this is damm... stupid when it happened... what exactly happen if Maya, herself actually like him. And when she turn back into Maya, Riley is the first one to accuse her of doing bad things. when the cop mention the situation.
Those episodes were the worst. But that's because Riley was the worst in them. She's the worst character and "friend". She wanted Maya to basically "stay in her lane". Her lane being: single, always keeping people at a distance except for Riley, getting bad grades, getting involved in "bad" / sometimes borderline criminal behaviour. Why? So Riley can show up as "the saviour" and be praised for the "good influence" she has on Maya. Riley is such a selfish person, she wanted good things to happen but only for her. And she especially didn't want them to happen if those things were to benefit other people and would a disadvantage to herself. That's when she would throw these temper tantrums. Like she's 3 or smth. I've always felt bad for Maya, the only way she could have this friend is if she agreed to always stay in her shadow. And because she has grown up to believe that she doesn't deserve any better she actually complied with this arrangement. It's so sad
And then in season 3 he admits he does like her that way as well. I think Maya and Josh were a great opportunity this show had to address the theme of grooming but they didn’t, like I do think they’re really cute together and it could work out if they have these characters the necessary amount of time and development, they could have had a moment when they talked to Maya about why dating or hitting on an older guy could be harmful to her and Josh could have liked her from the start as well but then have dealt with other people around them talking about why it was so inappropriate for him to date a girl who was 3/4 years younger than him, then maybe they could have agreed to just be friends until later they decided they were meant to be together, like they would be saying grooming is harmful and dangerous but that Maya and Josh were an exception. But instead the show says it’s totally okay and that Josh is a jerk for letting their age-gap keep them apart
he wasn't in college. they had like a 3 year age difference which is perfectly normal. he knew she was too young so he never went there. all he said was that if its meant to be when they're older, then its meant to be. its not "grooming" and you're delusional if you think it is. when in reality, he was very mature and respectful of her.
he told he she grew up gorgeous when she was 14. when she was 15 he told her he needs to stop looking at her like a child. he held hands with her repeatedly. he flirted repeatedly. he talked about them dating down the line repeatedly across multiple episodes. he groomed her. he manipulated and gaslit her. they were NEVER legal to have a real relationship. 14 and 17, 15 and 18...@@kalidraws_
The 'I am Farkle' episode came out when my school wanted to test me for autism (the same they tested Farkle with). If felt so demeaning and belittling to basically say in the show 'oh its okay if you're a little weird, cause you'll always be our friend' and then backtrack when they find out he's not autistics to say 'you're normal'. Even if my diagnosis came back negative, it was such a dehumanizing experience, especially since I was in middle school during the time.
as an autistic person, i find the whole message of “don’t let labels define you” super icky. especially when it comes to neurological conditions?? like I AM autistic. That’s just a fact. It literally impacts every bit of my life and is something that people around me need to know. I can understand the “label” talk when it comes to like sexualities or something that you self define, because there are no clear cut answers a lot of the time and for some people, labels make things MORE confusing. But when it comes to disorders and diagnoses, i don’t think the same messaging applies at all.
Yeah like once someone on Twitter tried to tell me I was "defining myself by my autism" and that that was somehow a bad thing I was like.... Dude, I literally AM autistic. It's literally a different wiring of my brain. Whether I like it or not, my autism DOES define me, because I AM MY AUTISM and MY AUTISM IS ME. I do not exist without my autism! I would not be "me" if I was neurotypical. It's as simple as that.
The way I see it (I’m also autistic) it’s another example of NTs patronizing us like when they say “everyone is different”, “you’re not normal but no one really is”, they don’t understand how harder it is for us to fit in when we don’t (at least not as naturally as them) and that it’s not okay to compare our everyday struggles with theirs, and this episode is basically saying “if you can pretend you’re normal, you should pretend you’re normal”, as if it’s something we should be ashamed of
@@iamme25yago well I think if you like labels or not is up to you we just shouldn’t expect people to hate them right away, the thing is a lot of people build their identities based on the groups they’re a part of and it’s fine
The massive ick-factor of the autism episode aside (although I don't believe for a second that we should put it aside - the reaction from his friends, the use of the term Asperger's, the message of the episode apparently being 'you shouldn't let autism define you'), I think the irony of it all is that, as an autistic person, I can say with about 86% certainty that Farkle is extremely likely to be autistic. I mean, I've found him super relatable since day one, and back then I didn't even know I was autistic at all... So yeah, now imagine that, a few years down the line, Farkle ends up being diagnosed. How would he feel about it knowing the way his friends reacted here? Definitely adds to the ickiness of it all. Just... NO.
i noticed at the end, farkle said “i don’t have aspergers” not “i don’t have autism”. maybe i’m being too literal or looking into it too much, but to me that implies that he actually is on the spectrum, he just found a way to “go back in the closet” to his friends bc he didn’t get the right support from them. ik it won’t happen but it would be amazing to see an episode/series where older farkle (maybe college age) reflects on his youth and how he would’ve accepted himself and his diagnosis far sooner if his friends had reacted in a normal way.
I know right?! If they didn’t make this episode Farkle could have been such a great autistic-coded character but by focusing on this theme so much they ended up harming the ASD community by implying that Farkle’s character isn’t what NTs should perceive as autistic (the bad and old “you don’t look autistic” deal) even though he is. Even Riley could have been considered an autistic-coded character if it wasn’t for this episode
@@camdecay that makes perfect sense, but I don’t think we should give the writers credit for it they most likely didn’t shut this door completely unintentionally, because they didn’t acknowledge or even seemed to understand the difference between being autistic and having Asperger’s
As someone who is autistic if I had friends that reacted in that way to me telling them…I would not speak to them again. That whole conversation made me so angry and upset for Farkle. He has terrible friends. And secondly, the term “Asperger’s” is a very outdated term and not used anymore. It’s the name of a N*zi who unalived disabled people. ALSO I am a religious person and the way that episode went on was just a big NOPE like…you cannot force someone to believe what you do.
Hey, I’m also autistic. I heard the thing is the term Asperger’s is not being used anymore not because of the guy who it’s named after (if that was the only problem they could’ve just changed the name) it’s because specialists decided to stop using it because it was making it harder to get some people diagnosed, or something like it
Farkle and Smackle were honestly the highlight of Girl Meets World for me, they have their whole own rivals to lovers arc and just stay happy for the rest of the show, they were great. If you want more controversial episodes I suggest Girl Meets Commonism (communism vs capitalism episode) or the Ski Lodge double episodes
Flaws in the “autism episode” from the perspective of a girl with Asperger’s: (Long Text) -they act as if Farkle being diagnosed with autism meant he was going to die or something (again treating this condition as if it’s a disease) -they all talk about autism as if it’s a bad thing or something he should be ashamed of, as if he’ll be miserable if he has it, our lives aren’t a constant torture just because our minds work in a different way -they don’t acknowledge the fact that if Farkle is autistic then he was autistic all along, he was born this way labeling it wouldn’t change a thing it would be actually helpful for people to understand it -the way the adults talk about it is so strange, I mean yes it’s hard for a parent to deal with a situation like this but it’s usually a big deal when their kid is very little, Farkle was a teenager if he was doing fine then being diagnosed wouldn’t change anything, it’s not like they would have to go through the worries autistic parents go through without knowing if their kids will be able to take care of themselves or not -why would a psychologist tell Farkle’s parents about the possibility we would have Asperger’s if she wasn’t at least sure he was on the spectrum? -it doesn’t make sense that Farkle wouldn’t be autistic after everything that was stablished, they already said he had enough signs to say he was at least on the spectrum, it’s something you can just say someone is or isn’t by a physical exam the only difference is psychological and a professional has to say it through a series of exams that’s why it’s called “a spectrum” -they say he is not autistic but they still get him to make a speech about “how life is for neurodivergent kids”, we see this happening so many times, getting some “normie” to talk about us as if they understand it better than us, if Smackle is the one who’s autistic she should have been the one to talk about it -it doesn’t make sense that Smackle didn’t say anything about her friends ableist assumptions about autism being autistic all along, it feels like the writers made her autistic in the last minute just so they would have “some representation” there -these neurotypical characters learned about autism for like a day and now the show says they know about it enough to just be able to say if someone is autistic or not? Patronizing -it doesn’t make sense that Smackle was diagnosed when she was 5 and Farkle was only being diagnosed then, actually it would have made perfect sense if it was the opposite because truth is autistic boys tend to be diagnosed much earlier in life than autistic girls because we tend to “mask” this behavior much earlier and you see the signs through the behavior, so it would have made much more sense if Farkle was diagnosed when he was little and Smackle was just being diagnosed now and maybe to comfort her he could have told her he was autistic all along and he knew it but didn’t tell any of his friends -having neurotypical people telling a neurodivergent person about “how they should love and accept themselves the way they are” is just so patronizing…
One note on the age thing: it's very common to be diagnosed at different ages even among boys. I was diagnosed at age 11 if I remember correctly. My mother was familiar with autism before this but didn't think my symptoms matched.
