Boy Meets the World Wide Web: a 90s show and its reboot in the age of the internet

## Introduction

Technology and art are thankfully two mediums that have no concrete definition. In Plato’s time, technology was writing that was exclusively orated. In “Word Processors of the Gods” it was a processor with supernatural type abilities and in “I, Robot” artificial intelligence was the newest wonder. Even in Frankenstein, Victor’s Creature himself can be viewed as another kind of technology. Like technology, art also has many forms through painting, dance, music, movies, comics, and now video games are starting to be considered. Nevertheless, there have many debates regarding both mediums. With technology, there is the constant concern of changes within the brain and lifestyles. That humans will become unintelligent, lazy, spend less time socializing, thinking for themselves, reading or going outside. With art, there are debates over what is considered art. Where novels were once rejected as art, they are now a respected form of art and the same for movies. Arguments about genres of music, games and comics are still discussed. But that is the beauty with interpretation and disputes. These debates have paved the way for self-expression in ways not possible before. Deeper and Controversial themes can be brought to light in things once seen as shallow and childish. Even kid-friendly media like Disney Channel could bring shows and movies that tackled eating disorders, mental disorders, sexism, racism, teen pregnancy and be a gateway to topics such as underage drinking, alcohol abuse, and premarital sex. One show in particular had no problem bringing these real world, teenage issues to life on Disney, and later ABC.

The 90s sitcom *Boy Meets World* follows the life and shenanigans of Cory Matthews, as he navigates life from middle school through college with help from his family, childhood love Topanga Lawrence and best friend Shawn Hunter. The show was loved by many and established a loyal fan base through seven seasons, a reboot and still today. It captured attention with its lovable characters and willingness to tackle difficult subjects optimistic yet still seemingly realistic ways.

## Interpretative Disputes

### Eric Matthews

*Boy Meets World* aired during the earlier stages of the internet so it is difficult to pinpoint what exactly fans might have argued during the show’s run. However, thanks to entertainment sites and platforms such as Tumblr and Reddit, some past, as well as on-going concerns can be known.

One of those on-going concerns involves a recurring character and their progression (or regression, as some fans see it) on the show. Eric Matthews, portrayed by Will Friedle, is the attractive, cool and dense older brother of protagonist Cory Matthews. In early seasons, Eric conveys a persona that is silly but serious when necessary. Though he picks on his brother, there are many instances where he provides Cory with good advice or comforts someone who is hurting. Whoever, fans complain that after season four, this silliness morphs into full blown idiocy or as The Decider puts it, Eric is like many characters in that they become “caricatures of themselves”. From there, conversations and actions on Eric’s end become very immature and shallow, only for comedic purposes. His character lacks development while those around him continue to develop.

There are theories as to why this might have occurred. One theory comes from a Reddit user who believes Eric lost his mind after episode 79 of the fourth season. In the episode “Easy Street”, Eric and his crush, Loni on the road to visit her family, get stuck in a blizzard. Their car becomes trapped under snow and Eric repeatedly rams his shoulder into the window attempting to break it. He accidentally hits his head and is knocked out. When he comes to back at the Matthews’ home, he is delirious and behaving very similar to how he comes to be known to act the remaining seasons. Head injury is claimed to be the reason for his change in behavior.

Another theory also comes from Reddit. This theory claims that *Boy Meets World* is told through Cory’s perspective and as he grows and matures, he begins to see Eric in his true moronic form. This is also the reason why Topanga goes from bizarre to attractive and Shawn goes from slightly flawed to broken. Cory is simply seeing things in a different light.

Other theories suggest that he changed when he was unable to keep his promise to adopt a young orphan named Tommy or that he simply cannot cope with being an adult.

### Shawn and Angela

Shawn and Angela’s relationship remains important because as Angela’s actress, Trina McGee states, “Interracial relationships like theirs were rare on major network shows that were geared toward young viewers.” Their relationship was rooted by many fans since the beginning and Angela’s first appearance on the season 5 episode, “I Love You, Donna Karan”. Shawn, once viewed as a ladies man, is exposed as someone unable to commit due to abandonment issues that are a result of the adults of his life leaving him. His mother walks out on him and his father several times, eventually leaving permanently only for him to find out after his father’s death that she is not his biological mother.  He continually tells Cory about his inability to maintain happy relationship and his fear that it will always be that way because of his upbringing. The addition of Angela Moore brought hope to fans that Shawn could have a shot at love. The couple was on and off for two seasons due to both characters internal struggles with abandonment (Angela’s mother abandoned her and her father), but they always managed to come back together. They lasted until the end of Season Seven, to episodes before the series finale. In “Angela’s Ashes”, Angela’s father, an Army general, was re-located to Europe. Angela decided to go with him to spend time with him and attempt to amend their estranged relationship. Angela left leaving Shawn and fans heartbroken.

### Cory and Topanga

Cory and Topanga became the focal point of the show during season 4 and continued to the end of the series and beyond to its spin-off. They became and remained a fan favorite with various merchandise of them, new Funko pop dolls of the two coming soon in 2019 and constantly being referred to as “relationship goals”. However, not everyone is on board with them. On Reddit in particular, threads can be found like, Opinion: Boy Meets World's Cory and Topanga are a terrible couple lists the obsessive and manipulative traits of the pairing. One really popular opinion on Reddit, is that Cory should have been in a relationship with another character (a girl he previously dated, Lauren, seems to be preferred) or that he should not have been in a serious relationship at all.

