I've never really agreed with the sentiment of Rose/PD being apathetic, uncaring, spoiled, and selfish (the two latter examples I agree with, at least before she befriended Pink Pearl) but I could see the argument for either one... until Diamond Days. Now that a new light has been placed on her family life with the diamonds and how they treated her, along with her revelations about life while exploring earth (among other things) can only point to one thing: her being a good gem that just wanted escape. Starting from the beginning, the scene with her on Jungle Moon. I definitely agree with her seeming incredibly entitled in this scene and you're right to think that; that changes when you take into account the actions of Yellow (and by extension, Blue & White) on a larger scale. From the beginning, she was never taken seriously by the diamonds in the slightest, not once in her life was she not seen by the diamonds (as PD) as some silly liability/pointless asset that was only there for amusement; whenever she acted "out of line" in their strict worldview, she would simply get thrown into the tower and left there, isolated, for extensive amounts of time. When she wasn't in the tower, she was trying to keep everyone happy and positive, while also making friends with fellow gems and thinking of them as their equal rather than a collectivist mob that was made to serve her. A great example of this is Pink Pearl. In the Together Alone PD flashback, you can see her being friends and interacting with Pink Pearl as an equal and NOT as her possession- then Yellow comes in and they're forced to stop and hide what their actual relationship in order to "keep in line" with Homeworld standards. Seeing how they treat Steven and his friends upon their arrival on Homeworld, its to be assumed that being friends with fellow gems and not acting as their almighty leader is often a culprit of getting her thrown in the tower in the first place. This not only shows how misguided White (Blue and Yellow by extension) is, but also gives Pink perfect reasoning to want to escape- they were flat out abusive. Then earth comes into the picture. This was, of course, her first colony after countless millennia of being neglected and abused by her fellow diamonds; a chance to finally show them that she could handle a colony and live up to her title of diamond. It's important to keep in mind that PD had a love for organics prior to earth as evidenced in the Escapism flashback with Blue, but didn't understand that for production to go on, organic life must die. Despite thinking of running the colony as "dull", she was also amazed at her seemingly creating life (gems) from nothing, and showed a desire to welcome the gems to earth herself but once again was stopped in fear of what the diamonds' response would've been. She then disguised herself as a Rose Quartz with Pearl, and made an attempt to fit in as their *equal*, not as a tyrant, eventually exiting the kindergarten and realizing the beauty of earth, and how she was hurting it. This was of course due to her high levels of appreciation of beauty, and most of all empathy- one of the major repressed sides of White that manifested into Pink when she was originally made. Que the early stages of the rebellion, and shifting between forms, but trying on both ends to just get Homeworld to leave earth alone. And as earth’s believers grew, so did the reasoning for fighting; individuality became a main point of the rebellion and she started to feel like she actually fit in somewhere, not because of a desire to rule but because of a clutching urge to escape a tyrannical, strictly-enforced caste system that didn’t allow gems like Garnet, Rose, Pearl, Amethyst, and Bismuth to exist due to their strong desire for independence and equality. The quote “If this really is my world, I want to give it to the crystal gems! I want to live here with human beings… I wanna live here with you! We can both finally be free.” sums up their desire for the future of earth almost perfectly, a world where individualistic gems and humans coexist with each other and live freely and peacefully without dictatorial rule. Judging by her actions, Rose never wanted to be any kind of ruler, like all the other misfits and gems that didn’t fit into the caste she just wanted to live a free, quiet, and peaceful life on earth. She was done with the constant abuse put on her by the diamonds, just as all the crystal gems (corrupt or not) were done with the same exact thing (albeit in a less direct way). They were all fighting for the same thing, due to very similar circumstances. They’d rather be free.
