S02.E08: Girl Meets Hurricane

[Canadian213]

in what way did the show display SHAWN HUNTER of all people superior to Katy financially and intellectually( we are talking about Shawn right?)... ?  

Shawn I assume is always on the road and Katy has a kid, apartment, bills   so he can waste his money moreso than she can I think he even mentions this

 

and on a show where a female(Topanga) is a lawyer while Cory is a teacher and since the start Boy Meets World was always seen as smarter than

Cory I just don't see it

 

Topanga is a lawyer in name only, at least compared to Cory's teaching. She should have a lawyer set but instead is only shown essentially as a stay-at-home mom most of the time. They only refer to the fact that she's a laywer. They've only shown her being one once and it was a case she wasn't even on.

 

Shawn has zero reason to come off superior to Katy, but that's how they're writing it. Who does he think he is throwing money around like that acting all saviour-y? Katy does have all those responsibilities but instead of showing her has a strong woman who gets shiz done, they show Shawn coming in and being a white knight.

 

MAYA SAID WITH KATY STANDING THERE that no other person has ever cared so much for her when he made the comment (that probably wasn't even a genuine concern of his) about her clothes. While Katy did take exception to it, Maya didn't apologize or anything and they wrote Shawn as the one to point out how important Katy is instead of her asserting that for herself or Maya recognizing it.

 

Edited July 4, 2015 by Canadian213

[Mabinogia]

The show actually had Shawn very specifically point out to Maya that he is just a guy with no responsibility who had some extra money to spend while her mother has worked hard to provide for her and take care of her which isn't as glamorous but way more important. As the daughter of a single mother, I really appreciated the show for acknowledging that. It doesn't make me like Katy any more than I did when she first showed up, long before Shawn came back, as a flakey dreamer who was a day late and an embarrassment. So yeah, Shawn is actually better than Katy, not she's female but because she's a poorly written character.

 

As for not showing Topanga at work when we see Corey. This show isn't about them, it's about Riley and Maya and while it makes sense for Riley an Maya to go o school, unless there are now internships in middle school, it makes no sense for them to be hanging out at Topanga's office. I suppose they could have made Corey the lawyer and Topanga the teacher but that would be so completely against each character as they were on BMW that I fear there would be anarchy from those of us who remember them as kids.

[Canadian213]

 

As for not showing Topanga at work when we see Corey. This show isn't about them, it's about Riley and Maya and while it makes sense for Riley an Maya to go o school, unless there are now internships in middle school, it makes no sense for them to be hanging out at Topanga's office. I suppose they could have made Corey the lawyer and Topanga the teacher but that would be so completely against each character as they were on BMW that I fear there would be anarchy from those of us who remember them as kids.

Still, Whenever we see Topanga she's relegated to the Matthews' kitchen with Auggie and Ava. When does she work exactly? They need to show her in a work environment so maybe the kids visit her office after school sometimes. They could put it on the level about the bakery.

Edited July 4, 2015 by Canadian213

[Melgaypet]

Then again, we never saw Alan at the grocery store he managed or Amy...wherever she worked. (Did she have an outside job? Maybe she was a SAHM.) At the wilderness store later on, yes.

 

I don't mind Topanga being a high-paid lawyer, even if she's rarely in the office. I mean, they're not paying for that brownstone (or is it a townhouse?) on Cory's teacher salary, that's for sure.

 

I do wish Shawn would remember how SUPER SENSITIVE he used to be to any hint of charity. Mostly from his rich half-brother, but occasionally from Cory as well. He should've known how so casually throwing money around her kid would make Katy feel. Since he is supposed to be her sort-of boyfriend (I know, stupid, but this is the story they're telling), he could stand to put some thought into her feelings.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Melgaypet

[Gbb]

Shawn has zero reason to come off superior to Katy, but that's how they're writing it. Who does he think he is throwing money around like that acting all saviour-y? Katy does have all those responsibilities but instead of showing her has a strong woman who gets shiz done, they show Shawn coming in and being a white knight.

