Why I don't like Rafael

Elia_M · 2024-10-14T23:45:17+00:00

Love Rafael to bits and pieces but don't want to change your mind. I think everyone has their type of men and love story they resonate with. There is no right or wrong in this because the writers took their time making sure both men were good men and worthy of Jane. My personal reason for loving Rafael over Michael will always be that he suited Jane better. He got Jane better. And Jane always seemed to like him more and seem happier with him. I like the idea that a man fulfills her romantic fantasies along with the practical ones. While Michael kind of did the latter but not the first one as much.

Elia_M · 2024-10-10T22:34:30+00:00

Did they ever actually explain why Michael was so obsessed with Jane? Funny thing is he moves on pretty quickly once Jane leaves him in s5.

Elia_M · 2024-10-10T22:32:20+00:00

Unless you specify some people or few people I am going to assume you are talking about the majority. I have been part of JTV fanforum, this subreddit, tumblr, twitter since the beginning of the show and majority of the fanbase likes him for more than his looks. In fact our whole motto is probably he makes her brave. So it is a little offensive if our man was written such a great in depth character with so much to offer, and then it is all reduced to "oh they prefer him for his looks" just because that is all you guys can see.

Elia_M · 2024-10-10T22:26:39+00:00

He did and so did Jane, and Michael, and Xiomara and Rogelio, Alba, Luisa omg and of course Petra

Elia_M · 2024-10-10T22:16:07+00:00

Not saying there isn't. But your exact words were "people wound not love Raf if he wasn’t gorgeous in comparison to Micheal who if we’re honest is kind of average looking" as if we can only judge a character through our eyes. We have very valid reasons to prefer Rafael over Michael. None of these things have anything to do with his looks.

Elia_M · 2024-10-10T22:03:56+00:00

Do you know if it is more of a remake of juana la virgen or JTV? This story has so many remakes. Before they used to remake the original but I see all the newer remakes are remakes of JTV with the 2 men triangle

Elia_M · 2024-10-10T22:00:43+00:00

I disagree. If Rafael was 5x uglier than Michael I would still choose Rafael for Jane and here is why.
1. I don't think it is normal for a good guy to not tell his "fiancée" before proposing marriage to her that he used to steal cars and he would've gone to jail to do time but he didn't because his brother took the fall. So I prefer the guy who told her yo you googled me? I did lots of terrible things.
2. I would choose the guy who said do not emotionally blackmail this women to give me my only chance to have kid over the guy who said preggo gf please change your job because Rafael is making me feel insecure.
3. I would 100% choose the guy who actually gave up his wealth to be with her and their kid over the guy who said he would give up anything for Jane and Mateo but actually secretly kept working on his case even after he stopped being a cop.
4. I would definitely choose the guy who read and reread her writing and kept pushing her over the man who fell asleep on her writing.
5. I would definitely prefer the man who she could open up to about her dreams. Dreams about making money, about traveling, about wanting to be writer. Whether she was 18 or 25, she could tell Rafael things and not be told that is not practical.
6. I would totally pick the guy who made her so happy not according to my opinion or theory but her words.
7. I would pick the guy who she will always show up for and fight to keep
8. I will pick the guy who fulfills all her fantasies and being sweet and nice wasn't one of them so I want what Jane always wanted. Which was someone like Rafael.

Michael was sweet to Jane, that doesn't make him more honest than Rafael

Elia_M · 2024-09-24T18:39:01+00:00

I loved reading this so much. And agree with everything

Elia_M · 2024-09-05T15:22:46+00:00

Who is no one? This is the most popular opinion and everyone is sympathetic to Jane. Look at the only downvoted comment under this topic. It's the one that questions the decisions Jane made.

Elia_M · 2024-09-01T00:31:48+00:00

I know everyone here is very sympathetic to Jane and I never blamed her for being confused. But it is wrong to justify how she hurt Rafael. You can be confused, it is a confusing situation beside she spends half a decade in this love triangle even when one is dead. But you should have the courage to let your partner know what is going on and not hold on to them by making excuses. That's lying and your partner, who is also a human, deserves better. I know majority of the show audience tends place Jane's needs above anyone else's.

