gmwrabbithole

[gmwrabbithole]

The poster for the ‘PRIDE & PREJUICE’ 20th anniversary re-release.

Returning to theaters on April 20.

The trailer for the re-release can be found here.

[gmwrabbithole]

Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World, and Missed Opportunities

“Don’t let your history be one of missed opportunities.” - Cory, GM 1961

Missed opportunities: Rosie & Ginsberg (1961) Topanga and Stuart (199~)

Here we have Topanga, flanked by her missed opportunity and her husband. She’s across from Riley, who is flanked by Farkle (a potential missed opportunity) and Lucas (her alleged future husband).

Maya is there, next to Lucas, but she’s blocked in the shot and you can’t really see her. What was that other missed opportunity again? Oh yeah:

May & Merlin (1961)

I bet you if Michael Jacobs could’ve gotten Linda Cardellini to guest star in this episode in a way that made even the remotest bit of sense, he’d have lined her up across from Maya where we could see them both. Because Stuart is a missed opportunity for Topanga. But doesn’t Cory have one of those too? I mean technically he has a few, but what’s the big one? Oh yeah:

Cory & Lauren (1998)

GIRL MEETS WORLD IS GOING TO EXPLORE VERSIONS OF THE MISSED OPPORTUNITIES OF BOY MEETS WORLD. (I mean probably. And I went with Lauren instead of one of Cory’s other side love interests because she’s the one Jacobs still brings up so damn much.)

But WHY was Stuart a missed opportunity? Because he was a joke. In the universe of the show, Stuart Minkus was a punchline, and the proverbial punching bag for both Cory and Shawn. He was never a real threat and almost never taken seriously. He was never the guy who was gonna get THE girl.

Topanga never quite disrespected Minkus to the degree that Shawn and Cory did though. In fact, she called him by his NAME (still does!) and considered him a formidable opponent. He was her friend in his own separate right when we first meet Topanga. But even though she respected and even liked Stuart back to a degree (‘She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not’), Topanga never *really* took him seriously as a romantic interest.

And we were made to believe that Farkle was just a new version of his father. In GM 1961, instead of being in the parallel pictures, he’s the one taking the picture so you only see him in the mirror—which further primes us to count him out when it comes to the whole Rucaya romantic drama. He��s not really in the picture. We’re told he’s not a threat in First Date via Lucas’s sarcastic reaction to the very notion. We were conditioned to count Farkle out, just like his father.

Even though he’s best friends with the girls, romantically he was presented just like his father was: a weirdo with a weird hair cut, who goes way too far with his “wooing” antics, who could never get THE girl because she’s destined for the show’s protagoni—oh wait. No. The girl IS the show’s protagonist this time. Suddenly Farkle’s in the running. And he glos up in season 2, which is something his father never really got to do in terms of how the show treats him.

Especially since Stuart still carries some kind of a torch for Topanga:

“My father says you should’ve been my mother!”

“I have a helicopter and she chose YOU!”

And isn’t it interesting that Farkle has this not-so-subtle resentment for Lucas’s looks? And how Farkle wanted to be an athlete? They don’t have anything resembling the level of animosity Minkus and Cory had because they’re truly friends, but potential missed opportunity Farkle has made his jealousy/inferiority complex regarding alleged future husband Lucas pretty apparent.

(And just for fun: even though Smackle and Jennifer don’t have much in common, we could mentally place them on the other side of Stuart/Farkle, so the Minkus men would be flanked by their “endgame” and their missed opportunities as well.)

So how do Cory and Lauren fit into this?

Unlike Stuart, Lauren was a REAL threat. Cory genuinely liked her in a seriously romantic way. Big time. Like for real I’d have maybe shipped it if it had a prayer.

But ultimately, no matter how much Cory liked Lauren and had strong feelings for her, he had enough Serious history with Topanga to realize that he couldn’t give that up, that he couldn’t live without Topanga and didn’t want to. Which made total sense, considering the history of their relationship up to that point.

So no matter how strong and real Cory’s feelings for Lauren were, she was a missed opportunity because he couldn’t live without Topanga. He was too far in and didn’t want out.

Lauren was also doomed because she was a guest star. Cory and Topanga were always gonna get back together eventually after Linda Cardellini shot her last episode, whatever happened while she was around.

But Maya’s NOT a guest star. She’s a co-lead. And even if Lucas REALLY LIKES RILEY (which he does), he also has obvious, real, strong feelings for Maya unless you are blind. Maya, like Lauren, is a REAL THREAT to the (alleged) OTP in terms of true feelings. But unlike Lauren, she’s not going anywhere.

So the question becomes, can Lucas live without Riley romantically? They don’t have NEARLY the romantic depth or history that Cory and Topanga did when the Lauren arc happened on BMW. Is Lucas in a position to see what happens with potential missed opportunity Maya? Or can he (romantically) not live without his alleged future wife Riley?

Looks like Maya’s odds are better than Lauren’s, tbh. Riley and Lucas don’t even have a quarter of the romantic history/foundation that Cory & Topanga had when Lauren showed up. (And that’s to say nothing of the Riley and Farkle complication when it comes to Rilucas.)

We were set up at the start to believe:

Riley = Cory Maya = Shawn Farkle = Minkus Lucas = Topanga

“So they made everybody think of it in that way even though it wasn’t true?” - Cory

“So you’re saying the perception of a thing doesn’t make it so?”

And the show definitely messed with us in terms of the assumptions many of us were prone to making in light of the BMW parallels we were initially hit over the head with. But NONE of these kids is a perfect parallel to any singular BMW character. They all parallel different characters at different times.

Since the arrival of Zay (“What?! You started without ME?”) we’ve seen Lucas and his original BFF parallel Cory and Shawn a few times: ganging up on Farkle, goofing off in class, etc. And every now and then, Lucas directly pilfers a Cory mannerism (“You did this!”).

Maya has her obvious Shawn parallels, but she’s gotten Topanga parallels as well. And as for Lauren, well, she’s a threat to the alleged OTP of the show, the male half of which nearly kissed her by a fire after they were left alone.

As for Riley, well she’s BOTH of her parents and has paralleled them both so many times I don’t think I even need to catalog it.

And Farkle, well, as much as he is his father’s son, he’s been given a whoooole bunch of Topanga parallels (the kiss, the glo up, the funny name). But he’s also been given Cory parallels (the spear carrier bit, his unparalleled devotion to Riley regardless of what their relationship is).

And of course, there’s the seating arrangement.

This all leads us back to this “legacy” of missed opportunities and the character parallels specific to that theme—two generation’s worth, going on three if Rilucas is truly the OTP of GMW.

Ultimately, we were initially primed to believe that Rilucas was the Corpanga, the destined OTP of GMW, even if their relationship hasn’t followed the exact same path. And if Rilucas is the ironclad OTP of GMW, then those missed opportunities—Rosie x Ginsberg, Topanga x Stuart, Riley x Farkle & May x Merlin, Lauren x Cory, Maya x Lucas—will be missed opportunities yet again. Because they’re impossible if Rilucas is OTP.

