“She’s Having My Baby Back Ribs:” A Sad Day for Dignity

At the inception of the series, Boy Meets World was a show about adolescence.  As the show matured, however, so did the cast. No longer children, these actors were held up to the highly artificial standard that Hollywood sets for the stars of sitcoms. During the last season of BMW, two of the actors, Danielle Fishel and the superb Will Freidle, were held up to ridicule in easily the most loathsome episode of the series.  Though by the time this episode aired on March 3, 2000, neither may have had the typical leading man and woman bodies, neither deserved the public shaming heaped upon them by the BMW staff. Whether the producers ordered the episode to explain the two stars’ changing bodies or whether the writers, Patricia Carr and Lara Runnels, wrote it out of spite, possibly blaming the stars’ appearance for BMW’s impending demise, the episode is a stark example of the superficiality and depravity of Hollywood culture. 

In the episode, Eric and Topanga, played by Mr. Friedle and Ms. Fishel, decide to go on a secret diet in order to fit in with their thin friends.  As Topanga tries to hide her shameful secret, Cory and Shawn misinterpret Topanga’s actions as an unplanned pregnancy and throw her a baby shower. While the episode is ostensibly about body image, the script misses the mark so drastically that one can only conclude that the script is an intentional and vindictive attack. The episode’s title alone – derisive and insensitive – tells the whole tale: “She’s Having My Baby Back Ribs.”

The action begins with Jack, Angela, and Rachel arguing about which of them has the best body. Jack is bragging about his 6% body fat and exposes his abs to the delight of the two girls. After her friends leave for class, Topanga sits sullenly eating a piece of pizza. She knows that she does not live up to the standards set by her friends. Soon after they leave, Eric enters the student union and cannot sit down without unbuttoning an extra button on his pants. Topanga asks Eric point blank if she is fat. Without hesitating, Eric says yes and asks if she is going to finish her pizza. Topanga, not willing to be alone in her shame, begins telling Eric that he has packed on a few pounds too. Eric, devastated by the truth, states that he “sees how the girls flock to Jack with his 6% body fat and ignore me and my 70% flab.”  The two pariahs then make a pact to go on a secret diet together, agreeing to give each other moral support. After Topenga leaves, however, Eric shoves an entire slice of pizza in his mouth.

Notably, the three characters who open the scene in a debate about their perfect bodies were all added to the series in the middle of its run. None suffered the pain of growing up on the show. Accordingly, the producers had a much better idea of how they would appear as adults. It is almost as if the writers are mocking Mr. Friedle and Ms. Fishel, saying if only we could have waited before selecting you. Furthermore, not only do the writers call Friedle fat, but they mock him as a clown, unable to resist inhaling his pizza.  The pain in the scene is palpable, but Mr. Friedle and Ms. Fishel, professionals in the truest sense of the word, handle the script ably.

In the next scene, Topanga asks Cory if he finds her attractive. Cory reassures her with a sexual proposition that she turns down. Cory, not understanding how Topanga could resist him, concludes that the problem must be her appetite.  He then reminds her that she hasn’t had her “morning waffles swimming in butter and lathered in syrup.” Topanga refuses the waffles, confusing Cory more. Topanga, not wanting to reveal that she is on a diet, claims that she is nauseous. Then, in yet another spiteful moment supplied by the script, Topanga cannot fit into her pants. The writers, Ms. Carr and Ms. Runnels, however, decide that the scene is not shameful enough. When Topanga finally cries out in frustration, Cory points out that the pants that she is struggling with are not hers, but his. Topanga storms out.

After his fight with Topanga, Cory turns to Shawn to help him figure things out. Strangely, Shawn and Cory are in bed together as Shawn eats Topanga’s refused waffles. As Shawn eats the waffles, they try to decipher the clues: Topanga refused the waffles, is nauseous, cannot fit into Cory’s pants, does not want to have sex, and is tired and cranky. Based on this evidence, Cory and Shawn arrive at the conclusion that Topanga is pregnant.

In the meantime, Topanga finds Eric and seeks his moral support for their diet. Eric is also struggling with the diet and briefly considers quitting because "women reject me for who I am, not what I looks like.” Then, even though they have only been on their diet for twelve hours, Eric must hold Topenga back as she lunges for a danish on the tray of a passerby. The writers once again humiliate the actors, portraying Eric and Topenga as manic in their cravings after a mere twelve hours.

