Family Issues and Troubling Situations
Boy Meets World was always bringing heart-wrenching, tear-jerking moments to the television screen. Shawn Hunter had a hard life with no Mom and a Father who was barely around. Boy Meets World didn't shy away from these subjects but instead embraced them and used them to really connect with their audience. Below are three ways that Boy Meets World used family related matters to really connect to their viewers.
Parenting
Boy Meets World was not a show written solely for teenagers. There were many aspects of the show that appealed to parents. Cory Matthew's parents were always giving advice and offering up a helping hand. During season three when Shawn Hunter's dad left to chase after his mom, Shawn moved in with his teach Mr. Turner. Mr. Turner mentored and helped Shawn. Even though Mr. Turner didn't always know what he was doing, he always tried his hardest to help Shawn. During one weekend, Mr. Turner tells Shawn he will be going out of town. Shawn is supposed to be staying with the Matthews. Instead of behaving and staying at the Matthews, Shawn invites a girl over to "his" apartment. Shawn and his date show up to Mr. Turner's apartment. Since Mr. Turner is supposed to be out of town, Shawn assumes the apartment will be empty. It instead turns out that Mr. Turner is there with his own date. Shawn runs off and Mr. Turner is left to try and find Shawn. Mr. Turner begins at the Matthews house where he is met by Mr. Matthews. As always, Mr. Matthews has advice to offer and informs Mr. Turner that all parents make mistakes. Mr. Turner is then less harsh on himself for his mistake and learns the hard way that it's okay to not be perfect. The Matthews family served as the ideal family for many years on TV. For viewers to hear Mr. Matthews say that every parent makes mistakes, even him, gave people at home a very real-life moment from the show. The parents watching the show connected to Mr. Matthews and were made to feel like it's okay to make mistakes sometimes because no one is perfect, even the Matthews.
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Death
Another major life issue that Boy Meets World focused on was death. Shawn Hunter had never had a great relationship with his father. They kept in touch, but his father was often traveling the wide-open roads and doing anything to get out of being a father to Shawn. Throughout the series, Shawn is in and out of different homes, only occasionally living with his father. When with his father, the scenes confirm the dysfunctional life the two have together. In the last few seasons, the viewers learn of Shawn's half brother, Jack. Jack and Shawn don't get along at first and have a lot of differences to work out. Eventually these two become loving brothers to each other. When their father, Chet, dies both sons are heart broken over the death of the father they barely had the chance to know. Shawn and Jack are left without a father and Shawn isn't a legal adult yet. Like many kids in similar situations, Jack feels it is his responsibility to take care of Shawn now. When a parent or both parents die, the oldest child are "usually expected to be "grown up" and support other members of the family, particularly a surviving parent, and/or younger brothers and sisters." (Hospicenet.org). Jack invites Shawn to move in with him and starts trying to parent Shawn in different situations. Both boys grieve over their father's death, and come out stronger then before. Viewers with similar home lives were provided with two brothers that served as positive role models.
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Confusion and The Need For a Family
After Shawn's father dies he receives a note from his Mother confessing that she wasn't his real Mother. This woman had pretended to be Shawn's Mom so that he could feel like he had a Mom and a Dad. After Shawn receives this letter, he begins acting out and getting in trouble. Shawn starts to drink alcohol regularly (even though he is underage) and becomes aggressive with his girlfriend. Shawn skips school more and claims he doesn't have any idea who he is because he never had any "real parents." This episode contains many situations that teenagers can connect with. First, Shawn starts to drink after receiving the letter, ten million underage kids between ages twelve to twenty have admitted to consuming alcohol in the last thirty days (Centurycouncil.org). Secondly, Shawn has no parents and he isn't even a legal adult yet. Shawn is left without a family to live with, in a similar situation as the 463,000 children who are currently living in foster care with no parents (Childrenunitingnations.org). Lastly, Shawn was offered to be adopted into Cory's Matthew's family. Even though Shawn eventually declines this offer because he feels he is already a part of the family, this still gives a connection to the 1.5 million U.S. children who live in adoptive homes (Adoptioninstitute.org). Shawn goes through so many issues in just this single episode that connect to many kids and teens today.
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