Isn’t it frustrating when grandpa blames the TV for not turning on, when actually he’s switching the dining room lights on and off? Don’t you put your face in your palm when uncle Bart says there hasn’t been a single good film produced since 1964? What about when great Aunt Carroll says that everyone was, “just nicer” in the 50s — when there was segregation.
That won’t ever be you. You keep up. Right? I bet Aunt Mildred didn’t think she’d end up with 14 cats when she was 20.
Today, I’d like to give an official warning. Consider this a PSA for everyone who’d like to avoid being that old man who writes a check to pay for a gallon of milk at the gas station convenience store.
There has been a great deal of giddiness over the development and impending release of “Girl Meets World.” In fact, it’s reaching dangerous levels. The dignity of my generation is in great danger. That is why I feel a duty to intervene. Please sit down, children of the 1980s and 1990s.
OK. Are we all ready? I don’t believe in mincing words so I’m going to get right to it. It’s for your own good. “Boy Meets World” sucked. Seriously, it was awful.
That’s hard to hear. I know. I was shocked too when I heard the news that “Boy Meets World” was atrocious. But, I went back and watched the re-runs. Yikes.
Before you run out of the room screaming, let me explain. Of course I enjoyed the program as much as the next seven-year-old in 1997, but I now have one main issue with the show — I’m in my 20s. I used to eat mud when I was seven. I also used to call girls “gross.” OK. Fine. I still eat mud sometimes, but I had a conversation with a girl just the other day and she really wasn’t that icky. I’ve grown.
Cheesy writing, terrible acting and goofy endings to each episode where every character has a monologue that starts off something like this: “Gee golly, guys. I sure learned a lot this week.” Combine all that with the occasional melodramatic ensemble and those girls in the studio audience who hoot whenever a guy and girl hold hands — that was “Boy Meets World.”
That’s exactly the kind of show that you normally would make fun of. Be honest, it is. So, why do you fawn over “Boy Meets World”? Why are you marking off the days on your calendar until Cory and Topanga start bombarding us and their new daughter with suburban values? Because “Boy Meets World” was burned into your brain when you were seven. That’s why you love Cory Matthews, but not Carly Shay. Humans are all victims of their own nostalgia. It’s not your fault.
But, I don’t want you to be like jaded Aunt Jody, telling everyone that in “your day” there was way better television. It’s not true. There’s a bright, wonderful world of good television out there. I urge you to consider the truth, even though it’s scary to us. Change. Keep up. I don’t want you to be that guy screaming, “get off my lawn,” at the neighborhood kids.
Frank Marasco is a senior in the College of Communication. He can be reached at fcm820@bu.edu.