In 1997, actress Trina McGee brought one of the most influential Black characters of 1990s teen sitcoms to life on Boy Meets World. Angela Moore was smart, witty, stylish, and a much needed addition to the core cast. It can be difficult for characters added late in a show’s run to find their footing, but Angela quickly became a fan-favorite. But as beloved as she was, she still ran into problems both on screen and behind the scenes. So let’s take a deeper look at this groundbreaking character, her lasting legacy, and why so many fans still believe she deserved better.
Shaking Up Boy Meets World
In September 1993, ABC debuted Boy Meets World, a family-friendly sitcom following the lives of Corey Matthews, his best friend Shawn Hunter, and his lifelong crush – and eventual wife – Topanga Lawrence. For years, the show was a staple in the channel’s TGiF (Thank-God-It’s-Friday) lineup and over the course of 158 episodes and seven seasons, audiences watched them grow from middle schoolers into college students. The trio, along with Cory’s older brother Eric and others, went through the typical coming-of-age situations, learning valuable life lessons from adults, namely their neighbor and teacher Mr. Feeney.
Cory came from a comfortable, suburban home but Shawn was from the ‘wrong side of the tracks’. The effortlessly cool bad boy earned a reputation as a ladies man – but after four seasons playing the field, the writers decided to give him a serious love interest. Enter Trina McGee as Angela Moore, who made her first brief appearance in season 5, episode 2, “Boy Meets Real World”.
“No offense, Cory, but your project looks like you ripped off that show on MTV, The Real World.”
At first a minor character, Angela began to become more integral to the plot in the seventh episode of that season as Shawn’s new fling – and by episode 8, “Chasing Angela,” the two officially became an item. He breaks his casual dating rule for her, and though she’s understandably weary to start anything serious, they do end up getting together…and breaking up…more than once.
Shawn and Angela worked so well as a pair both because of their strong attraction to one another and because of their shared interests. Angela opened Shawn’s eyes to new parts of the world, and he began adopting some of her interests like literature and classical music – he even initially began falling in love with her through the interesting items in her purse. But what made her special to Shawn was that they could relate on a personal level. Angela was the more emotionally mature of the two, especially during their times as amicable exes.
“Come on, you know he’s never going to find anybody as good as you.” “You don’t even know me.”
They could be vulnerable and honest with each other – and themselves – about their troubled history with relationships, both romantic and familial. However, we don’t get to really know Angela as an individual. She was layered, but her storylines were never about her family, her life outside of school, or her aspirations; everything revolved around Shawn. It’s not until the final season that we find out her mother left her and her father when she was young – which ultimately made her afraid of doing the same to Shawn.
A major aspect of Boy Meets World, especially in its earlier seasons, was its noticeable lack of diversity – both in front of and behind the camera. Though there were a few other POC characters who guest starred throughout the seasons, including Alex Désert’s media relations teacher Eli Williams, McGee was the first and only Black series regular. Angela provided a new perspective that the show had, up until that point, totally neglected, and she offered a new point of relatability to many viewers who hadn’t seen themselves reflected on the show. Her story was also important because she thankfully didn’t fall into the Disposable Black Love Interest trap, which we’ve discussed in detail before. Instead trapof just being brought on to be a love interest for a few episodes that then gets pushed aside for someone else, Angela remained an integral part of the cast as her and Shawn’s love story played out over the show’s remaining two and a half seasons.
Angela’s Cultural Impact
While Angela might have escaped the Disposable Black Love Interest trap, she unfortunately wasn’t able to avoid every trope. Among a group of white characters, Angela was the Token Black Friend, often regulated to Topanga’s wise BFF or Shawn’s emotionally mature girlfriend. And although there were hints of the Strong Black Woman and Black Best Friend archetypes in parts of her characterization, her existence wasn’t just to help the white characters in their coming of age journeys. It was refreshing to see a young Black woman portrayed as a real, complex character on screen and not just an amalgamation of stereotypes.
For many viewers, Shawn and Angela were the first interracial relationship they ever saw depicted positively on screen. Seeing two people from different backgrounds and cultures mostly succeed as a thriving couple was the representation that young audiences needed to see, even though it received quite a bit of pushback at the time. Actress Candice Patton, known for playing Iris West on CW’s The Flash, credited Angela Moore and her relationship with Shawn with helping her self-esteem at a young age.
