Attack of the Fifty Foot Podcast
Okay, the podcast isn’t literally fifty feet. Because we don’t use spools of magnetic tape for recording anymore. We use computers. And so trying to measure a podcast as such would be ludicrous.
What’s not ludicrous is the podcast itself, Giant Woman, the second in what’s shaping up to be an ongoing series with Shana and Jane talking about Steven Universe. You can get the podcast here.
By the way, we are planning to go to Virgina Beach next year (yes, I really like to plan things out in advance) for the Beach City Con, a Steven Universe convention in Beach City. The kickstarter for it is already funded, but of course the more that’s pledge the more awesome the con will be! Check it out here.
Finally, for those listening to the podcast, I forgot to mention that the theme song itself indicates that a “spiritual” approach wouldn’t be inappropriate for intepreting the show. After all, “That’s why the people of this world… believe in…”
…believe in giant women! Because giant women are awesome. Literally!
#BelieveInSteven
September 6, 2016 @ 9:58 am
Yay Steven Universe!
I’ve been absolutely baffled by this blog pretty much ignoring this show apart from that one user-submitted review. It seems 100% absolutely up everyone here’s street in terms of what it’s doing.
September 6, 2016 @ 1:08 pm
As the writer of that guest post, I am also excited to seeing more Steven Universe content. The convention looks very interesting, but who knows if I’d be able to go.
September 6, 2016 @ 9:42 pm
This is my new favourite podcast. Shana has been on at me to watch SU for ages, and the arrival of this show was the spur that finally got me going. And I’m glad it did.
September 7, 2016 @ 1:00 am
Really liked this second episode, too. Excited to hear more!
September 9, 2016 @ 5:29 pm
I’ve grown so used to Steven Universe that I’d forgotten the default rendering of “crystal people” in western pop culture is “guys made of crystal” rather than “all-female race of holographic aliens”. Just checked the wiki, and it seems Rebecca Sugar had nothing to do with either the “Tree Trunks” or “Crystals Have Power” episodes. I doubt she got the idea here either, as Steven Universe clearly draws its basic setup from anime and manga. If I had to pinpoint one influence, I’d say Madoka, whose Crystal Gem analogues are a lot closer to Steven Universe’s than the ones on display in Adventure Time – femininity, corruption, shattering, aliens, everything.
I’ve only watched Adventure Time once, and wasn’t paying any special attention to Sugar’s episodes since I didn’t know she was about to create one of the best shows on television. As a result, my understanding of her evolution as a writer is limited, but is it reaching to suggest that Steven Universe is essentially an effort to take a magical girl anime plot and execute it with the Adventure Time/Gravity Falls/Undertale/maybe-Homestuck aesthetic? I feel all these things are part of the same cultural trend or subgenre, but I don’t know what to call it. Progressive deconstruction? Nice deconstruction…?
September 14, 2016 @ 5:51 pm
I’d call it part of the New Sincerity movement, personally. Basically postmodernism where, instead of mourning the end of the grand narrative, you celebrate it.
September 12, 2016 @ 6:30 pm
Auughhh i am so excited to see Steven Universe content on this website. My favorite source of analytical media podcasting meets my favorite TV show, a small dream come true. Good stuff Jane and Shana, can’t wait to hear more! SU only gets more interesting to think and talk about as it unravels, i’m been thirsting for a meaty breakdown of something like Alone Together for years at this point
October 2, 2016 @ 11:12 pm
Something I find fascinating about Pearl’s room is how, while it looks controlled and orderly on the surface, the lower part of the room is a terrifying water slide of inescapable currents and physics-defying contradictory movements. Rather like Pearl’s emotional state. “Still waters run deep” indeed… and to have all of the water running off into Amethyst’s room, much as how Pearl’s feelings and shortcomings cause her to dump her irritation off on Amethyst? And how even though Pearl keeps her precious objects organized and categorized, they are always “slipping through her fingers” and Amethyst has to catch them and retrieve them for her? Very interesting.
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