“Change your history.” - Cory

“Nothing’s impossible if you take a shot.” - Cory

Maya’s reaction to the Alterna-Core four, the Alt-Lucas and Alt-Riley flirting in particular, very much so carries the implication of “omg, that’s the story here TOO?!?!” GM Gravity leans heavy on the fourth wall (especially in terms of BMW vs GMW), so it’s likely the Alterna-Class was (in part) a riff on the “it always happens this way so it has to happen this way again!” idea. The Alterna-Kids are missing those same opportunities.

I do believe that OUR core four isn’t going to miss the opportunities their forebears and their alterna-selves have missed.

Cory and Topanga aren’t the only version of young love. Other stories could’ve happened, but those opportunities were missed.

“I wanted us to be some version of Cory and Topanga. I guess there’s only one of those.” - Shawn, GM Hurricane

Methinks the show doth protest too much on this front. Michael Jacobs is a sap and a romantic, who believes big time in the power of love and friendship and all that ooey gooey stuff. Looks like he’s giving us not one, but TWO new versions of Corpanga…in the form of riffs on their missed opportunities.

The writers haven’t talked about “unexpected” things happening for a while. Most of their comments on that front came during S1 and in the front end of S2, when Rilucas was still the most obvious ship and the presumed OTP, before Riarkle and Lucaya got so high key while romantic Rilucas all but disappeared until Texas. For GMW, a show with such a strong Legacy (haha!) behind it, with soooo many assumptions about what “has” to happen based on what happened on BMW, one of the most unexpected things the writers could do would be to explore the missed opportunities instead of aping BMW based on our initial, BMW goggle-tinged assumptions about the new generation.

Ships-wise, I think that’s exactly what’s happening. The new generation isn’t going to miss the opportunities of the BMW generation and the great-grandparent generation. They’re gonna break the cycle of how the story “has” to happen.

“You know what happened after everybody went to Greenland because someone told them to?

They all died.

They came to an inhospitable, uninhabited ice ball named Greenland because someone said it was pretty, and the first thing they did was die. The jerks! So please remember, you shouldn’t pay attention to what everybody says. Because if you listen to everybody else, you just might end up crashing your little ships onto the rocks. But you should listen to the people who care about you.”

And then Maya has a realization about our alleged OTP. Whether her terminology is precisely correct is beside the point. She explicitly introduces the idea that maybe the presumed OTP…isn’t. But she resists it. She insists they’re not gonna crash their ships. They can’t crash their ships. The story is supposed to be set in stone.

But it’s not.

So…“don’t assume. Look more deeply. Just because something is wrapped up all pretty doesn’t mean it is.”

Something else is happening here.

[gmwrabbithole]

We need to talk about this.

Lucas: Acknowledges that while Maya loves to make fun of him, she cared about his safety in Texas (so much so that she was willing to blow up their friendship to keep him safe, if you recall). Maya believed Lucas was someone to be proud of WITHOUT having to risk his neck on the back of a bull he didn’t truly want to ride anyway. Maya didn’t want Lucas on that bull because she cared so much about him and his safety (more than anyone else in that rodeo tent, tbh). In his conversation with Katy, Lucas attributes Maya’s delight in teasing him as well as her CARING NATURE (which is part and parcel of a capacity for love) to her mother’s influence.

Josh: Thinks Maya voluntarily gave up her identity in order to “become Riley” so she could get to know Lucas the “same way” Riley does and “understand Riley’s feelings.” (lol). He thinks Maya did this to “protect Riley” and that it’s evidence of what a great friend Maya is. (Josh isn’t wrong that Maya’s a great friend, but his reasoning is a bunch of nonsense.) Josh attributes this utterly insane scenario to Maya’s father abandoning her. Josh thinks Maya has never “felt that love,” and that’s why her capacity for love was great enough for Maya to “become Riley” to “protect her.”

Josh is basically telling Maya that her positive growth as a person in S2-early S3 (embracing hope, getting up and fighting for the arts, liking a teacher, appreciating what she has, doing better in school, forgiving herself for her father leaving, etc) was simply a Riley impersonation all done in service of “test driving” Lucas for Riley. Josh is saying that everything Maya did in S2-early S3 was about Riley rather than about Maya herself, that it was a product of “being Riley” because Maya was abandoned, and he is ADMIRING that behavior (which would be CRAZY UNHEALTHY if he were actually correct, btw). Yikes.

Josh also believes that Maya talking about Lucas as if he is an object Riley owns is an “adult way of thinking.” 🙄

He also “doesn’t know everything.” He’s also a college student confessing romantic feelings to a 14/15 year-old high school freshman. I get that he feels what he feels and he’s in a weird place and a state of flux maturity-wise at the moment, but this dude clearly doesn’t have the best judgment.

Look: ONLY ONE of these guys can be correct about Maya. Either Maya’s feelings about Lucas (caring deeply about him and his safety even though she loves to make fun of him) are something she learned from her mother and felt for herself in Texas (and before/after), or she was simply “impersonating Riley” because her father abandoned her. Either Maya was herself in Texas (a product of her mother’s influence), or she was a “Riley clone” because her father left.

Either Lucas is right that loving to make fun of him while also caring deeply about his safety is something Maya learned from her mom (and logically felt for HERSELF), or Josh is right that Maya “became Riley” and absorbed Riley’s exact same feelings for Lucas because Maya’s dad abandoned her. It can’t be both.

The writers presented us with both points of a view for a REASON. Logically, they cannot both be correct. It’s either Lucas or Josh. Either Maya has her own feelings and they are influenced by her mother and NOT her father, or Maya “became Riley” because of her father.

Considering how Maya and Riley had POLAR OPPOSITE reactions to the bull ride once the danger became clear, considering how Maya still believed Riley & Lucas to be siblingesque as of Texas 2 even though she’d allegedly “been Riley” since Hurricane, considering the STARK difference in the SL1 movies, and considering that Lucas has been around Maya almost every day for 2+ years while Josh has seen her maybe five times…I’m gonna say Lucas is the one who’s actually got it right.

Too bad Josh is the only one who actually said anything to Maya’s face.

Anyway, unless Disney Channel royally screwed GMW (which I doubt), I’m quite, quite confident that eventually they’ll clear up the contradiction here—in Lucas’s favor.

And no, I don’t think it’s “just bad writing.” I think the writers know exactly what they’re doing—and they’ve got a lot of people eagerly eating up Josh’s insane “explanation” even though Lucas’s take on things makes WAY more sense. “Turning into someone else to feel what they feel in order to protect them because you love them so much because your father left” is not a Thing. That’s not real. Prince Baji isn’t real, you guys—and he’s not sending $30 million.

(And yes: I acknowledge that Maya herself put forward a version of Josh’s explanation in the SL Bay Window with Riley, but Maya searching for an explanation as to why she “became Riley” hinges on it being true that Maya ever “turned into Riley” to begin with. Just because Maya’s been shouted down and talked over into believing her growth wasn’t her own doesn’t mean she’s right to believe it.)

