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Missing the point of Steve Urkel [1]

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Date: 2025-01-24

Republicans are just as capable of misunderstanding modern mythology as they are of misunderstanding ancient mythology. For example, Republicans who complain Star Trek has become too preachy and woke of late, ignore how preachy and woke it was even during the original series.

Or most recently, former DOGE dork Vivek Ramaswamy, trying to make a point about the need for H-1B visas, cited some specific characters from popular sitcoms of the 1990s in a way that had people wondering whether or not he had actually watched any of those shows, and whether or not it would have been more effective to choose characters from more recent TV shows.

Former Republican presidential candidate and former DOGE dork Vivek Ramaswamy speaks at a Trump campaign rally at Madison Square Garden, Sunday, October 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

In a long Twitter rant from Boxing Day last year, the former Republican presidential candidate declared he knows the real reason tech companies hire foreign-born engineers. I could embed the tweet, but it’s so long that the part that I want to show wouldn’t show up without clicking on “See more.” So instead I copied and pasted the text.

Our American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence for way too long (at least since the 90s and likely longer). That doesn’t start in college, it starts YOUNG. A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers. A culture that venerates Cory from “Boy Meets World,” or Zach & Slater over Screech in “Saved by the Bell,” or ‘Stefan’ over Steve Urkel in “Family Matters,” will not produce the best engineers. (Fact: I know *multiple* sets of immigrant parents in the 90s who actively limited how much their kids could watch those TV shows precisely because they promoted mediocrity…and their kids went on to become wildly successful STEM graduates).

I watched Boy Meets World for much of the show’s original run on ABC as part of that network’s TGIF line-up Friday nights. I remember Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) was the protagonist, the titular boy, a high school student who looked up to Mr. George Feeny (William Daniels), one of his teachers. I did not venerate Cory Matthews. And somehow I doubt there were many viewers who did.

x There’s no better insight into Vivek’s psyche than the fact the example of a jock/cool guy from Boy Meets World is Cory and not Shawn, or even Eric. https://t.co/La69nWJSbE pic.twitter.com/iJTpkBRw1g — Stuart Benson (@LeftHandStu) December 26, 2024

If there was any reason for me to admire Cory it probably had to do with his girlfriend for much of the show’s run, Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel), whom Vivek Ramaswamy either didn’t remember or didn’t consider worth mentioning. And to be fair, I didn’t remember her either until Seth Meyers mentioned her.

I turn to Erin Long from Hello Giggles for a little background on Topanga.

I had—I think—the privilege of growing up in a time with several strong female role models (both on TV and in real life): Clarissa Darling [from Clarissa Explains It All] was my style icon, Lisa Simpson [from The Simpsons] was my scholastic icon, and Topanga Lawrence was everything I wanted to be all rolled into one. Topanga was smart, self-assured, calm (she meditated), had gorgeous hair, and was just all-around awesome. I think we could all learn a thing or two from her.

Boy Meets World had a sequel, Girl Meets World, which I don’t recall watching. Google tells me that Cory and Topanga married, had children and Topanga went to law school.

Maybe the original viewers didn’t think Topanga was out of Cory’s league, but later viewers definitely think so. There is a fan theory that the show is from Cory’s perspective, so Topanga is idealized. But the fans considering that theory have certainly watched the show more closely than Ramaswamy.

Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) and Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel) from Boy Meets World.

Still, it’s a little odd that Ramaswamy apparently did not consider Topanga worth mentioning. If Cory’s mediocre, isn’t it a sign of his striving to be better that he pursues a smart woman like Topanga?

My memory of Saved by the Bell is much foggier, so I won’t comment on Zach, Slater or Screech just yet. The only reason I’ve thought about that show at all in the past couple of decades is because of what the show’s actors have been doing since.

I’ve thought much more about Family Matters since it went off the air, usually in connection to Star Trek episodes in which the transporter malfunctions and creates moral dilemmas. Steve Urkel (played by Jaleel White) created Stefan Urquelle (also played by Jaleel White) quite deliberately, but the existence of the latter created quite a moral quandary for the former.

If I recall correctly, Steve Urkel was in love with Laura Winslow (Kellie Shanygne Williams) from the very first time he saw her. But she was not the least bit interested in him. It wasn’t just that he was uncool, he was painfully grating, like nails on a chalkboard.

After some pseudo-scientific mumbo-jumbo, Steve Urkel transformed himself into the suave Stefan Urquelle. Laura was bowled over by this smooth operator. But the formula was a little off, and Stefan Urquelle was something of an egotist.

Plus there was also the problem that Myra (Michelle Thomas) had fallen in love with Steve Urkel, warts and all. This was a dilemma for Steve Urkel. If he continued to exist as Steve Urkel, Laura would be deprived of Stefan Urquelle. But if he transformed into Stefan Urquelle, Myra would be deprived of Steve Urkel, not that Stefan cared.

So somehow, Steve Urkel split himself in two and everybody lived happily ever after.

Steve Urkel was never meant to be a realistic depiction of an intelligent young black man. He’s a broadly drawn character with very exaggerated traits from his very first appearance on the show. Very intelligent when it comes to scientific matters, very much an idiot at reading social cues.

The writers mean for us to laugh at Steve Urkel, not venerate him as any sort of role model. And Stefan Urquelle is not exactly a mediocrity, he’s actually quite remarkable as he represents Steve Urkel going way above and beyond to change for the woman he loves.

But also we have to wonder why Steve Urkel spent so much time at the Winslow residence. There’s perhaps a tragic element to his character which would have been explored in a gritty reboot like the one Saturday Night Live once proposed.

I reiterate that I have not watched any of these shows in years and years. Whatever detail I get wrong is due to my faulty recollection. But I’m not using anything about the contemporary reception of these characters when these shows first aired to make any points about America in the present.

And in any case I’m now more interested in what happened to these characters after their respective shows ended.

Steve Urkel graduated from high school, no surprise there. Presumably he then went to college, and soon completed his bachelors, masters and doctorate, and then…

Oh wait, it turns out Family Matters moved to another network and then Stefan Urquelle was reintegrated into Steve Urkel and then Steve Urkel became an astronaut who saved a crucial satellite!?

Okay then, let’s imagine Steve Urkel was an intelligent black man but not an astronaut. Would every job that he’s technically qualified for be a job that he would be seriously considered for? Or would for some of those jobs would he be given some barely plausible excuse as to why he’s not good enough?

Would Vivek Ramaswamy hire Steve Urkel? My guess is… no. Also, I suspect that the first software developers to be laid off from Twitter during Elon Musk’s first layoff tantrum were black.

And before you bring up “soft skills,” try explaining Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) on The Big Bang Theory. There are obstacles Steve Urkel would face that Sheldon Cooper would never come across. Being a white man, people always see Sheldon Cooper’s genius and tolerate his grating eccentricity.

But people might not acknowledge or even see Steve Urkel’s genius if he doesn’t do anything as dramatic as going into outer space to save a malfunctioning satellite.

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