How Greg Universe Does Money

A Cartoon Network show about sentient space rocks gives us a very realistic look at what might happen after a financial windfall.

I want to talk about Steven Universe.

I never don’t want to talk about Steven Universe, really, but now I get to bring it up again because a lot of this new season has been about money and what happens when a lower-middle-class family receives an unexpected financial windfall.

Greg Universe (father of Steven, former musician and current small business owner) learns that one of the songs he wrote when he was young was turned into a fast food jingle, and that he is owed payments and royalties in the amount of $10,000,000.

That plot twist isn’t particularly realistic—even assuming Greg’s jingle was overwhelmingly popular, there are three more zeroes on that number than there should be—but the way Greg handles his money feels extremely real, at least from my experience.

The first thing Greg does, after receiving his windfall, is sing about how he already has everything he wants and needs. (Yes, they sing in Steven Universe. A lot. This might be why it is one of my favorite TV shows.)

The next thing Greg does is book a hotel penthouse suite for one night, so he and Steven and their friend Pearl can experience life in the lap of luxury—or what Greg considers luxury, which he describes (in song) as “the finest steak and brie.” There’s this giddy excitement to getting a slightly fancier version of everyday stuff that I absolutely recognize, because I’ve also been the person who is delighted whenever her hotel room gets upgraded to a suite and who thinks brie is the most special-occasion cheese ever.

After that one-night spending spree, Greg’s life stays pretty much the same—but Steven Universe has never been a show that hits the reset button at the end of each episode, so there are a couple of subtle and significant differences.

Greg is no longer desperate for customers at his small-town car wash business, for starters. Shortly before he gets his windfall, we see him running out of the car wash, hose in hand, because he thought he heard a car pull up. After the windfall, he shrugs off a teenager who drives away without paying with the comment “What do I care? I’m rich.”

Greg also buys the car he dreamed of owning when he was young: a used, two-door hatchback that looks remarkably like the car I drove in college.

I love that the Crewniverse (that’d be the team behind Steven Universe, get with the lingo) is playing Greg’s newfound wealth so realistically. Sure, the “gets windfall and spends it all” trope is a pretty realistic one too, and you can find plenty of stories about lottery winners who ended up worse off financially than when they started, including this one from The Penny Hoarder (where I am an occasional contributor).

The Downsides of Winning Big: 21 Lottery Winners Who Lost Everything

But, having been in the position to watch my own income grow steadily over time, I both sympathize with and see myself in Greg’s modest splurges. He gets a used car, I rent a one-bedroom apartment. He says “What do I care? I’m rich!” and I say “Wow, I booked my hotel room for the wrong weekend, but I am financially stable now and can afford to throw a few hundred bucks at this problem.”

Just so I can have the excuse to share one more clip: Greg also buys a new tablet, decides he doesn’t need it, and gives it to a friend.

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