“I hadn’t seen a lot of young African-American women be love interests… And so, there was a part of me that felt beautiful and desirable, just like Angela.” Candice Patton, TV Guide
Unlike other shows at the time, BMW purposely didn’t address race, opting for the 90s aspirational ideal of “color blindness.” And while this choice was refreshing for some, others viewed it as an erasure of Angela’s Black identity. Very rarely was there any acknowledgement of her race, save for a few comedic quips thrown in occasionally.
“And Angela just got an A on her essay: Maintaining Black identity when you have three very white friends”
As underdeveloped as it could sometimes feel, Angela’s representation of a young Black woman was groundbreaking for the historically white show, particularly for its audience members who were girls of color. McGee has said that she strongly identified with Angela having grown up in predominantly white spaces herself.
Behind the Scenes Mistreatment
Angela was the only main character noticeably absent from the series finale in May 2000. Her story came to a close in the penultimate episode when she left to spend time in Europe with her father, seemingly with plans to return.
“Let’s not say good-bye. Let’s just say, ‘I love you.’”
From the beginning, Shawn compared his relationship with Angela to Corey and Topanga’s – and to say fans and Shawngela shippers were upset with their ending would be an understatement. But showrunner Michael Jacobs had other plans, telling Page Six in a 2018 interview: “They never meshed. Every episode was about why Shawn and Angela would not sustain…There can only be one Cory and Topanga and if Cory and Topanga and Shawn and Angela succeed, it lessens what I always thought was the mantra of the core show.” It seemed that, after everything the pair went through together, the creative team just couldn’t let everyone have a happy ending – and so Angela had to be the one to lose out.
When the spinoff series Girl Meets World premiered in 2014, fans didn’t appreciate Angela being excluded – especially since any time Shawn mentioned her, he made it seem like she totally abandoned him.
“Shawn why didn’t you end up with Angela?” “She ended it and walked out on me. And time has taught me that’s not good for a relationship.”
And when she finally did return in a season two episode, her guest appearance was poorly written and gave Angela a bizarre reason to briefly reconnect with her first love: to ask his advice on her having kids with her new husband. Leading up to this, she was made out to be a bad person who broke Shawn’s heart, and her sudden arrival positioned her as a threat to Shawn and Kate’s potential relationship that Maya so desperately wanted to happen.
“Why did you leave me?” “I wasn’t ready.” “And then you were?” “Well, life goes on, Shawn.”
In June 2020, Trina McGee posted a series of tweets revealing details of the terrible conditions she endured on-set as the lone person of color, including being called Aunt Jemima. While the actress didn’t call anyone out specifically at first, she later confirmed it was her castmate Will Friedle who made the comment, allegedly completely unaware of its racial significance.
In 2022, the actress appeared on Pod Meets World, a podcast hosted by Friedle, along with Danielle Fishel and Rider Strong, to further discuss how different her experience was on the show compared to theirs. When she joined the cast in 1997, McGee was a 28-year-old wife and mother, a stark contrast to the lives of her mostly teenaged castmates. Even with her impressive resume – The Birdcage, Friday After Next, A Different World, Martin, and Family Matters – she had to ask for more exploration into her character, which resulted in two season 7 episodes: “Angela’s Men” and “Angela’s Ashes.” There was also a time when showrunner Jacobs told her to dial it back when it came to her Blackness. The stories McGee has shared in recent years about the treatment she had to endure during her time on the show paint a clear picture of how difficult and painful it can be to be the first person to break through a social barrier – especially when those around you aren’t willing to have your back.
CONCLUSION
Despite the sometimes toxic environment and being forced into situations where she had to suppress her anger, Trina McGee has said that she doesn’t view her overall time on Boy Meets World as negative. She and her former colleagues have since cleared the air – including that, contrary to what McGee was told at the time, they were not behind her early exit.
“I was under the impression that y’all got together and did not want me in the last show, for some reason I was going to take some shine or something to that effect.” - Trina McGee, Pod Meets World Podcast
The castmates have mended and maintained relationships, appearing together as recently as 2023.
McGee attracted a whole new demographic, upping the series’ ratings and further cementing it as a widely beloved show. And McGee having the opportunity to openly share the reality of her experience will hopefully help stop others from having to experience the same issues in the future. Angela Moore didn’t get the happy ending she deserved but her incredibly important character made a huge impact for so many fans.