i haven't watched this episode in ages but now watching it with you i also find cory's speech about labels really weird... like sometimes labels are very important - getting to know you are and identifying as autistic doesn't change who you are/were as a person, but it opens doors for the opportunity to get help in areas you might be struggling and it also offers a sense of community. besides the autism reaction being awful, what being taught also is and it might disencorage kids who may need a diagnoses to get the help they need to actually do that. boooo
Exactly! Realizing I was autistic changed my life so much, in a good way! I finally understood myself and could start learning to unmask. I really hate that this episode exists. Imagine how many people not only still think Aspergers exists but that autism is an inherently horrible thing to have. Autism isn't some death sentence like the way they treat it. Sure it can disable us. But you know what a diagnosis can give us? The power to fight for our rights to accessibility and accommodation. Before my autism diagnosis I struggled so much with getting Work to believe my struggles. But now I have proof I can give them that lets me demand they give me accommodation! It's a power I wish I'd have had back in school! Knowing we have autism allows us to seek help for the parts of it we may need support for.
i normally hate when people are like “i knew that was bad even as a kid!!” bc it just comes across as acting morally superior/pick me BUT i swear i even was grossed out by the autism episode as a kid. like why were they acting like it was a terminal illness??? why did he go back in the closet?? why are his closest friends, who support him in everything else, reacting so terribly?? it just always stood out as a bad episode even to children
This show stopped holding my attention around a certain time so I didn't really see this episode except for bits and pieces. But there were parts I thought were weird to include too like the Maya Josh age gap. I was so confused how and why they made that happen when we had Zay right there
the fact that farkle is a very autistic coded character makes the autism episode feel even worse honestly. like he has a lot of autistic traits and then autistic kids who see themselves in him get to watch everyone freak out and act like being autistic is the end of the world. riley is autistic coded tbh it's just MESSY
And to think if they didn’t make that episode the fandom would be happy to theorize about the two of them being autistic-coded but no they wouldn’t let us have it instead they made a whole episode about “how awful it is” and then they say that despite Farkle having so many autistic traits somehow he is not autistic implying that we shouldn’t see Farkle’s features as autistic features because the writers say so
Farkle "autistic traits" to me felt more like autism stereotypes. I never saw myself in Farkle (honestly, I didn't like him, I found annoying and pretentious). He was a boy genius. I was a girl who was struggling pass her classes. Making Farkle autistic would just be one more promotion of autism stereotypes. Before you call me neurotypical, I'm an autistic woman and one of very few to have before age 10.
Riley, Maya, & Farkle are all autistic and I will die on this hill. Riley & Maya are carbon copies of my me and childhood best friend, and we are both late diagnosed AuDHDers
There’s actually a pretty popular fan theory that poor Farkle IS autistic but told his friends the test was negative due to the way they’d been treating him, afraid of how they’d react Poor Farkle man
I think if Farkle's friends had initially been confused or negative about the idea of him being autistic but later learned they were wrong for being like that it would have been okay. They've never met an autistic person knowingly and are very young, it makes sense for them to be ignorant even though they are well meaning. The problem is their beliefs are never challenged. Even though they did have Smackle turn out to be autistic they still have Farkle be "just Farkle" and act like he shouldn't have a label put on him but there's nothing inherently wrong with labels. And if he was autistic it wouldn't change the fact that he is unique and still himself. Also the whole Asperger's thing...ick
@@neivilde.1242 the fact that they used the Asperger’s term is the least of this episode’s problems, they made the mistake of saying it’s all the same thing that if you’re autistic you have Asperger’s, this episode doesn’t acknowledge the fact that it’s a spectrum
for other controvertial episodes,i think you need to double feature the communism episode and money one, because it's insane. even back then i was like wtf is happening. but nowknowing more about ben savage's politics, it makes way more sense, everything about that show that's off I'm like ah i see where the problem lies. except for the josh/maya thing, that was the writers for sure
I think Maya and Josh´s relationship were a missed opportunity to explore the theme of grooming, like if the grown-ups were more realistic they would have been worried about how harmful it could be to her if Josh was interested in her because it was always a possibility, specially Maya´s mother since she was so worried about her and she knew how being in love with the wrong guy could ruin everything, even if they didn´t do anything sexual (it´s a kids show after all) she could have ended up emotionally scarred for life if he manipulated her or broke her heart, even if they didn´t want to write Josh as a bad guy they should have acknowledged why it was so inappropriate for him to date a girl who was 3/4 years younger than him, then maybe they could have agreed to be just friends until later they realized what they felt for each other was real, like they would be saying grooming is harmful and dangerous but that Maya and Josh were an exception. But instead the show says it’s totally okay and that Josh is a jerk for letting their age-gap keep them apart
2:50 Ok but why is no one talking about how farkle and smackle ARE NAMED THAT. especially for characters that in the episode are portrayed / confirmed to be autistic. I know in earlier seasons it's probably to convey "oh they're weird/different" but here it just doesn't feel right, could just be me ¯\_⍨⃝_/¯
It's intersting to me that they focused so hard on Farkle being or not being autistic that they ignore my girl Riley completely. I related to her so much when this show first aired. And now that I have an autism diagnosis at 26 years old it is baffling to me how autistic coded she was in that show and no one ever seemed to talk about that. The writers didn't even see the possibility. This show could have been powerful representation for autistic girls, especially at the time.
I watched this show as a kid and I remember seeing the autism episode lol. I was already suspected to be neurodivergent, so idk if I related it to my own experiences, but I remember thinking it was so icky
I feel this show had so much potential and I really did like it as a kid but they almost always messed up whatever point they were trying to make, mostly because they never went far enough with it to actually get into the topic. Or they would just make the most random left turns. And I hated how Corey became this moral arbiter, he can guide them as their teacher but they should be having their own ideas about the world not getting their entire world views from their history teacher. I loved Riley though, she's hated a lot in the fandom but I really related to her as an excitable positive weird kid.
@@pleaseshutup7053 idk there's some very good media targeted towards teens and even kids and being on Disney doesn't mean it couldn't be good, just that they have to censor some stuff or be careful with how they deal with things. Unfortunately in this case though they messed it up
@@amaryllis543I mean as a boy meets world spin-off it never had a chance because of the tone of the original show it’s a 90s raunchy teen show. And there is no way Disney channel at that pony would be able to match the tone of the orignal
The religious episode makes me so uncomfortable it really feels patronizing and that you have to be Christian! That’s the only type of religion they are allowed they don’t talk about other religions and then they convert maya after bulling her into it! This feels more forced down kids throats then any of the lgbt that Disney has put in their other shows
the episode where farkle gets tested is just written poorly. i don’t think they were ever trying to say that they wouldn’t accept farkle if he had autism. i think it was more of farkle was worried about it and they wanted to reassure him by saying he doesn’t have it. seeing as they accepted smackle immediately, i think it was just a matter of poor script writing
12:08 For me, it depends. How old is kiddo? If they're, like, 3-5 years old, tell kiddo to get some sleep, and they can talk to their friend tomorrow. (Probably an imaginary friend.) If they're significantly older, imma check for signs of another person watching my kid when I'm not around.
I HATED this show, it’s what ended my interest in the Disney channel for a long time. I found it so cringy and overdramatic and I hate the dialogue….like nobody talks like that?!?! Fortunately Andi Mack is what sparked my interest back 😂
Yeah so when these were airing I was around the same age as the child actors. I really had no interest in Disney anymore but the reason I continued to watch this show was because of boy meets world nostalgia and then later on just because of Sabrina Carpenter. This wasn’t it and I’d always wished they either hired better writers or moved the show to Freeform to allow them to not tune it down. I didn’t stick around to watch the other shows after this one but I had heard great things about Andi Mack. Basically this show walked so Andi Mack could run. Like if they had hired the team that did Andi Mack for GMW this show would’ve been held way high up there for sure. Also yeah everyone from the show HATES talking about it. Sabrina even said that she’d watch the show and play this game where she’d take a shot whenever something ridiculous would happen. I need to find that interview again 😭 I also remember Rowan saying she doesn’t want a reunion to happen 😭 I get them all
@@SpecialInterestShowthat sucks. I had heard many positive things about the show. At least for the majority of the part it seemed like it was going in a positive direction
As a neurodivergent atheist these episodes piss me off n also the episode ive seen clips from where the lesson was basically "communism bad, capitalism good" like holy fuck i am this close to waging a vendetta against the writers of this show
3:32 Mr. Matthews, I am being myself. And myself is an Autistic/ADHD bisexual enby with trauma. Also, Farkle and Smackle are not the only Autism-coded characters, but I'd argue that Riley seems fairly Autistic as well. Me, I'm somewhere between the 3 of them in how my Autism presents, I'm an info-dumping super nerd, I have sensory challenges and don't like people I don't know to touch me (but once we're close, I'm very physically affectionate) and I'm a whistful dreamer with a strong fantasy-oriented imagination and a desperate need for escapism.