Hell yes, I’ve been looking for an analysis like this for forever. So glad that the reddit thread BreadTube brought you to my attention. Really hope that as the show progresses that they don’t conclude it with a “well, the diamonds are good now, they can just be benevolent leaders with more freedoms and less (visible) imperialism, plus they’ve made up with the (inevitable reveal of) sneeple Empire, we just have to work out a few quirks here and there but the hierarchies will remain”. Don’t mean that the diamonds can’t turn good, but I just hope that if they do they just forsake and trash the whole gem hierarchy in the first place and start a good ol Anarcho communist gem society. Perhaps a bit wishful for this show, but it’s already quite great. K, sorry for the little rant, loved this and have a nice one!
Aw thanks! While I don't really see the Crewniverse taking the "See, Diamonds aren't that bad" approach at this point, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't also share that concern. However, a lot of recent episodes and arcs have gone out of their way to demonstrate how others like the Rubies and Aquamarine have exploited Steven savior complex (often to his own detriment), pointing out how there will always be certain individuals that can't be easily reached through empathy alone. As for the ultimate fate of how the Crystal Gems deal with the Gem Empire, one of the better ways I can see this ending is with perhaps yellow and blue diamond making an effort to reconcile their genocidal past while being held accountable for the various atrocities committed under them (basically what Vegeta's redemption arc should have been). White Diamond, on the other hand.... Let me g̵e̶t̵ ̵b̶a̶c̷k̴ ̴t̵o̷ y̷̯̋o̵̼͝ǘ̵͍ ̷͔̀o̴̹͝n̵̪͘ t̶̡̟̳͖̗͚̾ḥ̶̮̺̳͉̥͗̀̽ȧ̶̫̖̍̇t̶̰͆̕.̶͖̼̭͎͎͉̔͝.̵̡̭̗̜͚̣̋͛̈́̒̂̎.̵͎̤̗̪̬̈́ B̷̥̜̖͚͆͌̇̐̐̿ͅe̸͇̼͉̺͈͚̽s̷̮͌͌̄͠t̵̛͙̻̘̩͙͇̓̆͌̇͝ ̸̳̗̖͚̹͙̽̄̌͌W̶̮̯͖͔̘̭͂ì̶̗̜̼̖͎͂͌͆s̶͇̬̫̲̿̉̈̂̒̑h̶̲͗͌̐ȩ̸̯̺̣͙͈̽ŝ̷̺̩̱̮̟̳̅̽͛͝.̴̧̛̰̬̺̱̈̋̄͐
Perhaps this was badly phrased in the video, but when I say that Rose disregarded Pearl's feelings. I mean to say that even though they acted romantic with one another, Rose seemed to approach it from a "friends with benefits" basis, whereas Pearl wanted a more lifetime commitment, like Garnet. Though to quote Greg and pearl, "You know Rose, she always did what she wanted. (Often regardless of how others feel about it)"
Henry Kathman Oh I think Rose did not approach it from a monogamous perspective being a gem. She was seriously in love with both, but was terrible at communicating that which is why Pearl and Greg only seem to have gotten that idea of being in love with both with "both of you". So yeah she 'did what she wanted' without much thought I would guess.
Henry Kathman Yeah I have no doubt that Rose loved Pearl as well as Greg. In my eyes, Rose was being polyamorous. Greg and Pearl didn't see it that way at the time, and her tendency to do as she pleases coupled with none of them communicating is what ended up leading to all the drama with Rose in the first place. So the "both of you" song helps them get neither had to lose her heart. If that makes sense heh
@@paloma4444 Rose wasn't polyamorous and she didn't love Pearl romantically. Yes, Sugar said she did but I took it as her trolling the Pearlrose shippers.
@@josephinamungaray6118 You are a moron. She loves Pearl romantically as SAPPHIRE STATES IN THE FREAKING SHOW. She loves and is intimate with Greg and Pearl at the same time, so not monogamous.
Génesis Chaparro my favorite recent scene is the one where Sapphire tells Pearl she swept Rose off her feet. Pearl seduced a Diamond and did not even realize it heh.
