The 1990s brought upon the world, a renaissance: A television renaissance, especially in the world of sitcoms. Time blocks were designated to airing sitcoms, famously ABC’s TGIF (Thank Goodness It’s Friday). Enter 2019 and the release of Disney +. Scrolling through the streaming service’s endless catalog one specific option is available. A treasure of 90s television… Boy Meets World. The program depicted Cory Matthews as he navigated the challenges of adolescence and the journey to adulthood. Boy Meets World defined the adolescents of 90s, with all the baggy pants and shirts, and 90s hair styles. It continues to impact adolescents today, including myself.
Boy Meets World’s presented adolescent troubles and milestones on the silver screen. I was not able to watch the show its prime, I never experienced the wait from Friday to Friday, counting down the minutes till the next episode. But I saw one of the biggest aspects of my adolescence on the screen: Awareness of differences. Early in the series, the show’s most developed character, Shawn Hunter, admits that he’s at disadvantage because of his background and where he lives. Shawn lives at a trailer park. He’s aware of his situation, and I saw my reaction, the “I don’t want to talk about it” reaction on screen.
In an episode titled “Santa’s Littler Helper”, Shawn excuses himself from a conversation with his best friend because he doesn’t want to mention that his father was laid off, leading to a small Christmas. It is the first time that the financial aspect of life comes up. As an adolescent there are events happening in one’s life that they don’t want to bring up. The two characters knowledge their different background and homes, Cory living in a nuclear household, and Shawn living in a different world. The friendship remains healthy and strong despite the differences. Cory and Shawn don’t shove reality in a closet, but they don’t allow to break them apart.
Portraying a healthy, multi layered friendship is uncommon because it isn’t always bright. Fights and ongoing conflicts are not popular to watch. The factor that divided Cory and Shawn’s friendship and adolescence is present through-out the show’s seven season run: It came up in deciding if and where to go to college and what’s next in life.
Identity and establishing one’s identity plays a large role in adolescence. Adolescence is the time to figure out where you want to go and what life will include. The character of Eric, Cory’s older brother, struggles to determine who he is. Eric’s story isn’t kept within one episode. The first episode of season four, “You Can Go Home Again”, Eric tells his brother, “Cor, I’m not going home,” because, to quote, “There’s really nothing for me to go home to.” Twenty episodes later, Eric decides to retake college entry exams and begin a new chapter. As an adolescent I couldn’t figure out who I wanted to be and where I wanted to take myself. Was I going to fly to California for school or stay on the east coast? I didn’t know. But, like Eric, I had to take time to figure it out. I wasn’t going to make the decision overnight, I had to spend time and work to choose where I wanted to be.
In the novel If I Ever Get Out of Here characters George and Lewis deal with the theme of impermanence, and excepting that things won’t last forever. Impermanence can be shown through a dear friend moving away, in the case of George and Lewis; a favorite band separating (The Beatles), or the loss of a loved one. Adolescence is commonly marked with a moment of loss, usually the death of a companion. I experienced it with the loss of grandfather figure. Some feel it with the passing of public figure, (in that case, for me, it was the passing of Carrie Fisher in 2016). Boy Meets World handled the idea of impermanence continuously.
The program’s main story line about impermanence is Shawn’s family life. Beginning in the second season, Shawn’s parents leave. Shawn’s father, Chet Hunter, leaves his son to track down his wife across the country. After this, Shawn moves from house to house in search of a home, Shawn doesn’t live in one spot for more than a season and a half. The show predicted the effects of impermanence realistically because Shawn attempts to avoid getting close to anyone new because the ones he’s loved always end up leaving: His mother, father, parental figures and his girlfriend. The most heart-breaking event in Shawn’s struggle is his father’s death. Chet Hunter’s death is the culmination of Shawn’s fears. In a span of a few episodes Shawn allows himself to get close with his father again, this arc ending with the loss of his father.
I discovered Boy Meets World at the beginning of my adolescence. I was 12, the same age as the show’s characters in season one. As I experienced the stages of grief and constant emotions of life, I always still turned on an episode of Boy Meets World. I saw myself in the characters, their struggles and what they were saying. I saw myself in Shawn. I didn’t know what I could get attached to. A scene of Shawn’s weakness was a powerful piece of television for me to watch:. Shawn pleads with God to save a friend, saying…
“Don’t blow me off John. Don’t blow me off God! I’ve never acted you for anything and I never wanted to come to you like this. But don’t take Turner away from me. He’s not done yelling at me yet.”
I may have watched the series in its entirety by the time I was 13, but adolescence wasn’t done with me yet. Life’s challenges weren’t done with me yet, and I wasn’t done watching Boy Meets World.
–Megan Ackley
Reference:
“You Can Go Home Again.” Boy Meets World, season 4, episode 1, ABC, 1996. Disney +. https://www.disneyplus.com/series/boy-meets-world/30QWPKyQ9vTF
“Well Have a Good Time Then….” Boy Meets World, season 6, episode 13, ABC, 1999.
Disney +. https://www.disneyplus.com/series/boy-meets-world/30QWPKyQ9vTF
“Cult Fiction.” Boy Meets World, season 4, episode 21, AMB, 1997.
Disney +. https://www.disneyplus.com/series/boy-meets-world/30QWPKyQ9vTF
Representing Adolescence @ Pitt 