I've worked with kids most of my life. I've seen parents react to the possibility of their child having autism, the exact same way Maya does in the episode. Honestly it could have been a really good message about the importance of awareness and education on autism. Get people to understand the large spectrum that it is. What a waste.
Everyone’s talking about the autism episode in the comments, but I feel like we should acknowledge the fact that, in the religion episode, Riley is just going “Maya your beliefs are wrong” until the end of the episode when Maya turns out to be a better Christian than Riley and Riley goes “oh I like your beliefs Maya” like yeah Riley, you’re a selfish bitch, we get it, it’s our job as humans to be selfless Christians 100% of the time.
The whole "the only label you need is yourself" can be a good message but they way it is in that episode makes it seems like you shouldn't call yourself "autistic" or that that isn't a big part of who you are which is just wrong. Being autistic is perfectly ok, but it still is a big part of what makes you you.
This show has its good moments, but it was doomed from the start when Disney made it go on Disney Channel instead of Freeform, which is a channel that's target audience was similar to the parent shows' target audience.
As someone who is religious, Catholic, I definitely I agree with Rebecca that the message about how it's okay for everyone to believe what they believe and that not everyone has to believe the same things. As I go to a Catholic college, I sometimes have trouble remembering this with my family members who aren't religious and co-workers who aren't religious. However, I love learning about what other people believe. When I talk to my sister about religion, she definitely helps me to remember the message of this episode. When it comes to other people's beliefs, I want to have a conversation with people about that and try to gain a new understanding of what another person might believe. Which is why it bugs me when people say, "you believe what you believe and i believe what I believe" and just leave it at that. This bugs me, because I want to know more about the other person's belief and see how that contrasts with my beliefs. By say this relativist statement implies that you are close minded, which is fine, but I definitely think that a conversation can be had over beliefs and the parties can find a common ground. Like this episode is teaching us.
Fully agree with you. I was raised catholic but am an atheist n bc ive never truly experienced faith or belief myself i find people who do extremely fascinating. Its always a positive to learn about people who are different to yourself.
Nah, these lessons were too on the nose even for the intended age group. It's why I could never get into this show. None of the characters (except maybe Maya) talk like real people, just mothpieces for lessons. It makes me want to not agree with them out of pettiness even when they are right
It's like my biggest question ever for the whole show is that of all the names minkus and his wife could pick to name there kid it's "farkle" like fr why that name lol
I see why this got 3 seasons the topics hit home for a lot vierwers and had a lot of adult themes from divorce to lovetriangles but I love the seasons we got
I will say, being raised very conservative Christian, these episodes are exactly what my childhood was like. In the Belief episode, I understand wanting your friends to believe the same thing you do, because in the conservative Christian community, and a large part of the more moderate and liberals, if you do not believe in God, you go to hell, and you do not want your friend, someone you love, to experience that suffering. It's very much the way I was raised to be like "I love you, you can believe whatever you want, but if you don't believe in god, you're going to hell." As far as the autism episode goes, very disappointed that Farkle did not end up being an autistic character. I think the show could have done so much more with that plot line, but making Farkle and Lucas have less drama allowed the show to still focus on the two best friends. This show came out while I was in middle school, just a year behind these characters. In 6th grade, I had no idea what autism was and would probably react the same way Maya and Riley did because I thought it legitimately was like cancer. It had such a negative connotation to it. As far as accuracy of a reaction, I get it. But if you're trying to teach a good message to younger kids..... absolutely missed the mark. They do a fair amount with Smackle and her journey, the girls learning to accept her for who she is, not forcing her to do anything she's super uncomfortable with, etc. I think (as a non-autistic person), they did well with her story, but they could have done so much more with Farkle and normalized it instead of "shaming" it.
This show was my everything when I was like 12 but looking back on it, there's so much that they just didn't need to put in there. I mean, you'd think Farkle was dying from their reactions & the whole religion episode was very extremely Christian based as if that's the only religion to exist (but it is disney, I've come to expect that now) The main thing that sticks out for me personally was Maya's infatuation with Riley's uncle & him not really putting his foot down whenever she talked about them being together. Bc at the time, I really projected myself onto Maya since we were so similar & I think it would've really helped me when I was taken advantage of at that age bc I didn't understand why it was wrong. But that probably would've gotten through to me
it’s not christian based, it’s actually the opposite, they made us look horrible and like we just put our beliefs on others. i would never act how riley and her dad did. this is the writers fault for making us look bad in this show. tv shows always make us christian’s look bad and crazy, and they can never just be religious in a normal way.
You gotta watch boy meets world. It makes me laugh some people have seen this crap and not boy meets world. I dated a girl recently who want me to watch bel air and never seen the fresh prince 😂
Cory's lessons were usually tailor made for the benefit of Riley and Maya and sometimes Farkle. Which puts the rest of the class at a huge disadvantage. The whole belief episode makes me cringe. i used to be a Christian and am now an atheist partly because of people who try to push their beliefs on other people.
boy meets world is infinitely better than this. it was a show made to teach young people about life and real world issues. this is just an average disney channel show. nothing wrong with that, but it didn't need to be a spin off. i feel like replacing cory and topanga with any other parents would've had little to no effect on the show. for those of you who haven't seen boy meets world though, highly recommend it! it's my favorite show to this day and it taught me a lot when i was growing up :-)
I don't remember this episode at all, did they stop airing this episode? Did they also not show this in Netflix (When they had it in Netflix) because I seen all the episodes and I've never seen this, I'm so confused Also, what the actual heck? That was their reaction? Why did they treat him like he was dying?
I don’t think Corey way saying that everyone should believe in God in Riley’s room. He was trying to explain how others can find evidence where he does t.
Girl meets world to me was always so cheesy to be fair I have only ever watched the first season episodes and first few of season 2. But I don’t know this show was always so boring and weird to me.
this show made religious people look horrible and this is part of the reason why ppl think we push our beliefs on others. i would have taken the money unless i saw who dropped it. why can’t people who are religious be normal in tv shows, this is the writers fault
9:26 in my eyes, Lucas ends up with Smackle. It'd be a plot twist as good as Logan and Quinn in Zoey 101. Lucas's dynamic with her is like if you mixed Riley and Maya. He and Riley are similar, they have the same morals and he sees her weirdness as cute (just like Smackle). While he and Maya are different, they challenge each other (just like Smackle does with her jokes to him). This way, Riley can end up with Farkle (they're basically the new & improved Cory and Topanga). Riley & Lucas and Farkle & Smackle are too much alike, relationship is boring, they get no growth. Riley & Farkle and Lucas & Smackle are different & the same, they will actually help each other grow!
I disagree because Smackle kept making Lucas uncomfortable and Farkle kept making Riley uncomfortable and in some ways even objectifying her, if any of these pairings ended up together it would have spread a bad message about wearing the other person down, pretty much what “Liv & Maddie” did by making Joey end up with Willow. It’s not really the same thing as Quinn and Logan because they picked on each other once in a while but none of them ever harassed or made the other one uncomfortable the same way Smackle did to Lucas or Farkle did to Riley (and Maya)
@@marieangels6 Riley and Farkle have similarities, thats why they get each other (even in ways Lucas doesn't), but there are things about them that make them different so they learn a lot from each other (and their similarities allow for them to completely understand)
@@lauracerqueiramachado8979 I think Farkle objectified Maya, not really much to Riley. He was a 7th grader doing that, and completely grew out of that midway through 8th grade, so I would not hold it against him. I don't think it would be bad messaging since that was a small part of Riley and Farkle's dynamic (unlike Willow and Joey, who that was 99% of their interactions), Riley and Farkle genuinely have a deep connection. While Smackle is a bit different, I do see what you mean, but it does not seem like Lucas took offense to it much ever. A lot of times he laughed when she said something. I mostly see Lucas and Smackle for the potential they could be, not exactly what they are. I see Lucas helping her be normal, and her helping him be more unique. And Logan and Quinn were not perfect, Logan & friends used her and called her a dork while everyone laughed in the Robot Wars episode. While Quinn & friends would use Logan for his money, then gather around with the entire friend-group many times to watch Logan suffer, one time being unnecessary when Logan told Chase that he and Zoey were dating as a cover up since they both thought it was embarrassing that Logan was tutoring Zoey in chemistry, a toxic group of friends. However, I feel like Logan and Quinn had potential since they were the most used/underappreciated in their friendgroups, so to see them be the ones who see that the other isn't so bad was surprisingly well-written. I think the same could happen for Lucas and Smackle, he was stuck in a triangle, and all that flirting she did, just for her to be the one to end up with him, it's a cool twist.
As much as I agree that their reaction could be better and damm it is unhinged when i first watched it... But let's be honest, there will be two kinds of reaction to fackle have autism. One is being rejective to the idea of him having that, two they will kick him out of the friend group. it happens. at the end of the episodes they showcase smackle as the true austistic person and them accepting her despite having that label on her. i think they went with the root that fackle is also autistic, they will come to naturally accept it. At the point in time, they have hang out with each other that his habits becomes normal to them and they know it might be weird and goofy in other people's eyes. ultimately, we need to remember that girl meets world is a kids show and there are more drama lines and i do agree some of the lines... How can it be approved but overall.. it is one of the episodes that have made aware of this and ponder on how society would react to this people.
