Learning good-enough parenting through Steven Universe

[Widdiful Falling]

Steven Universe is a cartoon about a boy with superpowers. He goes around, having adventures and misadventures, learning to harness his power. It's made by the creator of Adventure Time.

It is also a lovingly created exploration of emotion, and good-enough role-modeling. None of the characters are flawless, and all of them react to events around them with reasonable shows of emotion. It's enough, sometimes, to make someone like me very uncomfortable.

Best of all, his dad, and the rest of the adult figures in the show, clearly love Steven very much. The first time I saw Steven interact with his dad, it was clear to me that he is a good-enough parent. He takes care of his son, even though Steven has superpowers. His dad may not be perfect, but he loves his son unconditionally, and treats him with respect.

I highly recommend this show to anyone who wants to know what a loving, respectful adult-child relationship looks like. I would also recommend it to anyone who has trouble accepting or showing "negative" emotion, as the show doesn't shy away from portraying the nuances of sadness and anger. It treats them like any other emotion. They're treated as things that happen sometimes, instead of objects to be defeated.

I think this is the first media representation I've seen of real love.

[C.]

Thank you for the heads up and suggestion.  I learn best from fiction shows, especially cartoons haha So I will look in to it.