.........................You wouldn't be Pink Diamond...you would be just a higher Gem. Pink Diamond would be someone in the Government. Plus Pink was a horrible person...who cause many people to die.
Well, you are mostly privileged in living in first world country. Are white sis males really that much privileged in FWC? Males as a demographic do have problems. There is a lot of inequality, and females do have some privilege (in some places companies are forced into hiring women because they are women). It isn't oppressed and oppressor sex and color of skin anymore, it's more about super rich and underdeveloped of some institution, some bad influence of culture.
As a gay man who grew up in the Bible belt, there are still many problems that we need to address in our own society. Growing up I was taught that people who were different were basically a cancer brought upon the world by sin. Racism is still very much alive in this country as well. While you will never fully be able to stump out and ideology of hatred we can at least work to teach the next generation empathy for their fellow humans. I'm not trying to diminish the great lengths our country has gone to im just a small time. But know that their whole Generations in this country that would rather the pendulum switch the other way.
@@confused_gaymer1868 I didn't say there is no discrimination. It is just that (bad actors in) SJW in modern time create "white guilt", man hating masculinity. I undertand how religious extremism is still a big problem. White people face less discrimination, but all demographic probably face some. We should try to end all racism and sexism, not just agains historicly oppresed. But, both men and women have a lot of different problems. All lives matter.
I appreciate the sentiment, though the presence and acknowledgement of privilege doesn't negate or ignore the struggles of an individual. And you're right that wealth inequality is a major problem that needs to be better addressed. However, it's important that we understand the systems put in place to get us to this point. Because many of the systems that allow people to accrue obscene amounts of wealth were created and likewise perpetuated, more often than not, for the express purposes of advancing white, straight, cisgender, males into positions of power. And more often than not, those systems did so by exploiting and dehumanizing marginalized people. I know it can be frustrating to hear others talk about privilege, especially since it can easily sound like, "Ah, quit ya bellyaching, they're starving people you know." Though a majority of these sort of discussions aren't done to condescend or belittle people with privilege, it's meant to be an invitation to listen to people with other perspectives, and try to understand the different struggles we all encounter under each system of traditional power so we can better reform them for everyone. I know this might dismissive and reductive, though i sincerely encourage that you try to listen to the experiences of people with different backgrounds to yourself and at least try to understand how others have marginalized by these systems. Until then, Best Wishes.
@@HenryKathman well, I think that most advantages are in wealth, accumulated in times of slavery by rich white people. I think nowadays there isn't any strong descrimination institution, exept maybe forcing buisnisess to have divorsity, because marginalized groups are eather not smart or quilifited enough to compete. There are individual biases, but it isn't organized. Sis people probable a better of in religious states, as are straight people. Some churches are harefull institutions. But US can't ban them. Only slowly impruving them would work. Also, political polirising is strong problem for USA. What is the point of law if next parlament could probably overerite it with new law? How people can find solutions if they are traped in eco chaimbers? It is hard to find ways to give everyone chance to find their talents. Scools even kill creativity, if parents don't help to preserve it. Fiting racisam and sexism and transphobia is better by chaging education systems, not by banning hate speach. Bad ideas should be heard and critisised. I feel that teaching men not to rape is offensive, because it assumes that men don't undertsand that rape is bad. Criminals don't care about what is bad. Whirte men are disciminated against by forst collor and sex diversety, as if we should judge people by collor, sex and sexuality. It isn't justise when you change one disrimination to another.
I've never really agreed with the sentiment of Rose/PD being apathetic, uncaring, spoiled, and selfish (the two latter examples I agree with, at least before she befriended Pink Pearl) but I could see the argument for either one... until Diamond Days. Now that a new light has been placed on her family life with the diamonds and how they treated her, along with her revelations about life while exploring earth (among other things) can only point to one thing: her being a good gem that just wanted escape.