It's pretty clear you missed the entire point of the first episode you reacted to. They were showing how people react to things they don't actually know about except for the extreme cases. So many people think autism is this end of normalcy for any person. When in fact, the majority of people with any ASD diagnosis wouldn't be obvious to those around them. Notice how the group did their research and came to the conclusion that they were wrong for how they reacted.
5:27 I'm sorry, but I can't take the word "different" about auti stic people anymore. I don't get why people use the word and don't actually elaborate on its meaning. If you're not gonna specify or clarify, then we are not different. That's like saying my friend's mom is different or my English teacher is different. You're just using the word randomly without meaning.
4:21 as an ND and the worst devil's advocate you will ever meet, heres how i see their reactions: I didn’t see this as them thinking autism is bad. I saw this as them having a knee jerk reaction to something they know nothing about, only that this is something that could impact their friend in a big way. And then they see for themselves they were wrong when they get to know Smackle. Here, ill even use an analogy: A first time expecting mom is told she's gonna need to vaccinate her baby after its born, and she flips out, having heard all the horror stories about vaccines. Not an anti vaxxer, just a super overprotective first time mom scared of anything that might hurt her baby.
Counter-argument (I’m also ND): That’s not the same thing, they knew Farkle for quite a long time and this episode doesn’t acknowledge the fact that if Farkle is autistic then he was autistic all along, getting him officially diagnosed wouldn’t change a thing but they act as if it would. Also your analogy is flawed, in the condition of a mother getting her baby vaccinated she is making an important choice or her child’s behalf that may or may not make a huge difference in the future, Farkle being autistic wasn’t a choice, he was born this way and that’s what he is, by reacting that way his friends just weren’t willing to accept him the way he was
I personally think these episodes are just normal episodes that people are looking to deep at For the first one They are middle school children. And the way people with autism are portrayed in the media isn’t the nicest. You’re 12 years old and one of your best friends tells you that he might have neurodevelopment disorder. It sounds scary. To them Farkle is just a bit eccentric and a big new word like autism is scary. I think in my opinion Riley and Maya just didn’t know how to respond because they weren’t informed about autism. That’s why they decided to look it up and do their homework on it later on in the episode. After informing themselves they find out it isn’t a bad thing therefore they all (especially Farkle) become closer to Smackle. I honestly probably would’ve reacted the same as Maya and Riley when I was like 12 being misinformed and not really knowing what autism is at that time. In the second episode well first, our USD does literally say “in God we trust” it wasn’t just Riley saying it out of nowhere. I’d also like to preface that I’m Atheist. Cory (the dad/teacher) is just trying to open the mind of both sides. Argue with Riley and Lucas about seeing the view point of Maya and Farkle while also doing vise versa. So when Maya would be like “I don’t believe” he would be like well why not? Counter point it. Debate it. And also in the show Maya has a pretty crappy life with a dad who left her and started a new family, she lives in a crappy house, she barely sees her own mother etc so her only reason for not believing in”God” is because of her life. Unlike Riley who is privileged. She has a beautiful home, both parents, her mom is a lawyer so she makes bank, she basically gets all that she wants. Long story short, I personally took it like Cory just wanted them to see both sides with an open mind. But hey what the hell do I know. Maybe I’m just full of crap lmao. If you wanna see less in your face life lessons I strongly recommend Boy Meets World. Or maybe just watch Full House tbh lmaoo
About the autism episode, Riley and Maya knew Farkle for years, why would seeing him getting a diagnose be scary for them? Nothing would change, also you contradicted yourself because you said they reacted that way because they didn’t know autism that well but if they didn’t know about autism it makes even less sense that they would see it as a bad thing, autism is not inherently seen as a bad thing that’s just something people are convinced to believe (mostly because most movies about autism are made by neurotypical people to neurotypical people to make them feel better about themselves) I mean when I was diagnosed with autism at age 9 I was actually very excited about it because finally a lot of stuff about me made sense and I liked telling it to people, it happened mostly because back then I had no idea people thought autism was a bad thing (I didn’t even know what it was until they said I was it, and neither did my parents) and even used “autistic” as an insult, it was just something that made me me and I didn’t get why people would see it as bad, maybe if I did know about it I wouldn’t be as proud as I was but I didn’t and I’m glad for that
@@lauracerqueiramachado8979 well think about it. They’re children and are experiencing all of this for the first time. Seeing someone they love, potentially have something new that they’ve never heard of before is scary. And I don’t think I contradict myself because I feel like a lot of people think that things that are new and unknown can be scary. Imagine you don’t know the medical terms for absolutely anything. One day you’re concerned so you go to the doctor and they’re like “you have an upper respiratory tract infection”. I’d be like huh? A what? Infection? Am I gonna be okay? In reality that’s just a common cold and I’ll be absolutely okay. Also that was my point that tv and movies make autism seem like a bad thing. That’s why it would make sense. Of course I’m not the creator of the show so I’m not really 100% on what their intentions were in the show but that was my interpretation of it at least lol.
corey was NOT better in boy meets world, he was honestly worse. he spent the entirety of that show cheating on topanga and telling her she owed him intimacy/sex
My problem with that episode was that they made the atheists seem wrong for not believing in a religion but the religious characters didn't get the same treatment for not being open minded to their religion not being what everyone believes. Also the whole "i don't believe what I can't see" being shut down because we can't see air. That's not the argument atheists have, it's that there's no proof and that conversation was a bit of a strawman. Obviously Farkle knows things that you can't see are still there. I think the message was supposed to be that you should respect the beliefs of others but it really felt biased towards some beliefs. Not a terrible episode but as an atheist that grew up with all Christian friends who tried to convert me it rubbed me the wrong way a little.
@@amaryllis543 yea I thought the episode would be better if they brought up better points from the atheists side, and it would be a better message if you believe what you want to believe, instead of a specific religion imo
dude you're missing the whole point, they were trying to make a point that she shouldn't steal, and its not a matter of pushing their beliefs on others
I feel like if they also posted the end clip with Smackle and them accepting her, then people would understand that they were fearful for Farkle because they were ignorant to autism in the beginning.
then there s also that time they made Maya go back on all of her character development because she was 'becoming Riley'
*intense eye twitching*
And then took it a step further and said she only did all that to look at Lucas the way Riley did
I'll never not be upset over that incredibly stupid storyline.
this is damm... stupid when it happened... what exactly happen if Maya, herself actually like him. And when she turn back into Maya, Riley is the first one to accuse her of doing bad things. when the cop mention the situation.
Those episodes were the worst. But that's because Riley was the worst in them. She's the worst character and "friend". She wanted Maya to basically "stay in her lane". Her lane being: single, always keeping people at a distance except for Riley, getting bad grades, getting involved in "bad" / sometimes borderline criminal behaviour. Why? So Riley can show up as "the saviour" and be praised for the "good influence" she has on Maya. Riley is such a selfish person, she wanted good things to happen but only for her. And she especially didn't want them to happen if those things were to benefit other people and would a disadvantage to herself. That's when she would throw these temper tantrums. Like she's 3 or smth. I've always felt bad for Maya, the only way she could have this friend is if she agreed to always stay in her shadow. And because she has grown up to believe that she doesn't deserve any better she actually complied with this arrangement. It's so sad
I’m more surprised the episode where a college student is flirting with Maya and telling her he’ll wait for her to grow up isn’t on the list.
he was technically 17 and LOOKING at colleges but she was literally in middle school?????
And then in season 3 he admits he does like her that way as well. I think Maya and Josh were a great opportunity this show had to address the theme of grooming but they didn’t, like I do think they’re really cute together and it could work out if they have these characters the necessary amount of time and development, they could have had a moment when they talked to Maya about why dating or hitting on an older guy could be harmful to her and Josh could have liked her from the start as well but then have dealt with other people around them talking about why it was so inappropriate for him to date a girl who was 3/4 years younger than him, then maybe they could have agreed to just be friends until later they decided they were meant to be together, like they would be saying grooming is harmful and dangerous but that Maya and Josh were an exception. But instead the show says it’s totally okay and that Josh is a jerk for letting their age-gap keep them apart
he wasn't in college. they had like a 3 year age difference which is perfectly normal. he knew she was too young so he never went there. all he said was that if its meant to be when they're older, then its meant to be. its not "grooming" and you're delusional if you think it is. when in reality, he was very mature and respectful of her.
@@kalidraws_ he’s still her best friend’s uncle and he first met her before she fully went through puberty, it is a bit creepy
he told he she grew up gorgeous when she was 14. when she was 15 he told her he needs to stop looking at her like a child. he held hands with her repeatedly. he flirted repeatedly. he talked about them dating down the line repeatedly across multiple episodes. he groomed her. he manipulated and gaslit her. they were NEVER legal to have a real relationship. 14 and 17, 15 and 18...@@kalidraws_
You'd think with the way everyone reacted to Farkle maybe being Autistic, he was dying or was a cannibal or something.