As the scene continues, Cory walks in to hear Topanga confide in Eric that he “is the only one who understands what a problem this is.” Eric reassures her that “in a few months everything will be back to normal.” After Topenga leaves, Cory confronts Eric and asks him if he knows what is wrong with Topanga. In a twisted bit of miscommunication, Cory thinks they are talking about the pregnancy while Eric thinks they are talking about the diet. This confusion leads to some bizarre misinterpretation, most notably when Eric tells Cory that his “waffles and butter did this to her.” Instead of taking this statement literally, Cory interprets it as a highly graphic and bizarre sexual metaphor for his semen. Cory runs out of the student union before the misunderstanding is realized.

After a talk with his parents, however, Cory begins to look forward to the new baby and decides to hold a massive surprise baby shower in the student union. Within hours, he has arranged the party with an extensive guest list. As Topanga arrives with Angela, Angela tells her that she looks great and “positively glowing.” Angela says that she can already “tell” and “wants to touch it.” Topanga, believing that Angela is talking about her weight loss, is flattered. The confusion is quickly straightened out and Angela realizes that the baby shower is going to be very awkward. At first Topanga wants to tell everyone that she is not pregnant but then she is showered with gifts and attention. Angela and Shawn get her a baby outfit. Jack and Rachel get her a DVD player. Nana Boo Boo, who has been “clinging to life waiting for a great grandchild to spoil,” presents the Cory and Topenga with a huge novelty check for $75,000.

Finally, Topanga gives up the charade and tells everyone that she is not pregnant. To everyone’s embarrassment, including the viewer, she is forced to explain that she and Eric were on a diet. In a very artificial scene, the partygoers begin to tell Topanga how beautiful and curvy she is. When Topanga points out that Eric thinks she is fat, Eric, who is stuffing his face with deviled eggs, admits that he only told her she was fat so she would give him her pizza. The farce devolves from there. Rachel, Angela, and Jack, the three who all loved their bodies at the beginning of the episode, admit that they have insecurities. Then Mr. Feeney interjects a very flat speech about how nobody can live up to society’s unrealistic expectations. In a distasteful display, the episode ends with Cory and Topanga in their bedroom “practicing” to make a baby.  Neither bothers to discuss the utterly humiliating party. 

Though Ms. Carr and Ms. Runnels attempt to cloak this despicable episode in a moral about body image, their true intentions are obvious and odious. Mr. Feeney’s lament about body expectations does not explain why Topanga cannot fit into Cory’s pants or why Eric needs to unbutton his pants to sit down. No, the only explanation for these aspects is that Ms. Carr and Ms. Runnels wanted to humiliate Mr. Friedle and Ms. Fishel. Furthermore, considering the outlandish and offensive title of the episode, one would think that the writers would have included, or at least alluded to, some baby back ribs in the script. The lack of any ribs leaves a gaping hole in the facade of the alleged body image episode. Instead, the title is just hateful and cruel. With the writing reduced to contemptible attacks, BMW was wise to end its run just six episodes after the airing of “She’s Having My Baby Back Ribs.”

Comments

Strangely, Shawn and Cory are in bed together as Shawn eats Topenga’s refused waffles.

LOL, this was probably the least strange part of the whole episode, imho, since it just plays off the running joke of Shawn/Corey having such a homoerotic friendship. (Like Alan's line about Cory needing to discuss the pregnancy with the person he loves receiving the reply 'That would be Shawn.')

But this is a fantastic post. This episode bothers me in a way that the earlier ones where Cory's described as being in awkward stages don't. I'm not sure why, though.

[angela]

I think you're taking the quotes and plots for the CHARACTERS upon the actors. When a line describes how dumb Eric is or can be, do you really think its meant about Will Friedle backhandedly? They have nothing to do with each other...

Funnily, I was just watching this episode earlier today. It was an OK episode.

I disliked the Jack scene only because he was such a better character when he first appeared in the 5th season (and Angela came a few episodes later; its only the Rachael character that seemed like she didn't fit in with everyone else -- Jack and Angela seemed to ease in effortlessly -- how funny is it that the writers apparently acknowledged this as well in 'The War').He was responsible, sensitive and a good older brother to Shawn. He later is made to be self absorbed about his looks and his 'rich dad'.