Starting from the beginning, the scene with her on Jungle Moon. I definitely agree with her seeming incredibly entitled in this scene and you're right to think that; that changes when you take into account the actions of Yellow (and by extension, Blue & White) on a larger scale. From the beginning, she was never taken seriously by the diamonds in the slightest, not once in her life was she not seen by the diamonds (as PD) as some silly liability/pointless asset that was only there for amusement; whenever she acted "out of line" in their strict worldview, she would simply get thrown into the tower and left there, isolated, for extensive amounts of time. When she wasn't in the tower, she was trying to keep everyone happy and positive, while also making friends with fellow gems and thinking of them as their equal rather than a collectivist mob that was made to serve her. A great example of this is Pink Pearl. In the Together Alone PD flashback, you can see her being friends and interacting with Pink Pearl as an equal and NOT as her possession- then Yellow comes in and they're forced to stop and hide what their actual relationship in order to "keep in line" with Homeworld standards. Seeing how they treat Steven and his friends upon their arrival on Homeworld, its to be assumed that being friends with fellow gems and not acting as their almighty leader is often a culprit of getting her thrown in the tower in the first place. This not only shows how misguided White (Blue and Yellow by extension) is, but also gives Pink perfect reasoning to want to escape- they were flat out abusive.
Then earth comes into the picture. This was, of course, her first colony after countless millennia of being neglected and abused by her fellow diamonds; a chance to finally show them that she could handle a colony and live up to her title of diamond. It's important to keep in mind that PD had a love for organics prior to earth as evidenced in the Escapism flashback with Blue, but didn't understand that for production to go on, organic life must die. Despite thinking of running the colony as "dull", she was also amazed at her seemingly creating life (gems) from nothing, and showed a desire to welcome the gems to earth herself but once again was stopped in fear of what the diamonds' response would've been. She then disguised herself as a Rose Quartz with Pearl, and made an attempt to fit in as their *equal*, not as a tyrant, eventually exiting the kindergarten and realizing the beauty of earth, and how she was hurting it. This was of course due to her high levels of appreciation of beauty, and most of all empathy- one of the major repressed sides of White that manifested into Pink when she was originally made. Que the early stages of the rebellion, and shifting between forms, but trying on both ends to just get Homeworld to leave earth alone. And as earth’s believers grew, so did the reasoning for fighting; individuality became a main point of the rebellion and she started to feel like she actually fit in somewhere, not because of a desire to rule but because of a clutching urge to escape a tyrannical, strictly-enforced caste system that didn’t allow gems like Garnet, Rose, Pearl, Amethyst, and Bismuth to exist due to their strong desire for independence and equality. The quote “If this really is my world, I want to give it to the crystal gems! I want to live here with human beings… I wanna live here with you! We can both finally be free.” sums up their desire for the future of earth almost perfectly, a world where individualistic gems and humans coexist with each other and live freely and peacefully without dictatorial rule. Judging by her actions, Rose never wanted to be any kind of ruler, like all the other misfits and gems that didn’t fit into the caste she just wanted to live a free, quiet, and peaceful life on earth. She was done with the constant abuse put on her by the diamonds, just as all the crystal gems (corrupt or not) were done with the same exact thing (albeit in a less direct way). They were all fighting for the same thing, due to very similar circumstances. They’d rather be free.
i admire her
Yo this video essay was absolutely fantastic 💖💖💖
Oh crap, thanks!
Got here through the Project for Awesome. This is a really excellent video essay, I love your line of thinking! This deserves more views than it has.
Hell yes, I’ve been looking for an analysis like this for forever. So glad that the reddit thread BreadTube brought you to my attention. Really hope that as the show progresses that they don’t conclude it with a “well, the diamonds are good now, they can just be benevolent leaders with more freedoms and less (visible) imperialism, plus they’ve made up with the (inevitable reveal of) sneeple Empire, we just have to work out a few quirks here and there but the hierarchies will remain”. Don’t mean that the diamonds can’t turn good, but I just hope that if they do they just forsake and trash the whole gem hierarchy in the first place and start a good ol Anarcho communist gem society. Perhaps a bit wishful for this show, but it’s already quite great. K, sorry for the little rant, loved this and have a nice one!