As an autistic dude, I can confirm the cannibalism. But that’s just me, we’re all different.
@@Matty272 WHAT
OML
The 'I am Farkle' episode came out when my school wanted to test me for autism (the same they tested Farkle with). If felt so demeaning and belittling to basically say in the show 'oh its okay if you're a little weird, cause you'll always be our friend' and then backtrack when they find out he's not autistics to say 'you're normal'. Even if my diagnosis came back negative, it was such a dehumanizing experience, especially since I was in middle school during the time.
as an autistic person, i find the whole message of “don’t let labels define you” super icky. especially when it comes to neurological conditions?? like I AM autistic. That’s just a fact. It literally impacts every bit of my life and is something that people around me need to know.
I can understand the “label” talk when it comes to like sexualities or something that you self define, because there are no clear cut answers a lot of the time and for some people, labels make things MORE confusing. But when it comes to disorders and diagnoses, i don’t think the same messaging applies at all.
Yeah like once someone on Twitter tried to tell me I was "defining myself by my autism" and that that was somehow a bad thing
I was like.... Dude, I literally AM autistic. It's literally a different wiring of my brain. Whether I like it or not, my autism DOES define me, because I AM MY AUTISM and MY AUTISM IS ME. I do not exist without my autism! I would not be "me" if I was neurotypical. It's as simple as that.
The way I see it (I’m also autistic) it’s another example of NTs patronizing us like when they say “everyone is different”, “you’re not normal but no one really is”, they don’t understand how harder it is for us to fit in when we don’t (at least not as naturally as them) and that it’s not okay to compare our everyday struggles with theirs, and this episode is basically saying “if you can pretend you’re normal, you should pretend you’re normal”, as if it’s something we should be ashamed of
❤
@@iamme25yago an excuse for what?
@@iamme25yago well I think if you like labels or not is up to you we just shouldn’t expect people to hate them right away, the thing is a lot of people build their identities based on the groups they’re a part of and it’s fine
The massive ick-factor of the autism episode aside (although I don't believe for a second that we should put it aside - the reaction from his friends, the use of the term Asperger's, the message of the episode apparently being 'you shouldn't let autism define you'), I think the irony of it all is that, as an autistic person, I can say with about 86% certainty that Farkle is extremely likely to be autistic. I mean, I've found him super relatable since day one, and back then I didn't even know I was autistic at all... So yeah, now imagine that, a few years down the line, Farkle ends up being diagnosed. How would he feel about it knowing the way his friends reacted here? Definitely adds to the ickiness of it all. Just... NO.
i noticed at the end, farkle said “i don’t have aspergers” not “i don’t have autism”. maybe i’m being too literal or looking into it too much, but to me that implies that he actually is on the spectrum, he just found a way to “go back in the closet” to his friends bc he didn’t get the right support from them. ik it won’t happen but it would be amazing to see an episode/series where older farkle (maybe college age) reflects on his youth and how he would’ve accepted himself and his diagnosis far sooner if his friends had reacted in a normal way.
I know right?! If they didn’t make this episode Farkle could have been such a great autistic-coded character but by focusing on this theme so much they ended up harming the ASD community by implying that Farkle’s character isn’t what NTs should perceive as autistic (the bad and old “you don’t look autistic” deal) even though he is. Even Riley could have been considered an autistic-coded character if it wasn’t for this episode
@@camdecay that makes perfect sense, but I don’t think we should give the writers credit for it they most likely didn’t shut this door completely unintentionally, because they didn’t acknowledge or even seemed to understand the difference between being autistic and having Asperger’s
As someone who is autistic if I had friends that reacted in that way to me telling them…I would not speak to them again. That whole conversation made me so angry and upset for Farkle. He has terrible friends.
And secondly, the term “Asperger’s” is a very outdated term and not used anymore. It’s the name of a N*zi who unalived disabled people.
ALSO I am a religious person and the way that episode went on was just a big NOPE like…you cannot force someone to believe what you do.
Hey, I’m also autistic. I heard the thing is the term Asperger’s is not being used anymore not because of the guy who it’s named after (if that was the only problem they could’ve just changed the name) it’s because specialists decided to stop using it because it was making it harder to get some people diagnosed, or something like it
The Nazi *killed* disabled people! Unalived is commonly used to describe suicide, not murder.
Farkle and Smackle were honestly the highlight of Girl Meets World for me, they have their whole own rivals to lovers arc and just stay happy for the rest of the show, they were great. If you want more controversial episodes I suggest Girl Meets Commonism (communism vs capitalism episode) or the Ski Lodge double episodes
no i love them so much they and maya were the only reason i barely stayed watching😭😭
Flaws in the “autism episode” from the perspective of a girl with Asperger’s:
(Long Text)
-they act as if Farkle being diagnosed with autism meant he was going to die or something (again treating this condition as if it’s a disease)
-they all talk about autism as if it’s a bad thing or something he should be ashamed of, as if he’ll be miserable if he has it, our lives aren’t a constant torture just because our minds work in a different way
-they don’t acknowledge the fact that if Farkle is autistic then he was autistic all along, he was born this way labeling it wouldn’t change a thing it would be actually helpful for people to understand it
-the way the adults talk about it is so strange, I mean yes it’s hard for a parent to deal with a situation like this but it’s usually a big deal when their kid is very little, Farkle was a teenager if he was doing fine then being diagnosed wouldn’t change anything, it’s not like they would have to go through the worries autistic parents go through without knowing if their kids will be able to take care of themselves or not
-why would a psychologist tell Farkle’s parents about the possibility we would have Asperger’s if she wasn’t at least sure he was on the spectrum?
-it doesn’t make sense that Farkle wouldn’t be autistic after everything that was stablished, they already said he had enough signs to say he was at least on the spectrum, it’s something you can just say someone is or isn’t by a physical exam the only difference is psychological and a professional has to say it through a series of exams that’s why it’s called “a spectrum”
-they say he is not autistic but they still get him to make a speech about “how life is for neurodivergent kids”, we see this happening so many times, getting some “normie” to talk about us as if they understand it better than us, if Smackle is the one who’s autistic she should have been the one to talk about it
-it doesn’t make sense that Smackle didn’t say anything about her friends ableist assumptions about autism being autistic all along, it feels like the writers made her autistic in the last minute just so they would have “some representation” there
-these neurotypical characters learned about autism for like a day and now the show says they know about it enough to just be able to say if someone is autistic or not? Patronizing
-it doesn’t make sense that Smackle was diagnosed when she was 5 and Farkle was only being diagnosed then, actually it would have made perfect sense if it was the opposite because truth is autistic boys tend to be diagnosed much earlier in life than autistic girls because we tend to “mask” this behavior much earlier and you see the signs through the behavior, so it would have made much more sense if Farkle was diagnosed when he was little and Smackle was just being diagnosed now and maybe to comfort her he could have told her he was autistic all along and he knew it but didn’t tell any of his friends
-having neurotypical people telling a neurodivergent person about “how they should love and accept themselves the way they are” is just so patronizing…
One note on the age thing: it's very common to be diagnosed at different ages even among boys. I was diagnosed at age 11 if I remember correctly. My mother was familiar with autism before this but didn't think my symptoms matched.
@@austinmiller2170Oh okay sorry for generalizing it, I was diagnosed at age 9 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
@@lauracerqueiramachado8979 No need to apologize, you made a fair point. Autism does tend to be diagnosed later in girls, if at all.
Goddam you writing a thesis on this show lol
@@pleaseshutup7053 the mistakes were always there, I just pointed them out 😅
i haven't watched this episode in ages but now watching it with you i also find cory's speech about labels really weird... like sometimes labels are very important - getting to know you are and identifying as autistic doesn't change who you are/were as a person, but it opens doors for the opportunity to get help in areas you might be struggling and it also offers a sense of community. besides the autism reaction being awful, what being taught also is and it might disencorage kids who may need a diagnoses to get the help they need to actually do that. boooo
Exactly! Realizing I was autistic changed my life so much, in a good way! I finally understood myself and could start learning to unmask.
I really hate that this episode exists. Imagine how many people not only still think Aspergers exists but that autism is an inherently horrible thing to have.
Autism isn't some death sentence like the way they treat it. Sure it can disable us. But you know what a diagnosis can give us? The power to fight for our rights to accessibility and accommodation.
Before my autism diagnosis I struggled so much with getting Work to believe my struggles. But now I have proof I can give them that lets me demand they give me accommodation! It's a power I wish I'd have had back in school!
