupying it. After all, even if a house isn’t haunted, some threatening person or animal could have taken residence in it while it was left alone. Common sense also should have told the friends to make sure that the place they were going had wifi so that they wouldn’t be cut off from society in case anything went wrong. I don’t believe most college students would be foolhardy enough to go to a mysterious cabin alone in the first place, at least without telling somebody where they would be in case of emergency. The characters attempt to behave realistically, such as when Curt tells them that they shouldn’t split up under any circumstances, however puff of drugged mist gets him to change his mind. Marty even comments on how dumb this seems.

            Were I one of the protagonists, I wish I could say that I would make better decisions. However, being as their decisions are being forced upon them with fixed events and drugs, I can’t believe that I would fare much better than they did. They controllers were able to convince Curt that he had a cousin that didn’t actually exist, and almost completely alter his personality from and intelligent, goofy, loveable jock, to an alpha-male jerk. But let’s pretend that the controllers didn’t exist and Cabin was a run-of-the-mill horror movie. I don’t drink or smoke, so even without the drugs of the controllers, I would have little reason for not using common sense. I am naturally paranoid so if I were say, Jules, and wanted to make out with Curt in the woods, I would probably bring keys or some other sort of weapon do defend myself with just in case. There’s no way I would let my group of friends split up, as I don’t even like walking around campus alone at night. Knowing we would be in an isolated cabin, I would ask somebody to bring flares and some other way to contact the outside world. There are dozens of precautions I could recommend the protagonists take,  but the point of Cabin is that horror movies are an elaborate ruse meant to appease dark gods, and the protagonists have very little free will, so unless I was a member of the controllers, I would be helpless.

            Cabin is a commentary on the repetitiveness of horror movies. The Ancient Ones serve as a metaphor for the audience. They delight in seeing young people die in gruesome ways, even if it means sacrificing well-developed, realistic characters and complex plot-lines, as we can see with the manipulation of the main five’s personalities. Members of the organization of controllers are stand-ins for Hollywood writers. Most of them are just doing their jobs, taking little pleasure in attempting to force the same plotlines over and over again to appease their “audience”. The controllers have no choice but to enforce horror movie tropes and make their victims make bad decisions. If anything, Jules, Curt and Holden go through a sort of reverse character development, forced into one-dimensional personalities. As great a job as Cabin did at exploring and explaining the dumb actions of horror movie protagonists, I’d really love to see a horror movie in which the protagonists aren’t manipulated into behaving foolishly, and respond as realistically as possible.

Not My Style

Alyssa Zelman

MDIA 1020

March 30th, 2014

Section 3

Not My Style

For this project I decided to use Timmy Turner from The Fairly Odd Parents. Butch Hartman was the creator, so i'll refer to The Fairly Odd Parents style as his. Hartman's style is characterized by thick, angular outlines and geometric character designs. His characters are almost always outlined in black, their eyes are round as the standard with derivations for special characters, his mouths tend to extend as far up as the middle of the eye for certain expressions, and, at least in The Fairly Odd Parents, unless shoes are being emphasized as part of character design, there is no boundary between shoes and pants. Characters from The Fairly Odd Parents have four fingered hands, however this is not a rule for all his cartoons as evidenced by Danny Phantom. I messed up on Timmy's eyes, as they aren't supposed to be outlined in black. His colors are a bit off, because I did not have the proper markers at my disposal.

For the second drawing, I tried to emanate director and animator Tim Burton. He is known for gaunt, spooky characters. If they have eyes, they are often bulging and definitely have dark circles under them, making every character look a bit mad and sleep deprived. Although his characters have a wide range of body types, he seems to be best known for tall, wiry characters with skinny/slender limbs and heads with pointed chins. Most of his artwork is done with pen and watercolor, and I was lucky enough to have water colors to use. His penmanship is messy and loose, and his colors flow outside the lines. His characters are pale, and as brightly colored as they can be, they are almost always desaturated.

For the third style I tried my hand at a variation of my own cartoony style. I prefer to work in colored pencils. My drawings have colored outlines, large shiny eyes, and hair that gets it texture from its lines rather than its shading. Timmy Turner is characterized by his buck teeth, slightly angular face, cowlick hair, thick eyebrows, and pink baseball cap. I think i've made him recognizable but distinctly mine in style.

