I wish more people understood that it’s not like: Big Bad Cartoon Network saying “no you can’t have gays in your shows” and Rebecca Sugar somehow sneaks them in anyways. No, it’s more complicated than that.
In fact, CN execs have actually been generally very supportive of putting queer characters in their show, and what they ACTUALLY worry about is whether or not the gayness will affect their ability to market the episode to other countries worldwide for syndication*. Need I remind you, many countries still deem gay content “too risque” for childrens’ programming, and in some countries it’s outright illegal and pretty seriously punishable. But let me back up first.
*Syndication is when a TV network gives another network the rights to air their show for a certain price. It’s why you see King of the Hill and Family Guy on multiple TV networks. Network B wants rights to air Network A’s show because it might help attract audiences to come see A’s original content, and as long as they pay B for the rights to air it, B is totally fine with it. This is one way a show can help generate money for the network – money which, I will remind you all, is very necessary for the production of Cartoon Network’s shows. Animation is VERY EXPENSIVE STUFF!
So, if an episode of a CN show (let’s start with Adventure Time for example) has too much content that other syndicate networks deem inappropriate, they may edit or (worst case scenario) drop the show altogether, which means CN loses money and will probably face budget cuts (THAT’S BAD!). For example, look at how heavily Australia edits episodes of Adventure Time. They absolutely butchered the first LSP episode to take out any references to things as small as yelling at her parents, because “that teaches kids to hate their parents”.
The crew for Adventure Time has told us that CN execs have generally support the idea of PB and Marceline being romantically involved in the past, but they couldn’t outright say what it was, for fear that conservative syndicate networks would drop the show, resulting in loss of income. CN generates a decent chunk of money, but it’s not exactly the RICHEST network out there, and can’t afford much by way of losses. Failure is pretty much not an option.
But, now that it’s had a chance to tiptoe up to the line with AT episodes like “What Was Missing” and “Sky Witch” without much backlash, it’s given them enough confidence to step it up even further with the content in Steven Universe. CN wants to be supportive – frankly, I still consider it the most progressive of the Big Three networks for animation (*squints at Disney surreptitiously*) – but it’s still a tricky business and has to be taken one step at a time. It’s amazing to behold how well it’s working!
Anyway, I just hope we start seeing less of these posts that backhand Adventure Time or Cartoon Network for not having explicit Bubbline while lauding Steven Universe for including Ruby/Sapphire. Remember that SU’s successful addition of smol gays to its story owes a huge debt to Adventure Time for setting the stage in the first place.
Anyway, I’m super thankful for all this progression we’ve had in the past couple of years, and I can’t wait to see where the future takes us!