MovieChat Forums > Boy Meets World (1993) Discussion > "The Center" episode - What's the proble...

"The Center" episode - What's the problem??

posted 9 years ago by kensyl
4 replies | jump to latest

I've always been a big fan of Boy Meets World, but something always bugged me about the episode, "The Center". Maybe someone can fill me in on what I'm missing here.

I know "cults" are a bad thing, usually because they discriminate, do drugs, cause crime, or bully others, but in this episode The Center seems like a pretty nice place to be. Not once in the episode is there any indication of wrong doing on the Center's part. As a matter of fact, it seems more like a "boys and girls club" if anything else. A bunch of kids who don't feel good about themselves, for whatever reason, get together and share each other's friendship. OH NO! CLOSE THAT MOTHER *beep* DOWN!

The minute Shawn walks in there, he's greeted by several people in a friendly manner. The leader welcomes him as well and makes it clear he and anyone else is welcome there anytime. They are welcome to come, ask questions, learn about the Center, and learn about the people there. Anyone see a problem yet??? The leader even seems like a welcoming person who's always there for any of the kids when they need him. Not once does he try to talk Shawn into abandoning any of his current friends, family, or beliefs. In fact, he brings Shawn to the Hospital to visit Mr. Turner. They even welcome Cory and Eric. No questions asked. So, what the hell is the problem here???? Mr Feeny talks about closing the place down, but why? He states no examples as to the wrong they have done. In the movie "Fight Club", you have a cult of people committing crimes. In Scientology, you have a cult of people bullying others. But in "The Center" you have a place were kids can go if they need a place to feel welcome and safe. Why in the world would Feeny want to shut this place down? And so what if these kids are "lost souls". Apparently Feeny nor anyone else is doing anything to help them. There are a ton of kids in every school that feel like outcasts for one reason or another. Feel like they don't belong and no one likes them. Wouldn't it be great for them if all schools had a place like The Center to go to and be accepted without being judged because you're different or because you don't fit in? What would Feeny rather these kids be doing? Falling in with the wrong crowd or joining gangs??

Maybe there's something more going on that we don't see, but Mr Feeny, nor anyone else in the episode show any indication of that. No mass suicides, no drugs, no crimes, no underage sex, nothing. In fact, the leader doesn't even try to get money out of the kids. He even shows they have "standards" by kicking out Eric when he proves he's only there for the "hugs". Basically, no perverts. The only time I see something wrong is when the leader purposely tries to egg on Mr Feeny and the parents. But, as far as the Center goes, I can't find a darn thing wrong with it.

Can anyone tell me what I'm missing?

[–] deem_bastille 9 years ago

because that was just the tip of the iceberg. I had a feeling that place would eventually be a mass suicide thing. or worse. this guy was just so spooky. like Charles manson spooky. he engulfed so many lost souls into his coven that he had the ability to say 'come next Tuesday we shall light our intestines on fire' and they would have all been like 'yes, sir.'

getting into a cult 'just for the hugs' is just weird. the hugs need to mean something. and hugging someone just because is just weird. like aspergers autistic.

and eric was only there 'for the hugs' but it was also female interaction he was looking for. with the hugs come girls happily touching him. he was thinking with little eric at the time. [I love him but he was]

Reading the paper can really be depressing. Mr. Dithers fired Dagwood again.

[–] TrekBeatTK 9 years ago

Ive come to think that there was more going on but they played it coy because of the age of their viewers. Like maybe Mr. Mack was having sex with them. There's something weird about a guy who only gangs with teenagers.

But even if it's not a sex cult, it's very much about thought control. Mack had far too powerful and controlling an influence on them. And the Centre wasn't just a hangout; the teens were living there. Which means Mack encouraged them to run away from home in the name of "being centered". He ade them defensive against anything being a "judgment". What was so bad about the Centre? The fact that you asked that. It was dangerous mind control in the guise of something innocuous.

"I've always admired atheists; I think it takes a lot of faith" -Dr. Joel Fleischman

[–] novastar_6 9 years ago

This is how cults work, they don't just come out and say 'hey, we're a cult with sinister ulterior motives'. They look for the vulnerable and neglected and people who feel like their lives are empty and give them a false sense of worth and belonging and lure them in. It's only much later on that the true colors actually come out, Jim Jones had to wait until he could talk everybody into going to the jungle with him to unleash the hell of Jonestown. Before that he got everybody whipped up into a frenzy of he was a man of God and a miracle worker and they could all change the world and do so much good, he actually got everybody worked up into seeing who could go the longest without sleep and just keep working, and nobody saw a problem with that. Cults take time to show their real colors.

[–] snakewrangler22-642-758793 9 years ago

Cult leaders pray on those that could be easily brainwashed and manipulated.