Knowing we have autism allows us to seek help for the parts of it we may need support for.
i normally hate when people are like “i knew that was bad even as a kid!!” bc it just comes across as acting morally superior/pick me BUT i swear i even was grossed out by the autism episode as a kid. like why were they acting like it was a terminal illness??? why did he go back in the closet?? why are his closest friends, who support him in everything else, reacting so terribly?? it just always stood out as a bad episode even to children
This show stopped holding my attention around a certain time so I didn't really see this episode except for bits and pieces. But there were parts I thought were weird to include too like the Maya Josh age gap. I was so confused how and why they made that happen when we had Zay right there
as a woman with an ASD who wears glasses and looks nerdy, i disapprove of all autistic women in media having to wear glasses and look nerdy.
the fact that farkle is a very autistic coded character makes the autism episode feel even worse honestly. like he has a lot of autistic traits and then autistic kids who see themselves in him get to watch everyone freak out and act like being autistic is the end of the world. riley is autistic coded tbh it's just MESSY
And to think if they didn’t make that episode the fandom would be happy to theorize about the two of them being autistic-coded but no they wouldn’t let us have it instead they made a whole episode about “how awful it is” and then they say that despite Farkle having so many autistic traits somehow he is not autistic implying that we shouldn’t see Farkle’s features as autistic features because the writers say so
Farkle "autistic traits" to me felt more like autism stereotypes. I never saw myself in Farkle (honestly, I didn't like him, I found annoying and pretentious). He was a boy genius. I was a girl who was struggling pass her classes. Making Farkle autistic would just be one more promotion of autism stereotypes. Before you call me neurotypical, I'm an autistic woman and one of very few to have before age 10.
Riley, Maya, & Farkle are all autistic and I will die on this hill. Riley & Maya are carbon copies of my me and childhood best friend, and we are both late diagnosed AuDHDers
There’s actually a pretty popular fan theory that poor Farkle IS autistic but told his friends the test was negative due to the way they’d been treating him, afraid of how they’d react
Poor Farkle man
I think if Farkle's friends had initially been confused or negative about the idea of him being autistic but later learned they were wrong for being like that it would have been okay. They've never met an autistic person knowingly and are very young, it makes sense for them to be ignorant even though they are well meaning. The problem is their beliefs are never challenged. Even though they did have Smackle turn out to be autistic they still have Farkle be "just Farkle" and act like he shouldn't have a label put on him but there's nothing inherently wrong with labels. And if he was autistic it wouldn't change the fact that he is unique and still himself. Also the whole Asperger's thing...ick
yeah to be fair that was before they changed the name, it's pretty recent,but still cringe to hear
@@neivilde.1242 the fact that they used the Asperger’s term is the least of this episode’s problems, they made the mistake of saying it’s all the same thing that if you’re autistic you have Asperger’s, this episode doesn’t acknowledge the fact that it’s a spectrum
oh yeah its full of problems, i wasn't saying it wasn't @@lauracerqueiramachado8979
Even if Farkle dose have autism hes STILL the same person like??? Why the girls act like he's sick??
Same if he's an Atheist. As an Atheist who has Autism, those characters must hate me
for other controvertial episodes,i think you need to double feature the communism episode and money one, because it's insane. even back then i was like wtf is happening. but nowknowing more about ben savage's politics, it makes way more sense, everything about that show that's off I'm like ah i see where the problem lies. except for the josh/maya thing, that was the writers for sure
the show runner is also pretty conservative from what i've heard so a lot of it probably comes from him
I think Maya and Josh´s relationship were a missed opportunity to explore the theme of grooming, like if the grown-ups were more realistic they would have been worried about how harmful it could be to her if Josh was interested in her because it was always a possibility, specially Maya´s mother since she was so worried about her and she knew how being in love with the wrong guy could ruin everything, even if they didn´t do anything sexual (it´s a kids show after all) she could have ended up emotionally scarred for life if he manipulated her or broke her heart, even if they didn´t want to write Josh as a bad guy they should have acknowledged why it was so inappropriate for him to date a girl who was 3/4 years younger than him, then maybe they could have agreed to be just friends until later they realized what they felt for each other was real, like they would be saying grooming is harmful and dangerous but that Maya and Josh were an exception. But instead the show says it’s totally okay and that Josh is a jerk for letting their age-gap keep them apart
As soon as I saw the title I knew one was gonna be the autism episode
2:50
Ok but why is no one talking about how farkle and smackle ARE NAMED THAT. especially for characters that in the episode are portrayed / confirmed to be autistic. I know in earlier seasons it's probably to convey "oh they're weird/different" but here it just doesn't feel right, could just be me ¯\_⍨⃝_/¯
It's intersting to me that they focused so hard on Farkle being or not being autistic that they ignore my girl Riley completely. I related to her so much when this show first aired. And now that I have an autism diagnosis at 26 years old it is baffling to me how autistic coded she was in that show and no one ever seemed to talk about that. The writers didn't even see the possibility. This show could have been powerful representation for autistic girls, especially at the time.
I love Girl Meets World but I do agree with those. It was my childhood so.
I watched this show as a kid and I remember seeing the autism episode lol. I was already suspected to be neurodivergent, so idk if I related it to my own experiences, but I remember thinking it was so icky
I feel this show had so much potential and I really did like it as a kid but they almost always messed up whatever point they were trying to make, mostly because they never went far enough with it to actually get into the topic. Or they would just make the most random left turns. And I hated how Corey became this moral arbiter, he can guide them as their teacher but they should be having their own ideas about the world not getting their entire world views from their history teacher. I loved Riley though, she's hated a lot in the fandom but I really related to her as an excitable positive weird kid.
It never had any potential because it was gonna be on the Disney channel and boy meets world was a show targeted towards teens not kids
@@pleaseshutup7053 idk there's some very good media targeted towards teens and even kids and being on Disney doesn't mean it couldn't be good, just that they have to censor some stuff or be careful with how they deal with things. Unfortunately in this case though they messed it up
@@amaryllis543I mean as a boy meets world spin-off it never had a chance because of the tone of the original show it’s a 90s raunchy teen show. And there is no way Disney channel at that pony would be able to match the tone of the orignal
I love Riley too I related a lot to her. Bubbly, hyper, passionate, love friends and family. I also headcannon her as having adhd.
The religious episode makes me so uncomfortable it really feels patronizing and that you have to be Christian! That’s the only type of religion they are allowed they don’t talk about other religions and then they convert maya after bulling her into it! This feels more forced down kids throats then any of the lgbt that Disney has put in their other shows
the episode where farkle gets tested is just written poorly. i don’t think they were ever trying to say that they wouldn’t accept farkle if he had autism. i think it was more of farkle was worried about it and they wanted to reassure him by saying he doesn’t have it. seeing as they accepted smackle immediately, i think it was just a matter of poor script writing
12:08 For me, it depends. How old is kiddo? If they're, like, 3-5 years old, tell kiddo to get some sleep, and they can talk to their friend tomorrow. (Probably an imaginary friend.) If they're significantly older, imma check for signs of another person watching my kid when I'm not around.
I HATED this show, it’s what ended my interest in the Disney channel for a long time. I found it so cringy and overdramatic and I hate the dialogue….like nobody talks like that?!?! Fortunately Andi Mack is what sparked my interest back 😂
So it wasn’t just me who felt they were talking in poems 😭
SAME!! It was just doing _thee most_ that I just couldn’t watch it anymore
Yeah so when these were airing I was around the same age as the child actors. I really had no interest in Disney anymore but the reason I continued to watch this show was because of boy meets world nostalgia and then later on just because of Sabrina Carpenter. This wasn’t it and I’d always wished they either hired better writers or moved the show to Freeform to allow them to not tune it down. I didn’t stick around to watch the other shows after this one but I had heard great things about Andi Mack. Basically this show walked so Andi Mack could run. Like if they had hired the team that did Andi Mack for GMW this show would’ve been held way high up there for sure. Also yeah everyone from the show HATES talking about it. Sabrina even said that she’d watch the show and play this game where she’d take a shot whenever something ridiculous would happen. I need to find that interview again 😭 I also remember Rowan saying she doesn’t want a reunion to happen 😭 I get them all
The sad part is that Andi Mack ran but was purposefully tripped and died at the end
Because they cancelled it :(
@@SpecialInterestShowthat sucks. I had heard many positive things about the show. At least for the majority of the part it seemed like it was going in a positive direction
@@hey-zel the love triangle shit really just ruined the show altogether for me :(
@@hey-zel like it became more about the stupid love triangle than about the story and the characters growing and learning.
@@SpecialInterestShow Disney really just doesn’t know anything other than to use a love triangle nowadays. It bothers me so much
As a neurodivergent atheist these episodes piss me off n also the episode ive seen clips from where the lesson was basically "communism bad, capitalism good" like holy fuck i am this close to waging a vendetta against the writers of this show
3:32
Mr. Matthews, I am being myself. And myself is an Autistic/ADHD bisexual enby with trauma.
Also, Farkle and Smackle are not the only Autism-coded characters, but I'd argue that Riley seems fairly Autistic as well. Me, I'm somewhere between the 3 of them in how my Autism presents, I'm an info-dumping super nerd, I have sensory challenges and don't like people I don't know to touch me (but once we're close, I'm very physically affectionate) and I'm a whistful dreamer with a strong fantasy-oriented imagination and a desperate need for escapism.
