A Funeral for a Bad-Ass

How can that sweet, innocent face be covering up so much pain? It pains me to think of young Shawn Patrick Hunter and the struggles he went through. His lousy father Chet constantly running after his so-called "mother," constantly looking at the other children with functional families (albeit sometimes strange...right Topanga?), and then learning your mother wasn't who you thought it was...you were birthed by a stripper! If that were me, I think I might cherry bomb a mailbox, too...

But through all this pain, Shawn was able to still exude confidence, great hair, and a bad-boy image that attracts all kinds of girls. In fact, he probably could have gotten Veronica Wasboyski if, you know, it wasn't Shawn in drag trying to learn what it's like to be a girl. This is one area where Shawn surpasses all other bad-boys: the ability to maintain his carefree look while also learning valuable lessons constantly. It's as if he could become rich with experience and know right from wrong, but still look like he could whip out a cigarette in the boys room and reenact the dialogue from "Hot for Teacher" by Van Halen. With such a powerful resource as Mr. Feeny, a family willing to take him in at any time, and a teacher who can take him under his wing and demonstrate how to be a bad-ass biker and also an English teacher simultaneously, it was clear Shawn could have maintained his style and still learned like 3 major life lessons a day well into his 50's.

But then it had to happen - one day, the lessons took over the bad-ass attitude and turned Shawn into a lame version of himself. Don't get me wrong, the show was still alright and his character was important, but it wasn't the "Shawn" we learned to love. Where was the desire to prank like when he changed Feeny's name to "Weeny" on the school newspaper headline? Where was the willingness to forget your responsibilities and hide out at Cory's? How about that lazy attitude in the back of the classroom, drawing Cory across the lines of tempation as if he were the devil on his shoulder? Suddenly his past was only used by his half-brother, Jack, as a comeback in arguments. He chased after one girl for way more than his two-week rule. He fell in love, he grew up, and he got soft...and therefore, he must turn in his leather jacket.

Let us not focus on his demise though. We will remember Shawn for his antics, his pranks, his ability to ignore responsibilities... he was a heartbreaker, a rebel, a foil to Cory's good boy looks and attitude... in the end, we come not to bury Shawn but to praise him. For every cheesy moment with Angela, we shall remember him making fun of Minkus. For every sweater he wears, we'll think of his bomber jacket. For every book he reads for college, we shall remember all the pranks. We will miss you, awesome, bad-ass version of Shawn Hunter.

QUICK NOTE: Did anyone else notice he's wearing almost the exact same sweater in the two pictures on the left? Weird...those have to be like 5 years apart!

EXTRA NOTE: What happened to the original Morgan? That always bothered me. The new Morgan sucked! Little Morgan was cute and sweet. Older Morgan was too sassy and rude...

Update:
Rider Strong, who clearly was named to go into pornography, was in a slue of terrible roles, from his recurring character on "Pepper Dennis" to his lead gig in Cabin Fever. Yeah, they're making a sequel for Cabin Fever by the way... that's quite possibly the worst idea for a sequel since Superbabies 2: Baby Geniuses. Seriously, when the best part of the movie is completely unrelated the plot, hilarious and confusing, and involves one of the weirdest haircuts on a little kid I've ever seen...



...you shouldn't be making a sequel. Sadly, that's pretty much the most successful anyone from Boy Meets World has been since the show ended...