Aw thanks! While I don't really see the Crewniverse taking the "See, Diamonds aren't that bad" approach at this point, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't also share that concern. However, a lot of recent episodes and arcs have gone out of their way to demonstrate how others like the Rubies and Aquamarine have exploited Steven savior complex (often to his own detriment), pointing out how there will always be certain individuals that can't be easily reached through empathy alone.
As for the ultimate fate of how the Crystal Gems deal with the Gem Empire, one of the better ways I can see this ending is with perhaps yellow and blue diamond making an effort to reconcile their genocidal past while being held accountable for the various atrocities committed under them (basically what Vegeta's redemption arc should have been).
White Diamond, on the other hand....
Let me g̵e̶t̵ ̵b̶a̶c̷k̴ ̴t̵o̷ y̷̯̋o̵̼͝ǘ̵͍ ̷͔̀o̴̹͝n̵̪͘ t̶̡̟̳͖̗͚̾ḥ̶̮̺̳͉̥͗̀̽ȧ̶̫̖̍̇t̶̰͆̕.̶͖̼̭͎͎͉̔͝.̵̡̭̗̜͚̣̋͛̈́̒̂̎.̵͎̤̗̪̬̈́
B̷̥̜̖͚͆͌̇̐̐̿ͅe̸͇̼͉̺͈͚̽s̷̮͌͌̄͠t̵̛͙̻̘̩͙͇̓̆͌̇͝ ̸̳̗̖͚̹͙̽̄̌͌W̶̮̯͖͔̘̭͂ì̶̗̜̼̖͎͂͌͆s̶͇̬̫̲̿̉̈̂̒̑h̶̲͗͌̐ȩ̸̯̺̣͙͈̽ŝ̷̺̩̱̮̟̳̅̽͛͝.̴̧̛̰̬̺̱̈̋̄͐
Disregard Pearls romantic feelings' Um it is actually confirmed Rose returns Pearl's feelings, though she was not great at being considerate.
Perhaps this was badly phrased in the video, but when I say that Rose disregarded Pearl's feelings. I mean to say that even though they acted romantic with one another, Rose seemed to approach it from a "friends with benefits" basis, whereas Pearl wanted a more lifetime commitment, like Garnet. Though to quote Greg and pearl, "You know Rose, she always did what she wanted. (Often regardless of how others feel about it)"
Henry Kathman Oh I think Rose did not approach it from a monogamous perspective being a gem. She was seriously in love with both, but was terrible at communicating that which is why Pearl and Greg only seem to have gotten that idea of being in love with both with "both of you". So yeah she 'did what she wanted' without much thought I would guess.
Henry Kathman Yeah I have no doubt that Rose loved Pearl as well as Greg. In my eyes, Rose was being polyamorous. Greg and Pearl didn't see it that way at the time, and her tendency to do as she pleases coupled with none of them communicating is what ended up leading to all the drama with Rose in the first place. So the "both of you" song helps them get neither had to lose her heart. If that makes sense heh
@@paloma4444 Rose wasn't polyamorous and she didn't love Pearl romantically. Yes, Sugar said she did but I took it as her trolling the Pearlrose shippers.
@@josephinamungaray6118 You are a moron. She loves Pearl romantically as SAPPHIRE STATES IN THE FREAKING SHOW. She loves and is intimate with Greg and Pearl at the same time, so not monogamous.
Keep doing what you're doing.
Кирилл Иванов except Rose did not disregard Pearls romantic feelings at all. She is confirmed to return them. She just was not monogamous
When Pink Diamond shapeshifts into Rose Quartz it also shapeshifts the her gem since Rose Quartz’s gem is on her Navel
Great video!
krnekikrneki122 except Rose did not disregard Pearls romantic feelings at all. She is confirmed to return them. She just was not monogamous
great video
Don't try to escape the black hole that is SU!!