I've worked with kids most of my life. I've seen parents react to the possibility of their child having autism, the exact same way Maya does in the episode. Honestly it could have been a really good message about the importance of awareness and education on autism. Get people to understand the large spectrum that it is. What a waste.
Everyone’s talking about the autism episode in the comments, but I feel like we should acknowledge the fact that, in the religion episode, Riley is just going “Maya your beliefs are wrong” until the end of the episode when Maya turns out to be a better Christian than Riley and Riley goes “oh I like your beliefs Maya” like yeah Riley, you’re a selfish bitch, we get it, it’s our job as humans to be selfless Christians 100% of the time.
The whole "the only label you need is yourself" can be a good message but they way it is in that episode makes it seems like you shouldn't call yourself "autistic" or that that isn't a big part of who you are which is just wrong. Being autistic is perfectly ok, but it still is a big part of what makes you you.
the episode in which farkle was diagnosed with terminal autism
This show has its good moments, but it was doomed from the start when Disney made it go on Disney Channel instead of Freeform, which is a channel that's target audience was similar to the parent shows' target audience.
Mrs swoski was a baker at the bakery who passéd away
Just a reminder to commenters, Smackle is played by Cici Balagot, who uses he/they pronouns.
As someone who is religious, Catholic, I definitely I agree with Rebecca that the message about how it's okay for everyone to believe what they believe and that not everyone has to believe the same things. As I go to a Catholic college, I sometimes have trouble remembering this with my family members who aren't religious and co-workers who aren't religious. However, I love learning about what other people believe. When I talk to my sister about religion, she definitely helps me to remember the message of this episode. When it comes to other people's beliefs, I want to have a conversation with people about that and try to gain a new understanding of what another person might believe. Which is why it bugs me when people say, "you believe what you believe and i believe what I believe" and just leave it at that. This bugs me, because I want to know more about the other person's belief and see how that contrasts with my beliefs. By say this relativist statement implies that you are close minded, which is fine, but I definitely think that a conversation can be had over beliefs and the parties can find a common ground. Like this episode is teaching us.
Fully agree with you. I was raised catholic but am an atheist n bc ive never truly experienced faith or belief myself i find people who do extremely fascinating. Its always a positive to learn about people who are different to yourself.
@@jennifervasquez If you don't mind my asking, what caused you become an atheist? Those types of situations are fascinating to me.
Nah, these lessons were too on the nose even for the intended age group. It's why I could never get into this show. None of the characters (except maybe Maya) talk like real people, just mothpieces for lessons. It makes me want to not agree with them out of pettiness even when they are right
It's like my biggest question ever for the whole show is that of all the names minkus and his wife could pick to name there kid it's "farkle" like fr why that name lol
Just be yourself is some of the worst life advice you could give someone.
I see why this got 3 seasons the topics hit home for a lot vierwers and had a lot of adult themes from divorce to lovetriangles but I love the seasons we got
Surprised Girl Meets Rileytown isn't in here
There was also the communism episode, and the episode where they villainise a college student for not wanting to date Maya
I will say, being raised very conservative Christian, these episodes are exactly what my childhood was like. In the Belief episode, I understand wanting your friends to believe the same thing you do, because in the conservative Christian community, and a large part of the more moderate and liberals, if you do not believe in God, you go to hell, and you do not want your friend, someone you love, to experience that suffering. It's very much the way I was raised to be like "I love you, you can believe whatever you want, but if you don't believe in god, you're going to hell."
As far as the autism episode goes, very disappointed that Farkle did not end up being an autistic character. I think the show could have done so much more with that plot line, but making Farkle and Lucas have less drama allowed the show to still focus on the two best friends. This show came out while I was in middle school, just a year behind these characters. In 6th grade, I had no idea what autism was and would probably react the same way Maya and Riley did because I thought it legitimately was like cancer. It had such a negative connotation to it. As far as accuracy of a reaction, I get it. But if you're trying to teach a good message to younger kids..... absolutely missed the mark.
They do a fair amount with Smackle and her journey, the girls learning to accept her for who she is, not forcing her to do anything she's super uncomfortable with, etc. I think (as a non-autistic person), they did well with her story, but they could have done so much more with Farkle and normalized it instead of "shaming" it.
This show was my everything when I was like 12 but looking back on it, there's so much that they just didn't need to put in there. I mean, you'd think Farkle was dying from their reactions & the whole religion episode was very extremely Christian based as if that's the only religion to exist (but it is disney, I've come to expect that now)
The main thing that sticks out for me personally was Maya's infatuation with Riley's uncle & him not really putting his foot down whenever she talked about them being together. Bc at the time, I really projected myself onto Maya since we were so similar & I think it would've really helped me when I was taken advantage of at that age bc I didn't understand why it was wrong. But that probably would've gotten through to me
it’s not christian based, it’s actually the opposite, they made us look horrible and like we just put our beliefs on others. i would never act how riley and her dad did. this is the writers fault for making us look bad in this show. tv shows always make us christian’s look bad and crazy, and they can never just be religious in a normal way.
it’s as if the writers want christian’s to look bad, i mean look at the dialogue
Girl meets world was the pinnacle of Disney channel’s decline after shake it up
Her name is Isadora Smackle
The og was definitely much better with teaching valuable lessons
I completely forgot Girl merts beleifs exists and i hate it from the title of the episode i knew it was gonna be preachier than usual
I hated that this was Disney cause boys meets world was so good and had good lessons but this show made the lessons weird
You gotta watch boy meets world. It makes me laugh some people have seen this crap and not boy meets world. I dated a girl recently who want me to watch bel air and never seen the fresh prince 😂
Love this, more please😂🧡🧡
Don't judge people by how the act, you judge them by how they look.
Cory's lessons were usually tailor made for the benefit of Riley and Maya and sometimes Farkle. Which puts the rest of the class at a huge disadvantage. The whole belief episode makes me cringe. i used to be a Christian and am now an atheist partly because of people who try to push their beliefs on other people.
boy meets world is infinitely better than this. it was a show made to teach young people about life and real world issues. this is just an average disney channel show. nothing wrong with that, but it didn't need to be a spin off. i feel like replacing cory and topanga with any other parents would've had little to no effect on the show. for those of you who haven't seen boy meets world though, highly recommend it! it's my favorite show to this day and it taught me a lot when i was growing up :-)
I don't remember this episode at all, did they stop airing this episode? Did they also not show this in Netflix (When they had it in Netflix) because I seen all the episodes and I've never seen this, I'm so confused
Also, what the actual heck? That was their reaction? Why did they treat him like he was dying?
I don’t think Corey way saying that everyone should believe in God in Riley’s room. He was trying to explain how others can find evidence where he does t.
Girl meets world to me was always so cheesy to be fair I have only ever watched the first season episodes and first few of season 2. But I don’t know this show was always so boring and weird to me.
i was just watching boy meets world
You gotta watch boy meets world asap
surely she has?
yeahh, although it has some poorly aged stuff it was definitely a lot better, funnier and it taught some good stuff
@@demitwicewhat has aged poorly from boy meets world
@@molls127she said in the video “surely u were good in bmw” so no she hasnt
i think u should watch some boy meets world eps now
I honestly think sydney to the max is what GMW should've been and i will stand in saying it's better than GMW
this show made religious people look horrible and this is part of the reason why ppl think we push our beliefs on others. i would have taken the money unless i saw who dropped it. why can’t people who are religious be normal in tv shows, this is the writers fault
You gotta do Andi Mack next!!!
you should watch the love trangle episodes
9:26 in my eyes, Lucas ends up with Smackle. It'd be a plot twist as good as Logan and Quinn in Zoey 101. Lucas's dynamic with her is like if you mixed Riley and Maya. He and Riley are similar, they have the same morals and he sees her weirdness as cute (just like Smackle). While he and Maya are different, they challenge each other (just like Smackle does with her jokes to him). This way, Riley can end up with Farkle (they're basically the new & improved Cory and Topanga). Riley & Lucas and Farkle & Smackle are too much alike, relationship is boring, they get no growth. Riley & Farkle and Lucas & Smackle are different & the same, they will actually help each other grow!
Being with someone that is a lot like you isn't a bad thing. I am. And we have been together for 3 years.
I disagree because Smackle kept making Lucas uncomfortable and Farkle kept making Riley uncomfortable and in some ways even objectifying her, if any of these pairings ended up together it would have spread a bad message about wearing the other person down, pretty much what “Liv & Maddie” did by making Joey end up with Willow. It’s not really the same thing as Quinn and Logan because they picked on each other once in a while but none of them ever harassed or made the other one uncomfortable the same way Smackle did to Lucas or Farkle did to Riley (and Maya)
@@marieangels6 Riley and Farkle have similarities, thats why they get each other (even in ways Lucas doesn't), but there are things about them that make them different so they learn a lot from each other (and their similarities allow for them to completely understand)
@@lauracerqueiramachado8979 I think Farkle objectified Maya, not really much to Riley. He was a 7th grader doing that, and completely grew out of that midway through 8th grade, so I would not hold it against him. I don't think it would be bad messaging since that was a small part of Riley and Farkle's dynamic (unlike Willow and Joey, who that was 99% of their interactions), Riley and Farkle genuinely have a deep connection.
