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The Zoo
It’s been established that Homeworld Gems don’t have the same
fondness for Earth life or any life organic to other worlds that the Crystal
Gems do. Putting up a human zoo is a
huge way to show how they view them as mere creature they can dominate
over.
Following “Gem Heist”, Steven gets
in the zoo and easily finds his dad.
With an escape near-impossible to find, they have no choice but to live
among all the others in captivity. These
zoo humans are the biggest standout factor of the cartoon bringing to life an
interesting mindset. Most of them are
fully grown adult descendants of humans brought to the zoo thousands of years
ago. Despite being several ages apart
from those who were originally brought here, they still have very simple
thoughts and overly happy reactions to every little thing around them. They certainly seem nice to the visitors from
the much more evolved Earth, but it’s clear something doesn’t seem right.
Adding to how they’re treated like lesser
beings than Gems is needing something called a “little voice” to tell them what
to do. It comes from those stick-on earrings
we saw Steven get in the previous cartoon. It directs them when to eat, play by
rolling down hills, when to bathe in an oasis, and when to go to bed. Despite sounding soothing and welcoming,
directing everyone what to do is kind of unsettling and allows no free choice
whatsoever. It's the first sign of a
catch to what seems like a utopia, and from books on the subject I’ve read in
life, that usually is the case with this topic.
All the while, Steven and Greg, who again are the most evolved captives,
really stand out from the crowd despite approaching the situation
differently. Greg is patient with
finding an escape and goes along with everything, while Steven is eager to
escape and wants no part of the activities.
For Steven, that’s a far cry from just going along with what seems like
fun. They do eventually find an escape
in the form of the other side of a door found in the previous episode, but it’s
said to only open if a zoo human is hurt.
After a few attempts at Steven and Greg trying to deliberately
physically hurt each other comes another disturbing part of the zoo. The little voice initiates a custom called
the Choosening, where it selects different humans to get together and possibly
mate. In other words, it’s the ultimate
drawback to this utopia, an arranged marriage.
This is too far even for Greg, who along with Steven explains that the
right thing to do is for everyone to choose who they want to be with and not
listen to a voice. They still don’t get
that and “choosen” Greg who declines them all.
This causes an outburst among the humans who act like having their
feelings hurt is the biggest form of torture, further showing how badly their
captivity has effected them. It’s
actually a big part that raises the stakes as is Steven and Greg getting caught
by the Amethyst guards just as they reach the open door, ending the
cartoon.
Now some may wonder why the zoo
humans are never rescued after this, but honestly it’s for the best they remain complacent. The cartoon shows how their captivity has
hurt their mental states, and with how they react to their feelings hurt, they
really wouldn’t be able to function on Earth.
They're like feral people who lived their lives in the wild, or wild
animals who lived their lives in cages.
Some beings just aren’t able to adapt, and this harsh honest concept is
a big thing to take from here. At times,
the zoo humans overly happy attitudes can be a bit too much, but the insight
and directions are too fascinating to pass up.
A
Season 4 Ranking
1. Mindful Education
2. Steven’s Dream
3. Last One Out of Beach City
4. The Zoo
5. Gem Heist
6. Gem Harvest
7. Three Gems and a Baby
8. Adventures in Light Distortion
9. Buddy’s Book
10. Know Your Fusion
11. Kindergarten Kid
12. Future Boy Zoltron
13. Onion Gang
The next Steven Universe review ends this current arc with acceptance from Homeworld Gems, more humanizations of the Diamonds, and the Crystal Gems showing pride in breaking from the Homeworld norms.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews are the Loud House cartoons "Deal Me Out" and "Friendzy."
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