Underrated: Rider Strong

To all the cynics out there: no, I'm not trying to be funny, or ironic, or a complete dick toward Rider Strong, who played Shawn Hunter on ABC's "Boy Meets World". I just... really think he's a good actor. That's all.

Let me explain.

I watched "Boy Meets World" a lot when I was a kid, and probably even more so now that it's in syndication on ABC Family (right in between far worse shows "Step By Step" and "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch"). It's an okay family show that tries to deal with some serious issues, but there are a few things I've noticed as I've revisited this show in repeats:

1. Most of the characters' personalities completely change throughout the course of the show.

2. Corey and Topanga don't make any sense together.

3. Rider Strong is The Man.

I'll briefly touch upon those first two before transitioning into my Ode for the Strong: what's interesting about "Boy Meets World" is that, as the principal characters got older and had to deal with more serious issues, their personalities became goofier and unrealistically animated. Look at Eric Matthews: dude went from all-American girl-obsessed teen at the beginning of the series to absolute fucking whack job by the end. Corey went from relatable adolescent to painfully unfunny advice-giver, and Topanga somehow deserted her hippie/flower-child schtick to embrace an uneasy attractiveness. The show eventually became strained because its main focus - Corey and Topanga's relationship - became at once so predictable and so baffling. They got married, like, RIGHT after high school and ended any Ross-and-Rachel-esque suspense of staying apart, yet at the same time had absolutely no chemistry or compatibility. Blame this on the conflicting acting styles of Ben Savage, whose elastic expressions remind me of a young, humorless Jim Carrey, and Danielle Fishel, who just seems content to nod understandingly at whatever Savage is doing. Kids just couldn't handle the roles.

Meanwhile.....

Rider Strong played Shawn Hunter, Corey's best friend, with a perfect mix of modesty and gravitas. In my honest opinion, he was the saving grace of "Boy Meets World" and the reason the show lasted so long. At first glance, Shawn is just another cookie-cutter sitcom character, the loyal friend who's known for getting into trouble. Yet he clearly was the most complex character out of the bunch: Shawn came from a trailer park, never really had a family or any kind of authority figure, and has spent his whole life pegged as a womanizer when he's actually a tender soul. The writers of "Boy Meets World" obviously recognized the amount of material that they could create revolving around Shawn, since he's the main focus of several episodes, from the one where he's trying to get his dad to come home to the one where he's struggling with alcohol abuse. Shawn was a three-dimensional character in a cartoonish sitcom, and it seems like the episodes where he's the star are the most affecting.

However, the character would seem like a laughable PSA mouthpiece if Strong wasn't such a good actor, and he really does have the chops to make you care about Shawn. I watched an episode today where Shawn joins a cult-like group called The Centre, which "takes in" kids who don't have any role models and brainwashes them to worship a soft-speaking guy named Mr. Mack. Corey and his family and Mr. Feeny tell him not to, but Shawn does it anyway, and starts chillin with the cult! Sounds really ridiculous, right? Well, it is. But what could have unwatchable is actually pretty moving, because Strong makes us empathize with a character that has never had anything to hold onto. "I've always felt like something's been missing, like I've had this hole in me, that everyone else can see," Shawn explains to Mr. Turner. The way that Strong cuts to the core of Shawn's vulnerability is impressive, and he carries the episode to its emotional (if a little half-baked) conclusion. Honestly though, Rider Strong has always understood the dynamics of Shawn Hunter, and I wanna bring this back to my earlier claim that most of the principal characters have wildly changed over the course of the show, because Shawn Hunter never did. Sure, he evolved, but he never seemed malleable the way Corey or Topanga were, since Strong did such a terrific job staying true to his character. While Corey and Eric went from realistic teens to complete dumbasses, Shawn remained the good-natured friend whose morality balanced out his raw need for compassion and a sense of identity. Basically, Rider Strong nailed the role, and the fact that his performance goes so unnoticed (as far as I can tell) is preposterous.

So where's Rider today, you ask? Well, he starred in the 2002 horror flick "Cabin Fever"... and that's about it. IMDB tells me that he'll have some supporting roles in some upcoming minor theatrical releases, but nothing worth mentioning. To me, that's just not right. Anyone who can bring that much humanity to a show like "Boy Meets World" deserves to have movie offers lined up. I seriously believe that Rider Strong is a great young actor, and when I finish my first screenplay (god-willing, before I'm 50), you can bet I'll have a role for him. Until then, he'll have to keep subtly knocking my socks off in ABC Family syndication. Major props, Rider. Major props.