While Smackle is a bit different, I do see what you mean, but it does not seem like Lucas took offense to it much ever. A lot of times he laughed when she said something. I mostly see Lucas and Smackle for the potential they could be, not exactly what they are. I see Lucas helping her be normal, and her helping him be more unique.
And Logan and Quinn were not perfect, Logan & friends used her and called her a dork while everyone laughed in the Robot Wars episode. While Quinn & friends would use Logan for his money, then gather around with the entire friend-group many times to watch Logan suffer, one time being unnecessary when Logan told Chase that he and Zoey were dating as a cover up since they both thought it was embarrassing that Logan was tutoring Zoey in chemistry, a toxic group of friends. However, I feel like Logan and Quinn had potential since they were the most used/underappreciated in their friendgroups, so to see them be the ones who see that the other isn't so bad was surprisingly well-written. I think the same could happen for Lucas and Smackle, he was stuck in a triangle, and all that flirting she did, just for her to be the one to end up with him, it's a cool twist.
@@growingupwithdisney you’re making a lot of sense, I wish we got to see that in GWM but of course the writers stuck to the most obvious pairings
Talk about Josh and maya 😳
What's wrong with ASD?
As much as I agree that their reaction could be better and damm it is unhinged when i first watched it... But let's be honest, there will be two kinds of reaction to fackle have autism. One is being rejective to the idea of him having that, two they will kick him out of the friend group. it happens. at the end of the episodes they showcase smackle as the true austistic person and them accepting her despite having that label on her. i think they went with the root that fackle is also autistic, they will come to naturally accept it. At the point in time, they have hang out with each other that his habits becomes normal to them and they know it might be weird and goofy in other people's eyes.
ultimately, we need to remember that girl meets world is a kids show and there are more drama lines and i do agree some of the lines... How can it be approved but overall.. it is one of the episodes that have made aware of this and ponder on how society would react to this people.
It's pretty clear you missed the entire point of the first episode you reacted to. They were showing how people react to things they don't actually know about except for the extreme cases. So many people think autism is this end of normalcy for any person. When in fact, the majority of people with any ASD diagnosis wouldn't be obvious to those around them. Notice how the group did their research and came to the conclusion that they were wrong for how they reacted.
Mrs. Svorski was literally in Heaven.
Now why do this to yourself?😭😭
5:27 I'm sorry, but I can't take the word "different" about auti stic people anymore. I don't get why people use the word and don't actually elaborate on its meaning. If you're not gonna specify or clarify, then we are not different. That's like saying my friend's mom is different or my English teacher is different. You're just using the word randomly without meaning.
4:21 as an ND and the worst devil's advocate you will ever meet, heres how i see their reactions:
I didn’t see this as them thinking autism is bad. I saw this as them having a knee jerk reaction to something they know nothing about, only that this is something that could impact their friend in a big way.
And then they see for themselves they were wrong when they get to know Smackle.
Here, ill even use an analogy:
A first time expecting mom is told she's gonna need to vaccinate her baby after its born, and she flips out, having heard all the horror stories about vaccines.
Not an anti vaxxer, just a super overprotective first time mom scared of anything that might hurt her baby.
Counter-argument (I’m also ND):
That’s not the same thing, they knew Farkle for quite a long time and this episode doesn’t acknowledge the fact that if Farkle is autistic then he was autistic all along, getting him officially diagnosed wouldn’t change a thing but they act as if it would.
Also your analogy is flawed, in the condition of a mother getting her baby vaccinated she is making an important choice or her child’s behalf that may or may not make a huge difference in the future, Farkle being autistic wasn’t a choice, he was born this way and that’s what he is, by reacting that way his friends just weren’t willing to accept him the way he was
i ❤ gmw and bmw but gmw is so controversial
I personally think these episodes are just normal episodes that people are looking to deep at
For the first one They are middle school children. And the way people with autism are portrayed in the media isn’t the nicest. You’re 12 years old and one of your best friends tells you that he might have neurodevelopment disorder. It sounds scary. To them Farkle is just a bit eccentric and a big new word like autism is scary. I think in my opinion Riley and Maya just didn’t know how to respond because they weren’t informed about autism. That’s why they decided to look it up and do their homework on it later on in the episode. After informing themselves they find out it isn’t a bad thing therefore they all (especially Farkle) become closer to Smackle. I honestly probably would’ve reacted the same as Maya and Riley when I was like 12 being misinformed and not really knowing what autism is at that time.
In the second episode well first, our USD does literally say “in God we trust” it wasn’t just Riley saying it out of nowhere. I’d also like to preface that I’m Atheist. Cory (the dad/teacher) is just trying to open the mind of both sides. Argue with Riley and Lucas about seeing the view point of Maya and Farkle while also doing vise versa. So when Maya would be like “I don’t believe” he would be like well why not? Counter point it. Debate it. And also in the show Maya has a pretty crappy life with a dad who left her and started a new family, she lives in a crappy house, she barely sees her own mother etc so her only reason for not believing in”God” is because of her life. Unlike Riley who is privileged. She has a beautiful home, both parents, her mom is a lawyer so she makes bank, she basically gets all that she wants. Long story short, I personally took it like Cory just wanted them to see both sides with an open mind.
But hey what the hell do I know. Maybe I’m just full of crap lmao. If you wanna see less in your face life lessons I strongly recommend Boy Meets World. Or maybe just watch Full House tbh lmaoo
About the autism episode, Riley and Maya knew Farkle for years, why would seeing him getting a diagnose be scary for them? Nothing would change, also you contradicted yourself because you said they reacted that way because they didn’t know autism that well but if they didn’t know about autism it makes even less sense that they would see it as a bad thing, autism is not inherently seen as a bad thing that’s just something people are convinced to believe (mostly because most movies about autism are made by neurotypical people to neurotypical people to make them feel better about themselves) I mean when I was diagnosed with autism at age 9 I was actually very excited about it because finally a lot of stuff about me made sense and I liked telling it to people, it happened mostly because back then I had no idea people thought autism was a bad thing (I didn’t even know what it was until they said I was it, and neither did my parents) and even used “autistic” as an insult, it was just something that made me me and I didn’t get why people would see it as bad, maybe if I did know about it I wouldn’t be as proud as I was but I didn’t and I’m glad for that
@@lauracerqueiramachado8979 well think about it. They’re children and are experiencing all of this for the first time. Seeing someone they love, potentially have something new that they’ve never heard of before is scary. And I don’t think I contradict myself because I feel like a lot of people think that things that are new and unknown can be scary. Imagine you don’t know the medical terms for absolutely anything. One day you’re concerned so you go to the doctor and they’re like “you have an upper respiratory tract infection”. I’d be like huh? A what? Infection? Am I gonna be okay? In reality that’s just a common cold and I’ll be absolutely okay. Also that was my point that tv and movies make autism seem like a bad thing. That’s why it would make sense. Of course I’m not the creator of the show so I’m not really 100% on what their intentions were in the show but that was my interpretation of it at least lol.
corey was NOT better in boy meets world, he was honestly worse. he spent the entirety of that show cheating on topanga and telling her she owed him intimacy/sex
You didn’t watch the show if that’s your take away
You have not seen boy meets world and it's obvious. You shouldn't spread your opinions when you've only seen clips on tik tok.
Cool 😎 show
I thought girl meets belief was a good episode even tho it was very controversial
My problem with that episode was that they made the atheists seem wrong for not believing in a religion but the religious characters didn't get the same treatment for not being open minded to their religion not being what everyone believes. Also the whole "i don't believe what I can't see" being shut down because we can't see air. That's not the argument atheists have, it's that there's no proof and that conversation was a bit of a strawman. Obviously Farkle knows things that you can't see are still there. I think the message was supposed to be that you should respect the beliefs of others but it really felt biased towards some beliefs. Not a terrible episode but as an atheist that grew up with all Christian friends who tried to convert me it rubbed me the wrong way a little.
@@amaryllis543 yea I thought the episode would be better if they brought up better points from the atheists side, and it would be a better message if you believe what you want to believe, instead of a specific religion imo
Looking back Farkle was so annoying and disrespectful
I know that this is a commentary channel but you talk entirely too much 😭 like unnecessarily, we promise we HEAR you 😓
omg the first here
We literally have an autism awareness month. Either it’s a big deal worthy of their reactions or we don’t need a month for it. Pick one.
Corey was actually horrible in boy meets world
dude you're missing the whole point, they were trying to make a point that she shouldn't steal, and its not a matter of pushing their beliefs on others
what does not stealing have to do with god
yall became so sensitive
I think this is the most annoyed i have ever been at one of your videos,I am a believer in God and all that u were saying really pissed me off 😠
Shiver me timbers
@nyannyan1521 are u making fun of me
I feel like if they also posted the end clip with Smackle and them accepting her, then people would understand that they were fearful for Farkle because they were ignorant to autism in the beginning.
But the beliefs episode is... not good.