change your mind reveals pinkâs aura and its effect on gems
Blue diamond has control over emotion. By expanding her aura outward, she can forcefully illicit emotional reactions from other gems.
Yellow has control over physical form. She can electrocute and poof gems immediately, destroying their projected physical existence.
White has control over mind. She can completely posses a gem, negating their own free will entirely.
In this episode, though itâs not initially apparent, we get to see Pinkâs.
It is the blush on white diamondâs face, on every gemâs face in the room.
This blush that turns gems pink, just like blueâs turns everything blue.
Like yellowâs electricity.
Like white diamondâs eye rays.
Pinkâs ability is the very same thing that brought the diamonds together thousands of years ago, âwith a joke or a song.â Itâs what brings them together yet again in this episode.
It helps free the crystal gems as well as the other diamonds from Whiteâs control, restoring what makes them who they are.
And it happens when Steven makes a joke.
Pinkâs aura is laughter. Itâs celebration. Itâs joy.
The metaphor of Steven fusing with himself works on so many levels that itâd probably take an academic paper to dissect it all.
Besides being generally applicable to self-love while also completing Stevenâs story arc, it is also about parental heritage. It affirms that youâre not your parents and you donât have to be. Youâre not the mess they left behind, youâre more than your blood or genes, more than your ancestors, more than the abuse that runs in your family. You donât have to perpetuate their mistakes. It is also, however, a beautiful allegory for being transgender.
The way that the diamonds try to negate his identity, calling him by the  wrong name and pronouns, mirrors what trans people have to go through  in their every day life. Family not accepting them, denying that things are broken, trying to control the trans person.
White Diamond literally forces Steven to convert into the  person she wrongly believes him to be, harming and almost killing him in the process. Of course he is not going to be that person, because he canât be. Heâll be Steven. Only injured and weakened because of her actions.
There is this moment where Steven looks at himself and realises that he should have been certain all along. He wasnât confused. The diamonds were. The emotions spill over as he experiences a deep recognition of the Self. An unbelievable joy created by finally knowing yourself, accepting yourself, loving yourself!
Connie helps him get there. She delivers Steven to himself but she never directs the narrative. She carries him where he canât go, but he tells her where that is. She is a shining example of what being an ally truly means. Without her, Steven would not have survived. And especially after this incredible weekend of outpouring support in H.Bomberguyâs livestream, the power of trans allyship becomes ever so clearer.
âI donât need you to respect me, I respect me
I donât need you to love me, I love me
But I want you to know you could know me If you change your mind"
Even though the real world is a much more dangerous place and this can be considered a naive attitude, it struck me
This is a beautiful and encouraging message for all marginalized groups, this is an episode for the Other. It is a utopian vision which we sometimes need. We need the reminder that even though there is cruelty, there is also love. And we need to love ourselves, too. We deserve it.
To be honest, the main diff between SU and stuff like SVTFOE and Voltron is that SU is flawed, but its flaws are expected with the type of show it is. You can have good discussion on whether the show should've gone with the 'no villain/evil characters, only ideological opposition' approach, while still understanding that SU is heartfelt and authentic in its progressive approaches on themes of self love, forgiveness, etc. (1/3)
I love the diamonds. And while not a lot of people did at first, I LOVE Pink diamond. I relate to her so much and how she felt. And I have said it before but I wanna go into depth of what Pink means to me.
Being the youngest in a family is really hard. Me personally, while I am not only the youngest, the 2nd youngest- my older sister- is 10 YEARS OLDER THAN ME.
It puts you under alot of pressure. When you are the youngest, the âbabyâ of the family, you will always be treated as such. You get older, but you rarely be treated like you are. And it hurts a lot. Its belittling and it doesnât make things any easier on you.
I also want to point something out in pinks character, I really dont like when people describe her as âbratty and immatureâ because we see ONE scene where she is like that. And judging by the fact that she didnt have Pearl or the Earth yet, that happened thousands of years before rose quartz.
Now, look at how Pink acts in Now we are only falling apart onward. Can you think of moments where she is acting like a brat? The answer is no. She is silly but thats just part of her personality. She did start growing up but part of what pushed her to rebellion is her still being treated that she was less. I can really relate to that.
I really think this kind of representation is important. Kids a lot of the time are treated as if they are less than other people just because they are younger. I agree that until they reach a certain point in their life they do need guidance. But thats exactly it. They need GUIDANCE. They arent inferior because of that and many people dont even realize it. In fact, it is part of why I see so many people in their teenage years acting out.
To end this off, I want to talk about my favorite episode that touched me, and that would be pool hopping when garnet says this:
Thats something that⌠not a lot of people want to admit. That I feel like parents and older siblings should learn. And honestly, O feel like it would create a much healthier environment around children.
My point being, THIS is why I LOVE pink diamond. I can relate to her so much and when people just call her a brat, spoiled or âasking for too muchâ it really hurts. I dont think people understand how toxic belittling and demoralizing children is for them, and I really want to see this kind of representation more often.
âThat song was not actually written for the show. That was a personal song that I wrote while fighting for the wedding. And at first I wasnât sure if I wanted to include it, because I knew I would feel exposed, but over the course of making the show, it was the thesis that I had arrived at, in order to keep functioning as a show runner. And I didnât want to half say it. I wanted to actually say what Iâd learned and what I meant.â
the fact so many people have a fondness for kirby as a character despite never having played or even been interested in playing one of his games really goes to show how good a design he is
âCrazy Rich Asiansâ Author Kevin Kwan Optioned His Book for $1 to Ensure Hollywood Wouldnât Whitewash the Adaptation
In the delightful new rom-com Crazy Rich Asians â which consists of a principal cast entirely of Asian descent, a major feat in Hollywood â a college professor (Constance Wu) travels to her boyfriendâs old stomping grounds in Singapore to attend the most opulent wedding of her life. (And to survive the wrath of the women vying for her boyfriendâs attention. And her boyfriendâs intense mother.)
The film, an adaptation of the 2013 novel written by Kevin Kwan, is a major win for the Asian acting community, but in a new Hollywood Reporter feature, some behind-the-scenes drama nearly prevented it from being a faithful big-screen experience.
As Kevin recalled to the publication, he rejected numerous âlucrativeâ offers and instead optioned his film for a mere $1, forgoing a large paycheck to ensure he maintained involvement with creative and development decisions. This was, Kevin said, after one disastrous pitch strongly recommended he change the Asian heroine to a white woman, since nobody would be interested in seeing the film otherwise. (âItâs a pity you donât have a white character,â he was told by the producer.)