Don’t take an irrational explanation as truth just because it’s convenient to the point of “too good to be true.” Don’t fall for Jexica. Think critically and trust the writers to make things clear/right in the end. They already admitted that the characters didn’t make the right decisions in SL2, and I highly, highly doubt the series will end before the characters learn a big lesson about the consequences of those wrong decisions.

(This post is brought to you by The Campaign to Move Everyone to Brooklyn Until Mr. Jackson Teaches Riley Matthews There’s a World Beyond Purple Cats.)

[gmwrabbithole]

It'll come right back to ya: So, what did Maya lose in the first place?

There are a LOT of people in this fandom who understand that the whole “Maya turned into Riley” thing doesn’t make any logical sense whatsoever—partly because you can disprove it so easily it’s downright laughable. Many of us reject the whole preposterous notion for the nonsense that it is, but there’s another portion of people who want to arbitrarily adjust the whole thing down into something that makes sense.

The going adjustment is usually something along the lines of “well obviously Maya didn’t ‘turn into Riley’ she just lost a part of herself.”

And you know what? I’m not gonna bash ‘em. I think you can all easily believe that I more than understand and empathize with the inclination to want to make sense of something that plainly doesn’t add up. 😂 Also? Those people aren’t entirely wrong, IMO. I’m gonna go ahead and agree with them—to a point. Maya did lose something prior to GM Triangle/Upstate. I did a little rewatch this morning for the sole purpose of putting this idea to the test and you know what? Lo and behold, the narrative actually makes it VERY clear that Maya did in fact lose something. And we know exactly what it was. But I’m extremely skeptical as to whether it was something she actually NEEDED to “get back” for any reason other than the fact that narratively it was pretty much the only way to save the Riley/Maya friendship from destruction at the hands of the triangle. (Which is why I’m behind the storyline 99.99999% from a narrative standpoint, painful as it is to watch).

When Shawn gets that little push from Cory back towards his reckless spontaneity, it “comes right back to him.” He cheekily pickpockets Cory, tosses the keys to the girls and tells Maya “it’ll come right back to you.” The girls head off to the art room to “find Maya.”

And what is it that “comes right back to her?”

It’s not her rebelliousness. That wasn’t gone to begin with, it was just tempered by maturity. She was still talking back to Cory in class, still blasé about school aside from art even after her A in Spanish, still being aggressive with Farkle, still generally irreverent, etc etc. Unless you think Maya truly needed to go back to getting detention all the time order to be her “true self,” (yikes) I think we can all agree that it wasn’t a problem for Maya’s acting-out streak to fade away a good bit. That was growth. Good growth. Lord forbid she chill out between seventh grade and high school.

It wasn’t “standing up for what she believes in.” That was something that came along as a product of Maya’s growth, it’s not how she was when we met her. Maya doesn’t lose that until the non-triangle arc kicks into high gear and she STOPS standing up for herself and her growth/right to keep growing against the whole “you became Riley” thing and instead succumbs to it.

What “came right back” to Maya in the art room was BEING ACTIVELY ANGRY AND UPSET ABOUT HER FATHER/HOME LIFE. She delivers an entire monologue about how she’d wanted a reliable father figure and how not having one made her angry. The girl is UPSET. This isn’t some wonderful joyful epiphany about who Maya “truly is,” (although that’s how sweet, clueless Riley treats it) this is Maya letting that anger get its paws on the steering wheel again. What Riley and Shawn inadvertently did was make Maya believe that there was something wrong with wanting what Riley had in terms of a decent father figure, that doing so “broke Maya” and “turned her into Riley” and upset the universe. They accidentally stirred up the anger that Maya decided she wanted to LET GO OF in GM the Forgiveness Project.

That’s what “comes right back” to Maya in Upstate, so clearly that’s what she was “missing.” And I would LOVE IT if somebody, anybody, could explain to me how pushing Maya to that point was a good thing rather than a grievous mistake born of good but extremely misguided intentions. Maya was near-completely driven by anger over her father and her negative perception of her home life for a long time. It informed a LOT of her behavior when she was younger, and I don’t just mean the acting out/detention stuff. But after Shawn entered her life…that began to change bit by bit. And by GM tFP, Maya may not have been ready to forgive her father just yet, but she did forgive herself. She talked about the anger inside her and how she didn’t want to feel that way anymore.

Now, I know a thing or two about parental abandonment and I don’t AT ALL believe the writers ever meant to imply that the anger in Maya magically dissipated and ceased to exist. That ain’t how it works. And we can see by the way it resurges in GM Upstate and even moreso in GM I Do that it was absolutely still there, just lying dormant until Maya allowed it to control her again. Maya didn’t magically lose all that anger inside. But she absolutely did manage to get to a place where that anger wasn’t CONTROLLING her so much anymore. She understood that what Kermit did was 100% Kermit’s fault and not hers (and this was showcased big time as recently as GMHS1). Even before Maya forgave herself, she’d embraced hope for Shawn and Katy and for herself. She stopped thinking of her mother as someone who “drives men away.” And that combination of embracing hope + learning the truth about her mother and father + forgiving herself CHANGED MAYA. For the better. It was (and is) a freaking BEAUTIFUL arc, for both Maya and Shawn.

But in the episodes after Upstate, when that anger “comes right back” to her and begins heavily influencing her behavior again, we can see Maya acting like she’s right back in S1—or trying to anyway. She was told to “go back” and she’s actively trying to be a person she hasn’t been in a long time. It becomes a legit identity crisis at that point. Maya wasn’t questioning her whole identity prior to these episodes, but now she is. That’s unquestionably an identity crisis. Maya becomes convinced that she has to be who she was before, that the way she blossomed in S2 in light of the positive changes in her life and attitude was somehow wrong and she’s got to go back to being “dark” Maya.

It builds to a head in GM I Do when even RILEY goes, “Umm…” and seems to catch that there’s something amiss when Maya starts waxing on about her mother’s “nut gene” like we’re re-watching GM Maya’s Mother or Master Plan instead of a season three episode. If RILEY of all people is picking up that something’s a bit off here, the audience should too. Maya told Mr. Jackson in Upstate that she would keep that little area of hope protected, but in GM I Do we see that Maya absolutely refuses to believe or hope.

Clearly something happened between Upstate/TM and I Do to make Maya stop holding on to and protecting her hope. We can debate about what it was all night and I don’t want to veer too far into ship stuff right now so I’ll leave it aside for the moment, but the notion that GM I Do is somehow distinct from and unaffected by the episodes leading up to it is (no personal offense to anyone) utterly ridiculous. Maya was good with Shawn & Katy in Upstate. (They even have Shawn call this out in the dialogue.) She was committed to protecting that little area of hope. You can see by the mural she paints in GMTM that Maya was still actively holding onto hope at that point. Arguably she’s also still got hope for herself and Lucas in SL1, judging by her movie—but again I don’t want to get too far into the ship stuff here. It’s relevant, but it’s secondary to the bigger issue.