It has nothing to do with Shawn being a man and Katy being a woman. It has to do with Katy being Katy. The show established early on that Maya's mom was pretty much a train wreck. Maya didn't have anyone who helped her with her homework, Katy couldn't keep track of what day she was supposed to be at school for career day. Even when Riley explained how much it would mean to Maya for Katy to show up at the art show, she still didn't go. Maya referred to her as as "half a mom," Cory and Topanga bought Maya's birthday cake because they assumed Katy had forgotten. Train wreck.

Not because she's female. Shawn's dad was a train wreck too. A worse one.

Now the show seems to be retconning Katy quite a bit, playing up,the hard-working mom sacrificing everything for her daughter side of things, but they still acknowledge she's kind of a screwball. She'll never be the type to have it all together. But that has nothing to do with her gender.

Edited July 5, 2015 by Gbb

[KerleyQ]

and on a show where a female(Topanga) is a lawyer while Cory is a teacher and since the start Boy Meets World was always seen as smarter than Cory I just don't see it

 

 

I view Topanga pretty much the same way I view Hermione in Harry Potter - yeah, BMW was originally about Cory and Shawn, but we all knew Topanga was the brains behind the operation and kicked way more ass than both of them combined.  

 

I've just never seen the BMW/GMW universe as misogynistic.  Not being misogynistic doesn't mean that no female character can ever be a mess.  It means, basically, they can't ALL be a mess.  Topanga is the single most "together" character on this show.  Cory seems to have barely grown up at times, and Shawn is shown to be somewhat adrift and still trying to deal with the same issues he's been trying to deal with since childhood.  

As for Shawn being the one to point out that Katy works hard to pay the bills to keep a roof over Maya's head and food on the table, I don't see it as misogynistic that he pointed it out.  For one, he was the one who created that situation, by going out and splurging on those clothes, in the first place.  So he was more cleaning up his own mess there than swooping in and saving Katy somehow.  Also, yes, Katy could have pointed that out to Maya herself, but, as a parent (and a former teenage girl), I can tell you that Katy would have been treading a very fine line there if she had brought it up herself, risking looking petty or jealous.  Not to mention that, as a parent, you don't spend a lot of time looking for your kids to act like you taking care of their basic needs is some big special favor you're doing for them.  You do it because they're your kids, you love them, and it's your job to provide them with food, shelter, clothing, and an education.  Yes, you expect them to respect you, but you also realize that those basic daily needs aren't all that "exciting" for a kid, and a shopping spree is.  Of course it might make you feel bad when a family member or friend comes along and does something extravagant for your kid that you maybe can't afford to do right now, but you don't begrudge your kid that special treat, and you don't go demanding that your kid celebrate that you paid the rent this month like they celebrate someone else doing something special like this for them. So, yes, Katy could have pointed it out, but it's just not something a mother would do.  I think this was more Shawn finding his way in this new role he's taking on, as that kind of paternal figure for Maya, and since he felt like maybe he overstepped by going overboard with the clothes, he tried to make up for that.  

[Kromm]

As for Shawn being the one to point out that Katy works hard to pay the bills to keep a roof over Maya's head and food on the table, I don't see it as misogynistic that he pointed it out.  For one, he was the one who created that situation, by going out and splurging on those clothes, in the first place. So he was more cleaning up his own mess there than swooping in and saving Katy somehow.  

Also as someone pointed out upthread, the impetus to do so came from Topanga.  It can't be Shawn stealing agency from Katy when he himself was clearly just a middleman in the process.

 

And if him buying the clothes in the first place created problems, well... that doesn't exactly communicate him as the hero, but rather as an interloper. That's the subtext I got (although it came off as creepier than I bet the writers intended).