Expression Yourself

Alyssa Zelman

March 27, 2014

MDIA 1020

Section 3

Expression Yourself

For this project I chose to work with Twilight Sparkle of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. 

The top left expression is one of irritation. Beyond simple annoyance, Twilight is in a mood where every little noise makes her want to groan. She's just plain not in the mood. She squints, sensitive to light. This is how I feel when I get a migraine. 

The top right is simple, something has caught Twilight's attention. Her ears twitch towards the direction of the sound like a real pony's would. Her eyes dart to a blank space so she can try to think of what the sound might be.

The second row on the left is skepticism and slight annoyance, as if she's thinking "really?"The furrowed brow adds to the confusion.

The second row to the right is excitement and eagerness. Perhaps she just said what she thinks is a great  idea to her friend and it awaiting a response. Big goofy grin, eyes staring right into the "camera".

The third row on the left is guilt. She's not looking into anybody's eyes.

The third row to the right is a mix of surprise and fear, as if something is flying at her face. Her pupils are small and her eyes are wide. Her mouth indicates yelling.

The bottom row to the left is embarrassment and shock, as if she's just seen something she'd rather not. Her nose is scrunched up with a hint of disgust. 

The bottom row to the right is amusement. Her smile is sly, so perhaps she's trying to hide her amusement.

The picture in the top left corner of the second image is anger and determination. This is the face she might make at an enemy, whether they are an actually threatening character or just aggravating. Gritted teeth add tension.

The bottom right corner is a face of concern or sympathy, as if she's listening to a friend talk about their worries. Small frown, furrowed brow, eyes focusing on the friend.

Think You Know My Avatar?

Alyssa Zelman

March 20, 2014

MDIA 1020

Section 3

Avatar made from http://www.dolldivine.com/sweet-lolita-mega-dress-up.php

Violet Plumsbelle is 15 years old. She has studied for five years so far to become a knight in the guild of the SugarPlum Girls, to which her grandmother belonged before her. She's the quiet type, and not great with words, but is fiercely protective of her companions and won't hesitate when it comes to defending their honor. With her cute character design, awesome fighting skills, and fierce determination, she could appeal to a wide variety of age groups, though her game is recommended for people 12 and up due to cartoon violence and some frightening villains. She would be liked for being a good example of how femininity does not equal weakness, that you can be cute and a badass all at once. As the game progresses, we are treated to Violet and SweetPea's friendship growing stronger with not-so-subtle hints that the two have crushes on one another. The characters would be programmed to hold hands, cling to one another when they are frightened, and kiss one other on the cheek and forehead if the player leaves them idle for long enough. Though these features would not be essential to gameplay, they help draw the reader into the story and empathize with the characters (not to mention help LGBT*+ players feel safe and welcomed by the game). Violet is motivated by her desire to prove herself as a warrior and by her love for SweetPea. She is willing to traverse dangerous landscapes and risk her life fighting enemies in order to achieve this.

One day when she is spending time with her friend, Lady Sweetpea, Sweetpea's baby dragon familiar is snatched up by a group of greedy dark wizards who teleport to the other side of the country. Violet vows to get the dragon back, and so the two undertake a great journey together to recover him. Violet defends her delicate friend against the enemies that come her way while Sweetpea uses her rudimentary magic to guide them across parts of the environment (think powers like generating light in a cave,  unlocking magic doors). Their game would involve fighting stages, puzzle stages in which the girls must help one another to get to difficult areas, and sandbox levels which allow the player to enjoy the environment. The setting would be a sugary sweet adorable landscape, like in Kirby or Adventure Time that the player would quickly discover is much more dangerous than it appears.

 Violet has a few options when it comes to SweetPea. She can command her to Stay Put, in which case SweetPea will stay in one spot until Violet comes back to her or calls her over. Violet can also tell her to Follow or Come With Me in which case Violet and SweetPea will grab hands and walk/run together. If the player forgets where they left SweetPea, Violet can shout Where Are You and Sweet will use her powers to shoot a flare. Violet can also shoot a flair, in which case SweetPea will come to wherever Violet is. Although Sweet Pea can manage on her own, Violet often must clear a path in order for Sweet Pea to be able to reach her. The gameplay is somewhat similiar to ICO but SweetPea is a little more capable than Yorda. She cannot go any farther than Violet.