Point is: by the time we get to I Do, all of that has gone *poof*. Maya is not okay with Shawn & Katy, she’s being negative about love to an extreme degree (despite ostensibly “getting everything she ever wanted” on that front with Josh just one episode prior) and she flat out refuses to hope or believe in anything—not even Shawn at first, which is WILD considering he was the catalyst for her to embrace hope and start changing in the first place. This is a 180 from Upstate and True Maya where she was good with Shawn/Katy and clearly actively keeping her hope protected. So idk, you tell me what happened to push Maya off that cliff between True Maya and I Do.

Whatever else may have contributed, to me it seems p a i n f u l l y obvious that the core of what’s up with Maya by the time we get to GM I Do is that her anger/brokenness over her father/home life has wrenched the steering wheel back out of her hands entirely. This is a crystal clear regression of the character’s growth. Obviously I believe this affected other aspects of the plot too in terms of Maya’s thought process in the Ski Lodge episodes, but even if you don’t want to deal with that—I don’t think any reasonable person can watch GM I Do and not acknowledge that Maya’s absolutely not at all her best self there. This isn’t the “True Maya” who has light AND dark parts, who has both hope AND realism: this is full-on “dark” Maya. The anger and fear she actively chose to start letting go of when she grew is influencing/controlling her behavior in a major way.

Riley and Shawn made a MISTAKE in Upstate when their combined well-meaning attempts to help Maya fix a problem that didn’t exist to begin with made her believe she was somehow wrong to want a reliable father figure like Riley had. And the worst part about it is that it’s not like she was trying to be just like Riley & Cory. GM Hurricane (and to a lesser extent Pluto) made a pretty big show of how the Riley/Cory and Maya/Shawn dynamics are very different. When Maya embraced hope, she embraced it for what SHE was with Shawn, not for what Riley and Cory are with each other.

It was COMPLETELY ON ACCIDENT that Shawn and Riley pushed Maya so far backward (see Riley’s ominous concerns about overcorrection in the cold open of GM True Maya), but that’s pretty clearly what happened. And don’t even start with the “stop hating on Riley” crap because I’m not “hating” on her anymore than I’m “hating” on Shawn for this—sometimes people who love you screw up, it doesn’t mean they don’t love you or that they’re bad people with bad intentions. Cory did similar crap with Shawn over and over when they were younger, when they were “amateurs.” Maya & Co pull similar crap with Riley via the committee.

In Upstate, Maya becomes convinced that she “turned into Riley” because she wanted what Riley had IN TERMS OF HAVING A DECENT FATHER FIGURE/HOME LIFE. Riley’s the one who somehow decides this also means Maya wanted whatever it is Riley thinks she has with Lucas—essentially Riley decides that Maya is “the Shawn” to her and Lucas as “Corpanga.” Maya’s iffy on that for what I should think are pretty obvious reasons.

The “brother realization” is what made Maya whip off the wig and say she didn’t want to be Riley anymore in YB, so it’s pret-ty damn clear that regardless of whatever you believe the truth is about her feelings for Lucas right now, during S2 Maya was NOT interested in having the same relationship with him that she perceived Riley to have. She didn’t “want what Riley had” with Lucas by any stretch. Maya perceived Rilucas as platonic to the point of sibling-like, so it just doesn’t logically follow that she likes/liked Lucas romantically because she wanted the same platonic relationship with him that she perceived Riley to have. (Which is of course why that explanation doesn’t stick anymore than “you’re copying me” did and they’ve got to come up with an even more preposterous and unbelievable means of rationalizing away Maya’s feelings for Lucas in SL2).

But that’s another post and I digress from my primary point.

The narrative quite clearly shows us that what “comes right back” to Maya when she “finds herself” in the art room is being actively angry over her father/home life and then we see her backslide into letting that anger control her behavior/drive her thought processes. In GM True Maya, it’s made clear that being destructively rebellious on the behavioral front just isn’t who Maya is anymore because she’s got her inner “Dorothy” as a product of Riley’s friendship & “good kid” influence, but the emotional regression continues apace from there as Maya loses her grip on hope with regards to love and family by the time we get to GM I Do.

And at the end of the arc, once again it’s Riley who encourages and Shawn who catalyzes Maya to embrace hope again. (People change people, yo.) When examined critically, this is pretty clearly NOT an arc about Maya “losing her rebelliousness (or whatever) and getting it back.” It’s an arc about Maya losing her grip on hope for a bit and then getting it back again. (Nor is it an arc about “evil” Riley manipulating Maya so she can “win” the triangle. Riley’s intentions are as pure as Shawn’s, it’s just that her perspective is a gigantic mess—cue GM SHT/TRW.)

So, if anyone could please explain to me why that brief but obvious emotional regression/massive overcorrection was a good or necessary thing—aside from the fact that narratively it was the only way to save Riley/Maya from destruction at the hands of the triangle—I sure would love to hear it.

Because if Maya had “lost a part of herself” that was at all good or positive at the start of the non-triangle arc, then it follows that “finding Maya again” would lead to positive results, just like Shawn remembering the best aspects of his reckless spontaneity led to good results for him in the form of proposing to and marrying Katy. It’s a part of himself that he lost for a minute, but remembering that part of himself didn’t drive Shawn to the destructive behavior it used to inspire when he was younger like blowing up mailboxes or whatever. Rather, it leads to him finding/accepting love and the family he never got the first go ‘round.

We get the OPPOSITE result with Maya, because what “comes right back” to her isn’t a positive by any stretch. “Bringing Maya back” ultimately led to Maya refusing to hope or believe to the point where she tried to stop the wedding. That’s destructive as hell. It’s not until she re-embraces the hope she lost her grip on somewhere between GM True Maya and GM I Do that Maya gets an undebatably good result here.

So, unless you think Maya’s problem in GM Triangle was that she’d LOST hope, then I think it’s pretty clear that the whole “bringing Maya back” caper was a big mistake born of wonderful intentions but super-skewed perception. And while said big mistake was necessary from a narrative standpoint to save Riley/Maya (and subsequently the clique six as a whole) and arguably also necessary to bring Shawn & Katy together…I think it’s a pretty big stretch to say “bringing Maya back” was at all necessary beyond being a narrative choice essential to the preservation of Riley/Maya as a friendship—which is a good result and of course the entire point, which is why it happens even though it’s also rather a debacle when you look closer at how the whole thing played out.

[gmwrabbithole]

Hmm...

… So I just got around to watching GM Commonism (thanks @rilaya-baywindow). And I liked a lot of things in the episode, but there’s one thing that kinda made me raise my eyebrows. Cory implies, at one point, that Karl Marx and Lenin were not talented individuals (!?), and makes absolutely no effort to distinguish between the theory of communism, the (flawed and false) political system of communism and socialism. Is this absolutely in keeping with Cory as a character from BMW? Well, yes; he was patriotic to say the least (it’s funny). But as a teacher, it’s troublesome. I think (and I’m hoping) that they will start growing Cory as a teacher soon - he has a journey to go through as well. It’s just, idk, kids watch this and - while there was a lot of interesting meta for the show’s storylines - I think the topic was really butchered, which is sad for the younger audience. It wouldn’t have been that hard to introduce the concept of “social justice” into democracy, and alongside the idea of “liberty”. (Liberté, égalité, fraternité) Like, they blipped over the part where people like Arthur Miller were called to appear before the House Un-American Activities Committee for his play All My Sons in the grip of anti-communist hysteria; and how that’s a big issue as well. Anyway, just sayin’. I understand it’s not the writers’s intention, but they could have taken care to inject a tad more nuance; I’m putting it on Cory.