[dd21dd21]

Now the show seems to be retconning Katy quite a bit, playing up,the hard-working mom sacrificing everything for her daughter side of things, but they still acknowledge she's kind of a screwball. She'll never be the type to have it all together. But that has nothing to do with her gender.

once they knew Rider Strong was coming back they changed Maya and Katy's  story line completely

 

they were not subtle at all that she was a terrible mother in early season 1

Edited July 5, 2015 by dd21dd21

[ladyrott]

actually think the show has done a decent job of showing that what the kids might initially view as Katy being "flaky" or whatever is her actually working her butt off to provide a roof over her daughter's head.  She isn't always around for things because she has to work.  She was missing out on Maya's birthday party because she was trying to work extra shifts to buy her a locket.  And Topanga (and then Shawn) pointed out that while Shawn buying the clothes for Maya is the more "fun" thing, Katy works her butt off to provide all those every day things that kids take for granted - food, shelter, electricity, etc.

 

I agree with KerleyQ.  Despite the fact that most of us on this board are adults, this is a KIDS show.  And kids don't think about rent and power and food.  It is realistic that they would just see Katy as "flakey" and believe that is the reason Maya only gets half a mom.  It isn't until they are considerably older than Middle School that children realize that mom might have missed their art show because missing work would have meant not having enough in the pay check to cover rent that month.  I actually like that they portray the single mom trying to raise a kid on her own so realistically.  I was blessed with two parents growing up but I have seen plenty of my friends struggle as adults to raise their kids on their own....with dads who have "new families" and don't think they need to send child support to the child they left behind.  Maybe the real life Maya watching this show will take a second to appreciate what the real life Katy is doing to keep the necessities going or realize that she doesn't have "half a mom" because mom wants it that way.

[Mabinogia]

I had half a mom growing up and as a kid I didn't get it. She worked hard to hide the fact that she was living paycheck by paycheck so as a kid I didn't see her as missing a school event because she had to put food on the table. I saw it as she had better things to do, meaning I wasn't a priority. It wasn't until much later in life that I realize how much she sacrificed.

 

I probably should like Katy better because of my own experience, but there is something about her that rubs me the wrong way. No matter how hard the show tries to prove that she does care about Maya, sending Riley back with the tuna sandwich "because she knows it's my (Maya's) favorite" or missing Maya's birthday to try to get her a locket she really wants. I think it's the "actress" thing. It just makes her come across as someone who has her head in the clouds, who could probably have a better paying job if she wasn't busy trying to pursue her acting. I feel like that is what makes her half a mother, not that she's busy providing but that she's busy living in a fantasy world.

[KerleyQ]

The vibe I get off the actress thing, beyond the first time it was mentioned, is that it's something she now knows she isn't really going to get to do. It's still that dream of what she always hoped she'd do, but she gets that she has to work in other areas because it's not just her dream anymore - she has a kid she has to be responsible for now. When she first started working with Topanga, I think there was a scene of her doing some voice, and she basically said that it was how she was going to "act like a waitress," or something along those lines.  And, even in that episode where she came into the class "acting" for career day, I got the impression that it was more embarrassment over the fact that she is still waiting tables instead of being in a career she wants.  (Of course, it could also be that they just felt free to be more over the top with her when they weren't planning on her being a major part of story down the road, and now they've pulled back on it.) 

[ladyrott]

When she first started working with Topanga, I think there was a scene of her doing some voice, and she basically said that it was how she was going to "act like a waitress," or something along those lines.

 

I know the scene you mean!  It's when Shawn comes to town to dig up the time capsule.  Shawn asks her about her acting and she says "I was playing a waitress at the Nighthawk Diner and now I am playing a waitress here."   Maya says something about her not acting, that it's Katie's real life and Katie says "It can't be" in a really desperate voice.  It was played for laughs and I actually DID get a chuckle out f it.  I get the feeling Katie is still auditioning because it's become a habit.  It doesn't seem like she really believes she is ever going to be a star or anything....she doesn't even seem to WANT to be.  We haven't seen her get excited over an audition or anything (like Jessie on "Jessie" who still squeals over auditions) and the only positive type thing I can remember her saying about it was her comments about only regretting dreams she gave up on to soon.