Cory and Topanga.
Topanga and Cory.
Any 90s kid knows those names. They are probably in some ways the ideal we hold our romances to.
So, let’s go back to when a boy meets SPOILERS!
Boy Meets World was part of the famous TGIF lineup. It followed the adventures of Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) as he navigated middle school and later high school as well as college. Adolescence, friendships and love were common topics Cory and his friends encountered. Cory found love early on with childhood friend Topanga (Danielle Fishel), a free-spirit who morphed into a typical TV teenage girl.
Fans everywhere loved the couple. Perhaps it was because it’s the Best Friend Victorious Trope (Cory) meeting the Girl Next Door trope (Topanga). Those are two tropes people tend to like. And I guess because we saw their love bloom over the years. Cory and Topanga started off as classmates in Mr. Feeny’s (William Daniels) class. She was an enigma to him. Not just because she was a girl. Because of that “free spirit” thing I mentioned earlier. Topanga of the first season or two was a bit strange. Her parents were hippies and were raising flower children. Topanga said things that seemed odd to Cory, best friend Shawn (Rider Strong) and even the audience. But she was still a good friend to him and if pressed, he probably wouldn’t have changed her.
Things began to change, as they do, as the characters grew up. Friendship became puppy love. Puppy love matured into something deeper, something more. I hesitate to say Cory and Topanga were soul mates. People tend to give soul mate a romantic connotation but soul mates don’t have to be romantic partners. For example, I always say that while Finn may have been the love of Rachel’s life, her soul mate is Kurt. They understand each other in a way Finn didn’t—through no fault of his own. And I feel that while Topanga and Cory were true loves, his soul mate was Shawn. And Shawn was their biggest cheerleader.
They had their bumps along the way, like usual couples. Cory faced temptation and Topanga broke up with him. They wondered if they were missing out by not dating other people. And then Topanga’s parents moved. But her aunt intervened and the young couple got to stay together. Topanga’s faith in love and marriage was shaken when her parents (now corporate types, not hippies) divorced. (I don’t think the show ever had the same people portray Topanga’s parents during its run). But they managed to get married and live somewhat happily ever after.
And like Topanga thought her parents were a good model of a loving couple, many Boy Meets World fans felt the same about Topanga and Cory. They were two crazy kids who made it work. And it makes us hope that we can make it word as well.
Hope you had a great Valentine’s Day and that you spent it with your Cory/Topanga.
Next week: Mickey and Minnie!
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