[gmwrabbithole]

Hey!

Hi GMW fandom, I’m Esther, and I’m autistic. Recently there have been a lot of posts about the amazing character that is Isadora Smackle, but I just want to give you all some tips on what not to say when talking about her.

First of all, please don’t say that she has asperges. I completely understand that that was the word used in Girl Meets I Am Farkle (this was a mistake on the writers behalf), so I’ve never really had an issue with people using it due to that, but I thought it was about time that you all learned not to use it. It is an outdated term that is very rarely used in proper diagnoses anymore. The man behind the term, Hans Asperges, is very problematic and could have even been a nazi, so I hope you understand why many people in the autistic community don’t want to be attached to that term.

Please don’t say that she has autism instead of saying that she’s autistic. For example, don’t say “Smackle is someone who has autism” rather than “Smackle is autistic”. If it feels natural to put “has autism” in a sentence, go for it, but don’t replace “autistic” for it. A lot of autistic people don’t like person-first language (person who has autism), due to the fact that it makes autism seem like it is detachable, when it is not. It is who we are, not just something that we have. I personally always get quite offended when I see person-first language. Especially when people are talking about why it’s good, saying that autistic people are “more than just their autism”, because we aren’t. We are 100% autistic and autism is a crucial part of who we are.

Please don’t say that autism is an illness, or a disease, or anything along those lines. Again, it’s a crucial part of who we are. It’s not a burden, it’s not bad, and it’s not cure-able. Saying that autism is an illness is highly offensive. It implies that autism is something that be removed, or that it’s just something temporary that can be fixed after a while. People are autistic from the moment they are born, until the moment they die. And also in the afterlife if you believe in the afterlife. Saying it’s an illness also implies that it is entirely bad; a set of symptoms that make some normal person’s life worse. This is not the case at all. I love being autistic, and I have many autistic traits that are positive and that I really like about myself. Again, saying that autism is an illness or anything similar is highly offensive and I would very much appreciate no one saying anything like that ever again.

Please don’t say that Isadora suffers with autism, or that she has to deal with autism. I touched on this above, so I’ll just essentially repeat what I’ve said before: this implies that autism is entirely negative and a burden, when it is not at all.

If you’re ever unsure of whether something is offensive or not politically correct when writing about Smackle, feel free to ask me, I’m always happy to help.

Thank you for reading! Have a good day!

[gmwrabbithole]

GM Popular Re-watch

I just re-watched GM Popular and noticed a few key things. For anyone who thinks everything that’s happening wasn’t planned from the start, all you need to do is re-watch the show to see its been there from the beginning.

Ok so first of all, Farkle singles Riley out to go to the party. Odd for a boy who loves both girls equally. But then equally doesn’t mean the same does it? Farkle may love them equally (in amount) but he definitely doesn’t love them the same (different types of love). We should have known then. The whole episode foreshadows Farkle taking Riley away from Maya (a la Cory Topanga and Shawn but obviously like Cory and Shawn came first for each other in BMW, Maya and Riley will always be first in each other’s lives. Farkle will have Riley’s heart and Riley will have Farkle’s but nothing can ever come between Riley and Maya). Ultimately, it foreshadows the way Riley will belong to Farkle in the way Maya doesn’t. Farkle and Riley will have something that’s just between them.

Second, when Maya copies Riley in GM yearbook, the way she reads the book is identical to the way Riley reads her books in GM popular. Just odd that Maya chooses to mimic a behavior of Riley’s that was Riley pretending to be someone else. Not sure what to make of that one yet.

Lastly, we’re hit over the head again with the idea that prettily wrapped packages (the pretty boy who ends up being the two dorks) aren’t always what they seem and we shouldn’t get caught up in our perceptions.

I love this show and these writers.

[gmwrabbithole]

Rant about Girl Meets Commonism

I honestly really disliked Girl Meets Commonism. the idea of individuality was nice but I thought that the theory of communism was butchered and the episode glossed over the downfalls of “democracy” (and honestly capitalism, which the episode kind of referred to but not really by name). First was Cory’s idealism and patriotism. He goes on Riley for being idealistic about communism but he, too, is idealistic about democracy & capitalism. One of his arguments against communism was that there wouldn’t be social class and therefore people can’t move up in society. This is such a privileged thing to say (i’d even venture to say it’s tied to white privilege) because not everyone has the opportunity to move up like Cory suggests. Marginalized groups often face obstacles far beyond what other groups have to face and there’s honestly nothing fair and individual about it (because that person may be an extraordinary individual but their standing in society may impede them from going further- race, gender, sexuality are just some things that can stand in the way). if democracy was faultless (something beyond theory that always worked in practice) then we wouldn’t have had all white presidents (until 2008 with obama) and people wouldn’t be convicted of crimes based on their skin color because they would actually be tried by a jury of their peers) and the voices of minority groups would always be heard. It was just really one-sided and this isn’t the first time that girl meets world has white-washed history- they had an episode where Thomas Jefferson was a hero but did nothing to discuss areas in which he was on the wrong side of history (i.e. he owned slaves). 

Also, it was so weird how Cory was talking about professions and then says that Riley would be a factory worker and Maya would be a potato farmer. There are currently communist countries and people in those countries are professors, doctors, factory workers, lawyers, etc. I’m not saying I agree with communism or communist ideals. I, too, think that it’s a nice theory that isn’t executed well but that’s mainly because governments are corrupt and communism can be a little rigid in practice. That being said, as a children’s program, gmw could’ve enlightened people about socialism and social democracy, which have actually worked in some countries. This is why children are so ill informed- because children’s programs take certain subjects and either simplify them or butcher them. Also, blind patriotism shouldn’t be encouraged. We should be able to point out the faults of our country without being labeled a traitor. No country is above reproach.

[gmwrabbithole]

Maya may have gotten the information from cheating off Farkle, but I mean, she clearly knows this material. 

I mean, that is something. 

[gmwrabbithole]

Re: Girl Meets Commonism

So I’ve been watching a few of the more recent episodes of Girl Meets World, and I just… feel the need to do a bit of a PSA regarding this episode. 

So, PSA:

Communism/Socialism has exactly NOTHING to do with “not being free/Democratic”, or with “not being able to be an individual”. This is all straight up Cold War propaganda rhetoric made by the Western Capitalist powers in order strike back when they realized that there was another economic possibility that was gaining a lot of momentum and could pose a real threat to their ability to maintain an economic stronghold on the rest of the world. 

It’s very, very important to understand that Capitalism, Communism/Socialism, etc. are economic systems whereas Democracy, Oligarchy, Monarchy, etc. are political structures. They’re not the same, but they do inherently coexist, and it’s possible to have any combination of the two. And most Socialist countries today? They are absolutely democratic. Some of them very much more so than the U.S., in fact, considering how freaking corrupt the U.S. political/voting system is today! 