## Remediation

### Girl Meets World

After the show’s end, many fanficitons were written, imagining the lives of the beloved characters after college and various “what if?” scenarios. Some of these scenarios include: romance between Cory and Shawn, Shawn and Angela reuniting and the very popular idea of Cory and Topanga’s future children.  With this idea in mind and following Disney’s plan to reboot classic movies and TV series, Boy Meets World was given a spin-off titled, “Girl Meets World”. The show, which aired on Disney Channel from 2014-2017, centered on the life of Cory and Topanga’s oldest child, Riley Matthews, her best friend Maya Hart, close friend Farkle and crush Lucas.

The spin-off was met with mixed reviews from fans of the original show. Some fans thoroughly enjoyed the show uploading recap and review videos on Youtube of the weekly episodes. They felt that like *Boy Meets World*, *Girl Meets World* was a fun show that tackled difficult subjects like depression, bullying, Asperger's and abandonment issues.

Others wanted more.  A few criticisms of the show are that it should have followed in the footsteps of Fuller House and focused more on the adults rather than the kids, Riley fell into the same trap as Eric becoming a caricature, and that there was too much of a focus on the love triangle especially considering their ages. There are fans who say that it does not matter because original fans are not the intended audience, but with the constant references to Boy Meets World others disagree with this sentiment.

Regardless, the show was cancelled after three seasons and many fans were devastated.

### References to Boy Meets World

In the episode “Heartbreak Cory”, when Cory got injured while on a class ski trip, he met a girl who worked at the lodge they were staying at named Lauren. While his class, friends and girlfriend Topanga were out skiing, she kept him company and he found himself developing feelings for her despite already having a girlfriend. At one point, they stay up talking all night and he, Topanga, Lauren, Shawn and Angela play a compatibility game.

In *Girl Meets World’*s episode “Girl Meets Ski Lodge” the same scenario occurs with the only difference being that a love triangle had already occurred and Riley was not in a relationship. Riley also endured the same injury, received company from a boy who worked at the ski lodge, played a compatibility game with and her friends and stayed up all night conversing with him.

That is just one of many references to *Boy Meets World*.

Other references include:

* Replicating Cory and Topanga’s first kiss with Riley and her friend Farkle
* Farkle being the son of Corey’s middle school enemy and having a similar personality
* The names of the schools (John Adams High School and John Quincy Adams Middle School)
* The similarities between Shawn and Maya (Troublemakers, Difficult home life)
* The opening credits
* The frequent appearance of the original characters

## Knowledge Communities

As mentioned before, since *Boy Meets World* ran with no presence of social media and since the show ended

in the early 2000s, it is difficult to track any kind of “knowledge community” if there was a significant one. It’s spin-off, Girl Meets World however, did. With *Girl Meets World* came the emergence of knowledge communities, particularly in regard to the series love triangle. The very first episode set up a sense that Riley, by the end of the series, will end up with her crush, Lucas. Lucas seemed to reciprocate those feelings. However, as her best friend Maya began to change and try to find herself, she revealed to have feelings for Lucas also. Lucas unable to decide to he wanted to be with, jumped from girl to girl to eventually make a decision at the end of the series. Again, there were fans who did not like the love triangle aspect of the series. There were those though who were quite dedicated. Ship names were made: Rucas (Riley and Lucas) and Lucaya (Maya and Lucas) with Lucaya seeming to hold the majority of fans. In addition to these ships, there were also Riakle (Riley and Farkle), Joshaya (Maya and Riley’s College-aged uncle Josh), Rilaya (Riley and Maya) and Smarkle (Farkle and his girlfriend Smackle). Through the progression of the show, fans rooted for their favorite couple, hoping theirs would be endgame. Countless fan made videos were created, videos that contained “hidden clues” and theories of who would end up with who, and videos of a couple’s evolution were posted on YouTube. Comment section for episode clips were full of phrases such as “Lucaya is endgame.” Or “Rucas is endgame.” In fact, rivalry between the ships became so intense at one point, groups were accused of bullying another and other fans expressed annoyance at both groups.  The ship, Riarkle was also popular. Fans of this pairing pointed out: they had more in common and had more chemistry than Riley and Lucas. Farkle was also there to talk to her when she was down or in a dilemma, they accepted each other for who they were and they had been there for each other since the beginning.There were videos drawing parallels between the two shows and questioning if Boy Meets World did this, will Girl Meets World do it too?

    In addition to the love triangle, there were many discussions involving character development and story arcs. When Riley was bullied, a video was posted titled “7 signs that a depression storyline is being built up with Riley”. Riley, known for being a happy, optimistic character brought up her insecurities of not feeling like she was good enough, began to feel tired, her smile looked noticeably forced and she constantly reverted to “Rileytown”, her happy place, which made fans believe that she could no longer cope. Fans were also interested in Maya’s storyline and her desperation to change herself to become to like Riley in attempt be loved or be happier and her search for a father figure. As well as Farkle’s sudden change from outwardly weird and goofy to a much more serious disposition.

## Additional Links

Boy Meets World Reddit

Girl Meets Writers Twitter

## References

1. ↑ Why is Eric So Dumb- https://decider.com/2017/10/09/boy-meet-world-why-is-eric-so-dumb/
2. ↑ Trina McGee- https://www.ranker.com/list/things-you-didnt-known-about-boy-meets-world/amylindorff
3. ↑ BMW/GMW parallels- https://www.thewrap.com/22-times-girl-meets-world-has-paralleled-boy-meets-world-so-far-photos/