In the sixth episode of the first season of Steven Universe, I don’t even know what to say. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Steven Universe.Â
Trigger Warning: For body horror.
Well, that happened.
I actually like this episode a lot, namely because it deals with body transformation in a way that might help others understand that our bodies are weird, strange, and often will do things outside of our control. At the same time, it’s seriously like an animated Cronenberg film, and I bet this horrified some people who watched it. Which is understandable! By the time Steven makes it to his dad’s car wash, I felt like the tone had slipped a little bit further away from humor, and more towards something truly upsetting. (Sort of. More on that later.)
I’m getting the idea that Steven’s journey isn’t going to be a quick one, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he couldn’t full transform or access his gem powers until the end of this season. Since “Cat Fingers” introduces the audience to the concept of Gem shapeshifting, I assumed that Steven would have a difficult time with it. Amethyst is also a natural at pretty much everything, so I wasn’t expecting her to be able to teach Steven much because she doesn’t seem to have a structure to what she does. It just happens.
Still, Steven was able to succeed, albeit in the silliest way imaginable. Instead of being able to shape shift into a cat, he just turns one finger into a cat. This is adorable and perfect. It’s just so ridiculous and a brilliant representation of Steven’s abilities. He can’t do the full thing, but he can get part of the way there. Though… a very small part, I should add. In true Steven fashion, he shows it off to his dad, Lars, and Sadie, because WHY WOULDN’T YOU SHOW OFF A CAT FINGER THAT MEOWS AND PURRS AND BITES BULLIES LIKE LARS? And because Steven is an endless source of goodness and purity in this cruel world, he creates more cat fingers so that they won’t be alone.
It’s here that “Cat Fingers” begins to explore the… um… darker side of Steven’s powers? I don’t know, I get why anyone would feel creeped out by this, and by the time I got to the homage to The Thing near the end, I was certain that we were supposed to think this had gotten way too far out of control. But I mostly found this hilarious. The idea of a body made out of cats is just so silly to me, and I could barely believe that the show had actually animated it for us. I FEEL SO SPECIAL. Yet the body horror element is undeniable, and my brain wants to derive some sort of Deeper Meaning out of this. The Gems constantly tell Steven that he’s too young or not ready to do Gem Stuff, and perhaps he really isn’t! If this is the result of him trying to shape shift, maybe he should wait.
I also can’t help but wonder if this was intended as some sort of commentary on puberty in a way. I have no real support for that theory; it’s just that it’s remarkably common in shows/books aimed at a younger audience. Regardless, I suppose I could sit here and come up with a million theories as to the Deep Meaning in “Cat Fingers.” Instead, I’d rather just say that I loved this weird, surreal journey. Bravo, Steven Universe. I didn’t realize that I needed this in my life.
The video for “Cat Fingers” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
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