The fundamental tenant of a Communist/Socialist system is this: Every person has the right to have their basic needs met, and the government has a responsibility to ensure that all available resources go toward meeting these needs for their people before anything else. 

It’s a prioritization of every person’s basic needs over any one person’s ability to funnel ABSURD amounts of personal wealth off the backs of everyone else. 

And especially since GMW is a show geared toward young people who are probably just starting to form political beliefs of their own, I think it’s incredibly important that they have access to correct information that doesn’t just tell them “Capitalism=FREEDOM, and if you hold any alternative political beliefs you’re UNDEMOCRATIC and not being an individual!!”

/Soapbox

[gmwrabbithole]

GMW Rewatch: Girl Meets World (pt 2)

A continuation to my reactions to the pilot episode! See part one here: https://ccgg112.tumblr.com/post/677013952020021248/gmw-rewatch-girl-meets-world-pt-1 

Oh Riley, honey, I have some news for you. 

Here Riley is trying to distinguish herself from Cory by joining in on the homework rebellion. Little does she know that he literally LED a homework rebellion in BMW S2E4. 

Anyway, right before Riley joins in on the homework rebellion, Riley asks her father who she is. Cory responds by saying, “You’re just like me.” Again hammering in the perception that Riley=Cory, Maya=Shawn, and Lucas=Topanga. 

Why is this important? Well it’s the first hint that GMW is going to break the assumption that Riley=Cory, Maya=Shawn, Lucas=Topanga. Notice how in this scene it’s not Riley who parallels Cory in this scene, it’s Maya. Maya is the one who parallels Cory; they both led the homework rebellion. Shawn/Riley are the ones support the rebellion, but they didn’t start it. Contrary to Cory’s statement, Riley is not exactly like Cory (perception vs reality anyone?).

Awww, Lucas is so dismayed in this scene (and he’s the only who with this reaction). It’s almost like he previously got into big trouble and doesn’t want it to happen again, of course, just speculation ;)

Okay, so this scene reinforces the fact that Riley wants to be Maya. She thinks that Maya started the homework rebellion because she’s a rebel & has a wild side.

Topanga replies with, “But you’re such a good person.” This could be a reminder of our assumptions going into the show: Riley=good kid/Cory, Maya=bad kid/Shawn.

Another side note, in season 3, we get an entire arc of Maya “turning into Riley”. We see Riley wanting to be Maya in multiple episodes, but do we ever see Maya explicitly wanting to be Riley? 

Riley and August moment. 

Riley is wondering if she will ever get to live the life she wants, and August is imitating Riley and trying to think like her because they are “twins”. Sound familiar? (Season 3 arc anyone? The explanation that Maya “turning” into Riley? Has the same likelihood of August & Riley being twins)

And look at that, August and Riley aren’t twins. Who could have predicted that?

Another Easter Egg commonly pointed out by Riarkle & Lucaya Shippers. Maya has sloppy joe on her plate. Riley has chicken pot pie.

Farkle is trying to choose between ‘Sloppy Joe’ (Maya) and Chicken Pot Pie (Riley). The sloppy joe on his plate remains untouched, and it looks like he is eating more chicken pot pie. 

This is also a callback to S2E11. In this episode, Shawn is asked out by Stacey and Linda (one blonde, one brunette), and he doesn’t know who to pick or HOW to pick. 

Cory suggests that he should choose which girl he wants just like he would a decision about what to get a lunch. Chicken or Meatloaf.

So we have a parallel. Farkle/Shawn deciding between two girls, one blonde, one brunette. Both clearly associated with food, Chicken or Meatloaf, Chicken Pot Pie or Sloppy Joe. More parallels of S2E11 and GMW to come!

Lucas sits down, and he has sloppy joe on his plate. Make of that what you will. Also important to note that later on in the show, Lucas is the one who actually has to choose between Maya and Riley. He’s the one who is going to have the real lunchtime dilemma (with a lot of stakes!)

And Riley freaking out over Lucas is pretty adorable ngl. 

Another reference to Riley’s kiwi lips.

Afterwards we get a scene of Farkle eating Angels Food Cake and Devils Food Cake, and he notes that the cake situation is NOT about Riley & Maya. 

The Blonde Shadow character is back! Here she’s giving Lucas a longing look while all the other extras are pretty indifferent to Lucas. 

Riley says that she didn’t do her homework and that makes her the same as Maya. Cory argues that that is does NOT make her the same person as Maya. 

The sprinklers go off and we get this cute moment between Riley and Lucas. 

The big reveal! Maya didn’t start the homework rebellion because of her rebellious wild side. She acted out because she didn’t have anyone to help her with her homework. 

Notice how Riley isn’t here during this conversation (Riley is still under the perception that Maya started the rebellion because she likes to fight for things and has a wild side)

More Maya characterization: Maya is someone who gives up. She isn’t usually the one to push for change and fight for what she believes in (until GM Creativity). After Cory tells Maya that she goes too far, Maya thinks that she’s not allowed to be friends with Riley anymore. She’s resigned and accepted this fate. 

Riley on the other hand? She states that she’s not Maya and proceeds to open the subway doors after Maya pushes her off. She tells Maya that she is never going to abandon their friendship. Unlike Maya, Riley IS someone who fights for things she believes in.

In later episodes, Riley attributes this trait to Maya. Her perception is that Maya’s core characterization is someone who fights for things; it’s what makes her a rebel, why she has a wild side. That’s just not true. Believing and Fighting for Change is 100% a Riley trait (at least until S2 when we see some more character development, but more on that later)

“This is my best friend. She’s going to get us into trouble. And I’m gonna get us out of it” -Riley 

This is a parallel to BMW S5E9 where Cory tells Shawn that he gets them into trouble and Cory’s always been the one to get them both out of trouble. During this episode, he says this to Shawn because he’s upset that Shawn is succeeding (while Cory is not). Cory is upset that the roles in their friendship dynamic are changing, and this might be a hint to how Riley and Maya’s friendship plays out in S2 and S3, when Maya goes through significant character development/growth and Riley automatically assumes that Maya “turned into her”. 

Also, this again reminds us of the perception that Riley = Cory and Maya = Shawn.

You’re telling me that Lucas Friar is ging to grow up to be a vet?! Lol, he confuses a RAT for a PONY.

Maya and Riley exploring the world together. If anything is certain, their friendship is ENDGAME!

Sniffle sniffle… Feeny 🥺🥺🥺

And that’s the end of episode 1! Stay tuned for more reactions

[gmwrabbithole]

GMW Rewatch: Girl Meets World (pt 1)

Hi y'all! These are basically my reactions as I rewatch GMW. Time to see if I still remember all the Easter Eggs in the show! I’ll be pointing them out as we go along ;)

-aww young Maya and Riley are so cute!!

This makes me so sad. Riley never got the chance to make it HER OWN world (Please Michael Jacobs it’s never too late to make a season 4). She’s still living in her Father’s world by the end of the show.

Feeny callback!!!