Génesis Chaparro my favorite recent scene is the one where Sapphire tells Pearl she swept Rose off her feet. Pearl seduced a Diamond and did not even realize it heh.
0:34
.........................You wouldn't be Pink Diamond...you would be just a higher Gem. Pink Diamond would be someone in the Government. Plus Pink was a horrible person...who cause many people to die.
unsure if true or not ''noooo?''
Sigh...
I know right?
Well, you are mostly privileged in living in first world country. Are white sis males really that much privileged in FWC? Males as a demographic do have problems. There is a lot of inequality, and females do have some privilege (in some places companies are forced into hiring women because they are women). It isn't oppressed and oppressor sex and color of skin anymore, it's more about super rich and underdeveloped of some institution, some bad influence of culture.
As a gay man who grew up in the Bible belt, there are still many problems that we need to address in our own society. Growing up I was taught that people who were different were basically a cancer brought upon the world by sin. Racism is still very much alive in this country as well. While you will never fully be able to stump out and ideology of hatred we can at least work to teach the next generation empathy for their fellow humans. I'm not trying to diminish the great lengths our country has gone to im just a small time. But know that their whole Generations in this country that would rather the pendulum switch the other way.
@@confused_gaymer1868 I didn't say there is no discrimination. It is just that (bad actors in) SJW in modern time create "white guilt", man hating masculinity. I undertand how religious extremism is still a big problem. White people face less discrimination, but all demographic probably face some. We should try to end all racism and sexism, not just agains historicly oppresed. But, both men and women have a lot of different problems. All lives matter.
Gleb Strelets yeah the video is off. It is also off when it implies Rose does not return Pearl's feelings. She does.
I appreciate the sentiment, though the presence and acknowledgement of privilege doesn't negate or ignore the struggles of an individual. And you're right that wealth inequality is a major problem that needs to be better addressed. However, it's important that we understand the systems put in place to get us to this point. Because many of the systems that allow people to accrue obscene amounts of wealth were created and likewise perpetuated, more often than not, for the express purposes of advancing white, straight, cisgender, males into positions of power. And more often than not, those systems did so by exploiting and dehumanizing marginalized people. I know it can be frustrating to hear others talk about privilege, especially since it can easily sound like, "Ah, quit ya bellyaching, they're starving people you know." Though a majority of these sort of discussions aren't done to condescend or belittle people with privilege, it's meant to be an invitation to listen to people with other perspectives, and try to understand the different struggles we all encounter under each system of traditional power so we can better reform them for everyone. I know this might dismissive and reductive, though i sincerely encourage that you try to listen to the experiences of people with different backgrounds to yourself and at least try to understand how others have marginalized by these systems.
Until then, Best Wishes.
@@HenryKathman well, I think that most advantages are in wealth, accumulated in times of slavery by rich white people. I think nowadays there isn't any strong descrimination institution, exept maybe forcing buisnisess to have divorsity, because marginalized groups are eather not smart or quilifited enough to compete. There are individual biases, but it isn't organized. Sis people probable a better of in religious states, as are straight people. Some churches are harefull institutions. But US can't ban them. Only slowly impruving them would work. Also, political polirising is strong problem for USA. What is the point of law if next parlament could probably overerite it with new law? How people can find solutions if they are traped in eco chaimbers? It is hard to find ways to give everyone chance to find their talents. Scools even kill creativity, if parents don't help to preserve it. Fiting racisam and sexism and transphobia is better by chaging education systems, not by banning hate speach. Bad ideas should be heard and critisised. I feel that teaching men not to rape is offensive, because it assumes that men don't undertsand that rape is bad. Criminals don't care about what is bad. Whirte men are disciminated against by forst collor and sex diversety, as if we should judge people by collor, sex and sexuality. It isn't justise when you change one disrimination to another.