Jim and Pam. Ross and Rachel. Lucy and Ricky. These are just a few of the best fictional couples that would likely wind up in a ‘Pop Culture Jeopardy’ category about said topic. Everyone seems to have at least one that they feel as connected to as they do their own partner, for whatever reason, and all those reasons are valid. Whether it’s because they remind them of their own love life, they give them something to aspire to, or in the case of this week’s guest DeAnn Wiley, they are a healthy example of love. More on that later this week because right now, a couple that made me feel okay about myself, Shawn and Angela from ‘Boy Meets World.’
While the reality of some of its stars has tarnished ‘Boy Meets World’ for me as of late, it doesn’t change the fact that I spent years attached to that show as a kid. Wholesome to its core, the titan of ABC’s Friday night lineup, TGIF, was everything to me. I got kooky fun with ‘Sabrina, the Teenage Witch’ had fun family time with the likes of ‘Full House’ and Step by Step,’ but ‘Boy Meets World’ felt like it was for me because the real stars were the kids, and as I grew up – so did they. Did I ever really encounter any of the same things as said kids? Not really, but I did grow up in a trailer, so right away I thought that one day I could marry Shawn Hunter. So you can imagine how thrilled I, the little Black girl in love with Shawn Hunter, was when Shawn Hunter started dating Angela Moore?
Thrilled. I was thrilled.
The product of an interracial coupling that fell apart, but somehow gave me a brother six years later, I already felt different growing up in the ‘90s. There weren’t a lot of mixed kids on TV, at least characters. Tia and Tamera Mowry are, but on ‘Sister, Sister,’ I don’t recall that ever being mentioned. So right away I felt weird. This was made even worse when I realized none of the boys I ever crushed on seemed to like girls that looked like me anywhere on the small screen. Apart from that one time Lisa and Zack kissed on ‘Saved by the Bell,’ nada. Then in came Shawn and Angela. Bless that purse. IYKYK.
Everyone remembers Cory and Topanga, and yes, they have their own place in many people’s hearts when it comes to fictional couples, but to me, Shawn and Angela were the superior pair. They had a natural charisma, as if they weren’t just acting on a series that aired at 8pm on a Friday night that was geared towards an audience who’d be stoked about a Dunkaroo. They also felt more mature than Cory and Topanga once they got to college. I mean, I knew they were doing it before I fully knew what doing it meant. The chemistry twas there. Seriously though, what I loved most about them was that – and I commend the show as a whole for this – they never had any drama about their race.
‘Boy Meets World’ could’ve cued the “Very Special Episode” for that, but they didn’t. Once in a while Angela would clock her white friends for just being white, but it never went the other way. Again, that was something I appreciated. Well, appreciate because I this was something I thought in hindsight because as a kid, I was just enamored with them as a pair because Shawn was dreamy, and he felt for Angela what I (probably didn’t because what’s a 10 year old know about love) felt for him, and I lived in a trailer so we already had way more in common than they ever could. Look in my purse, Shawn!
Almost everyone has a fictional couple crush, or several, and for a myriad of reasons. Again, all valid. Shawn and Angela from ‘Boy Meets World’ satisfied a piece of myself I didn’t know I needed at the time to feel like one aspect of life would be okay. Perhaps I’ll breakdown some others another time.
Crushgasm 
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