Ahem, Riley is wearing kiwi lipgloss (Shawn & Angela parallels anyone? We’ll get back to this in S2)

Two things here:

1) “Hi, I’m Maya. You’re really cute. We should hang out sometime. You make me happy. You don’t pay enough attention to me. This isn’t working out. It’s you, not me. We can still be friends. Not really.”

Maya just basically summarized how her and Lucas’s relationship plays out in the later seasons.

2) Notice the LONG LASTING poster in the background of Maya and Lucas (hint hint). There’s also a 2 Months Only poster in the background

Hmm interesting. When Riley is with Lucas, the LONG LASTING poster is blocked, and instead we can only see the “2 months only” poster.

When Riley ends up in Lucas’s lap for the second time, the LONG LASTING poster is once again blocked.

Next scene, classroom scene. Farkle declares his love for both Riley AND Maya. He’s loved them equally since the first grade. Riley = Sun, Maya = Night (a mystery to Farkle)

Credit to @bmgmw & @theowldetective for pointing this out! The blonde girl to the right might be a shadow character of Maya. A shadow character is a minor character in the the background who reflects the feelings of a main character. As soon as Lucas walks in, blonde girl is SHOOK. She can’t take her eyes off him.

When Lucas sits down, Blonde Girl is still gaping at him. This is a very interesting reaction, esp since the rest of the extras aren’t showing nearly as much emotion. Seems like this has to be intentional

Also, more early Rilucas!

Ahhh and so it begins (the theme of perception vs reality). We’re introduced to the show with the assumption that Riley = Cory, Topanga = Lucas, and Shawn = Maya. We’ll see later that this isn’t exactly true, and that’s something Riley and Cory need to discover.

Running out of space for pictures, so check out part two: https://ccgg112.tumblr.com/post/677019605724725248/gmw-rewatch-girl-meets-world-pt-2

[gmwrabbithole]

Girl Meets World Timeline

Compiled list of all the GMW episodes in story order (from @theowldetective & @emmying)

Season One: 

Girl Meets World 

Girl Meets Boy 

Girl Meets the Truth 

Girl Meets Sneak Attack 

Girl Meets Brother 

Girl Meets Father 

Girl Meets Crazy Hat 

Girl Meets World: Of Terror

Girl Meets Friendship 

Girl Meets Farkle’s Choice 

Girl Meets Popular 

Girl Meets Maya’s Mother 

Girl Meets Home for the Holidays 

Girl Meets 1961 

Girl Meets Game Night 

Girl Meets Flaws 

Girl Meets the Forgotten 

Girl Meets Smackle 

Girl Meets Fish (aired during season 2, listed under season 1 on Disney+)

Girl Meets Master Plan 

Girl Meets First Date 

Season Two:

Girl Meets Demolition 

Girl Meets Gravity 

Girl Meets the New World 

Girl Meets the Secret of Life 

Girl Meets Pluto 

Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels 

Girl Meets Tell-Tale Tot 

Girl Meets Commonism 

Girl Meets Hurricane 

Girl Meets Mr. Squirrels Goes to Washington 

Girl Meets Rules 

Girl Meets the New Teacher 

Girl Meets Belief 

Girl Meets Yearbook 

Girl Meets World: Of Terror 2 

Girl Meets Semi-Formal 

Girl Meets I am Farkle

Girl Meets Creativity 

Girl Meets STEM 

Girl Meets Cory & Topanga 

Girl Meets the Forgiveness Project 

Girl Meets Rah Rah 

Girl Meets Rileytown 

Girl Meets Money 

Girl Meets Texas 1 

Girl Meets Texas 2 

Girl Meets Texas 3 

Girl Meets the New Year 

Girl Meets Bay Window

Girl Meets Legacy 

Season Three:

Girl Meets High School: Part One

Girl Meets High School: Part Two

Girl Meets Jexica

Girl Meets Permanent Record

Girl Meets Triangle

Girl Meets Upstate

Girl Meets True Maya

Girl Meets Ski Lodge Part 1

Girl Meets Ski Lodge Part 2

Girl Meets I Do

Girl Meets the Real World

Girl Meets Bear

Girl Meets the Great Lady of New York

Girl Meets She Don’t Like Me

Girl Meets World of Terror 3

Girl Meets Her Monster

Girl Meets Hollyworld

Girl Meets a Christmas Maya

World Meets Girl

Girl Meets Sweet Sixteen

Girl Meets Goodbye

[gmwrabbithole]

So basically Cory and Shawn

Image from @communified

Ambiguously gay not in the sense that it's ambiguous whether the leading duo are gay, but in the sense that it's ambiguous whether they're gay for each other, or whether they're just incredibly committed to the bit.

[gmwrabbithole]

#girl meets world #racism #will hopefully cover more instances of GMW racism & ableism on this blog #angela deserved so much better

Why Trina McGee deserves better

People need to know what Trina McGee, the actress who played Angela Moore on Boy Meets World, went through. Some people know bits and pieces: how her character was done dirty on the spin-off Girl Meets World, or the racism she endured on the set of BMW. I have been following her for a while and I want what she went though to be documented for posterity. (I don’t usually ask for reblogs, but share this post on whatever platform you can, because Michael Jacobs needs to run her a fat cheque).

During Boy Meets World

Angela Moore was a series regular who joined in season 5 episode 7 of Boy Meets World; the show had been entirely white before that point. Angela was the love interest of Shawn Hunter, which was (and still remains) extremely rare to have an interracial relationship involving a Black woman on TV, let alone with a main character. Beyond that, Angela was a fully realised character: she enjoyed poetry, classical music, had some abandonment issues that she worked through with her father, and spoke about her blackness.

Unfortunately, behind the scenes Trina McGee had to deal with racism and microagressions. She had to do her own hair and makeup on set and was called ‘Aunt Jemima’ by Will Friedle when her hair was wrapped. She was also treated coldly by Danielle Fishel and other cast members; one requested that there be no women with them in the scene. The only castmate who was unreservedly nice to Trina was Rider Strong. Rider and Trina maintain a good relationship, and described her coming into his life as “huge” because, at the time, he no longer wanted to be part of the show. He also cut off racist family members after they were not alright with the relationship.

Despite Angela’s popularity on the show, she was the only main cast member to be written of the show *one* episode before the finale. Again, this was a product of the racism she experienced from cast mates but also the writers.

Girl Meets World

When production began for Girl Meets World, they secured Danielle Fishel and Dan Savage to once again play Cory and Topanga. Will Friedle also joined for five episodes over two seasons without issue. Rider Strong, who already had a fraught history with his child actor upbringing, eventually agreed to star in some episodes on the condition that he would also be allowed to direct; he went on to play in 7 episodes. The actors who play Cory’s parents also cameod in two episodes, and William Daniels, who played Mr Feeny, appeared in four.

So, what about Trina? Despite show creator of BMW and GMW, Michael Jacobs, extending an open invitation that “Whoever wants to be part of this show will be and whoever wants to move on will” and Trina being openly enthusiastic to join, even visiting the set before the filming of season 2, she was in one episode. It aired on 19th June 2015.

Anyone who has seen Boy Meets World, does not need me to explain what misogynoiristic trash the season 2 episode 8 ‘Girl Meets Hurricane’ was. Firstly, it compared Angela’s reappearance to that of a hurricane which would ‘ruin’ Shawn’s new chance at romance with the white character of Katy (one of the main characters - Maya’s - mother). She was treated with open hostility by the protagonist of the series Riley, aka the daughter of Angela’s supposed best friends.

The writers straight up lied to the younger audience of this show, stating that Shawn Hunter “fell in love with a concept” and that Angela “broke Shawn’s heart.” To the first point, Shawn breaks up with Angela in season 5 because he want to learn how to like her outside of his frame of reference to Cory and Topanga (which he does). Also, no, Angela did not break his heart, she asks for his permission to go to Europe where her dad is stationed in order for them to repair their relationship in the penultimate episode. Shawn says yes because he understood what it was like to have a bad relationship with his father. Angela literally says “let’s not say goodbye, let’s just say ‘I love you’”!

Angela was made out to be an antagonist in this episode; she was villainised, whilst every other BMW alumnus had warm greetings and was treated as family that kept in touch.

Neither Trina nor the fans were happy about this. Micahel Jacobs knew this would be the case. 

Before the episode he said “You guys are going to kill me for what we decided to do with Shawn and Angela, but I will tell you that it is right, it is real, and you’re going to have to watch the episode six times before you put the guns down.” Afterwards, he justified breaking up a vital piece of interracial and Black representation by stating (I kid you not) “Forget the color. They never meshed. Every episode was about why Shawn and Angela would not sustain.” “There can only be one Cory and Topanga and if Cory and Topanga and Shawn and Angela succeed, it lessens what I always thought was the mantra of the core show.”

Quick aside: if “real” is the aim, why was Eric the mayor of a town called St Upidtown? Why was Shawn marrying the neglectful mother of his best friend’s daughter’s best friend realistic? Why was Jonathan Turner, a chracter last seen in a coma in Philadelphia in BMW, the superintendent of the school district Cory works at in New York? How is any of that “real”? 

Don’t gaslight us - the reason was misogynoir and racism.

Even after her treatment, Trina still had hope to go in and correct the representation. Many fans were outraged on her behalf and voiced this on social media to the point where the writers said that her character would be back. They never followed through.

Post-GMW Conventions

Girl Meets World was cancelled after its third season (I was very happy that day), but unfortunately the racism that pervaded the show failed to cease.

Firstly, ‘Angela Moore’ trended on twitter in 2019, because Candice Patton had expressed how grateful she was to have a character like Angela. Both Will Friedle and a writer on the show attempted to reaffirm the ‘importance’ of the show. This was before Will apologised (and the writers never even attempted to address their racism).

There were numerous conventions that took place after Girl Meets World was cancelled. Trina was not invited to any even though, when GMW needed buzz before it’s pilot episode aired, she was invited for a full cast reunion convention in 2013. The excuse was that she did not have the ‘correct’ agent, yet when she got the same agent as her castmates, she was still not invited.

It’s no surprise that after Trina went public with some of the racism she recieved from the cast (in April 2020, but it didn’t get picked up by major news organisations until the BLM protests in the summer) she was finally given the chance to attend one convention. 

To summarise: Trina McGee faced some of the most blatant racism at every stage of her job as an actress. She was very open about this, but many fans were reluctant to call the treatment of her character racism. Michael Jacobs owes Trina an apology and some money!

[gmwrabbithole]

Maya's Disdain for Missy in GM Sneak Attack

In a brief "blink-and-you'll-miss-it" moment, we get a shot of Maya rolling her eyes when Missy starts flirting with Lucas.

Notably, after this moment, Maya is able put on a poker face and remain somewhat neutral for the rest of the encounter. She looks a lot more relaxed in this shot compared to the first one.

Remember, Maya is good at covering up her feelings. She did so for an entire year before anyone started to notice that she might actually like Lucas. For more on Maya's inner thoughts during this scene, check out the Darby Shadow Character Theory.

2. Missy send Maya a mean look.

After Riley fails miserably at booping Lucas, Missy looks giddy and sends a taunting look over to Maya rather than Riley, and Maya is pissed.

Important to note: Throughout the episode, Missy is rude to both Maya and Riley, rubbing her flirting w/ Lucas in their faces. However, most of Missy's glares are directed towards Maya, almost as if as she were the true romantic rival.

3. "I loathe you"

Missy walks over to Riley after class specifically to remind her that Riley isn't dating Lucas. Missy taunts Riley because she is planning on asking Lucas out later. Maya can't even hide her disdain for Missy anymore. She straight up says "I loathe you" to her face. Making fun of Riley AND stealing Lucas??? Nope. Nuh uh, not if Maya can do something about it.

4. "In fact, I think he's kind of into me. Shocker."

Interestingly enough, Missy once again looks directly at Maya to say this (not Riley!). Once Missy leaves, we see Maya looking defeated and doing her signature lip bite (she does this whenever she is trying to hide her disappointment). This girl is NOT happy.

5. Maya and her spoon

Err, Maya, a little aggressive with that spoon, don't ya think? (jealousy jealousy)

Before Lucas & Missy enter the scene (when Farkle and Riley are wondering who Lucas will choose to sit with):

Right after Missy pulls Lucas away and shows him her leg:

Once again, Maya is very very annoyed. She even rolls her eyes at Missy again.

6. "Boop!"

Maya is so giddy after Lucas rejects Missy:

[gmwrabbithole]

Darby Shadow Character Theory (cont.)

@bmgmw made a fantastic about Darby being a shadow character for Maya in the pilot, aka manifestation of how Maya is actually feeling on the inside. Read it here: https://www.tumblr.com/bmgmw/133516397629/darby-in-the-pilot

I was rewatching girl meets world when I noticed that this continues in Girl Meets Sneak Attack & Girl Meets Friendship. I'm using the GMW timeline that @theowldetective and @emmying made rather than the airing order, so in this case the episode/story order is...

Girl Meets World 

Girl Meets Boy 

Girl Meets the Truth 

Girl Meets Sneak Attack 

Girl Meets Brother 

Girl Meets Father 

Girl Meets Crazy Hat 

Girl Meets World: Of Terror

Girl Meets Friendship

Darby in Girl Meets Sneak Attack

While Missy is flirting with Lucas, we get shots of Darby observing the encounter and looking longingly at Lucas (interestingly in the same exact way as she does in the pilot).

2. Right after Missy boops Lucas on the nose, Darby looks straight up HORRIFIED. Darby starts glaring at Missy.

3. Afterwards, when Riley is trying boop Lucas on the nose, Darby looks like she is experiencing second hand embarrassment.

Darby in Girl Meets Friendship

Darby (along with almost everyone else) instantly takes notice of Lucas when he walks in the classroom.

2. In this scene, Maya is teasing Lucas about missing Texas. At this point, Darby is already looking longingly at Lucas.

3. But when Lucas flirts back?!?! Darby straight up swoons.