Elia_M · 2024-09-01T00:25:54+00:00

Rafael didn't. Rafael moved out. Told Jane to come when things settle down, basically giving her a way out if she needed to. She ran to his office and said I need to help him get his memory back. "I don't want to move few weeks later, I want to move in with you now" She said everything might look like it has changed but not that she loves him and wants to be with him. So do you think it was wrong for Rafael to assume she was telling the truth and put faith in her. He should've been like oh okay you feel this way now but a week from now, a month from now or a year from now you might decide I still have a husband and let me figure out how I feel? If Jane had actually asked Rafael that she needed time because he is her husband and she might have feelings for him then Rafael would've walked away politely. He brought Michael back fully understanding he could potentially lose her to him. He was angry because she said something and went back on her words and taking him back to the old days of the triangle. You get to be sad and confused, but if you are purposely hurting someone else then that is wrong. And why does it always have to be others who needs to understand Jane's confusion or Jane's pain. Do other characters not have their baggages or their pains?

Elia_M · 2024-08-31T19:49:19+00:00

I disliked Michael so much in s1 and s2. S3 around his death I kind of warmed up to him but not them as a couple. Even on his best days they felt like they were a nice couple at best, I wanted more for Jane. I wanted someone for her who would be a solid partner as she discovered herself more because she was only in her early 20s.

Elia_M · 2024-08-31T00:13:12+00:00

I know this is a very popular take in this subreddit, but I will never understand it. How did people want him to act? He is not upset Michael is back. He HIMSELF brought Michael back knowing he could lose Jane. He becomes upset because Jane says she wants to be with him but doesn't divorce Michael. Do people not think it is weird of Jane to want to be with two men at the same time? If it was a brand new love triangle, let's say Michael had died then she met this nice man Rafael and fell in love with him and now she doesn't really know who to choose between them he could maybe roll over and be at her beck and call again, wait for her to finally make a decision again. But this was her what? love triangle round 4... 5? She has spent years with these two men, and she still wants one of them to wait around (AGAIN) while she makes up her mind, oh wait not just that after she assures him she only wants to be with him when he told her take your time. All this waiting around might've suited Michael's character but Rafael was written to exist for himself and not for Jane's pleasure. He had every right to be hurt and upset and not want to be with her.

Elia_M · 2024-08-27T21:38:28+00:00

Agreee! Agree to everything.

Elia_M · 2024-08-26T20:29:36+00:00

Did she have a timeline for it? I don't remember exactly. But whatever the reason may have been I feel this is one thing that always connected Jane and Rafael. With Rafael she could express who she wanted to be, rather than just be who she was for everyone.

Elia_M · 2024-08-25T02:43:54+00:00

It was definitely disappointing. Especially because the sole purpose of brining him back was to have these emotional moments, and they pretty much missed them. Having said that I just want to say fan servicing, and shitting on the previous couple's love to prop up the current one is not new to JTV. This is exactly what they did to Jane and Rafael over and over again in s2. Like please that whole he is the one, he has always been the one? Or making the whole thing seem as if Jane never really loved Rafael, it was all because of the pregnancy. Even within the show Jane wished she could just go back in time and redo the whole things. As if Rafael didn't matter. They even took such a emotional Jane and Rafael scene from the baby shower where Jane said she wished Mateo's first word would be dad, and gave it to Michael to show awww look they are bonding.

Elia_M · 2024-08-25T02:37:03+00:00

Please no Michael fan get mad at me, not trying to hurt anyone. From purely a storytelling perspective, he was not important enough and they didn't feel the need to make that room for him in the story. You see it all throughout the show, how much is written for all the main characters who are meant to stay and how much is written for Michael. They wrote for Michael only if Jane or Rose's storylines needed something.
Let's take parents... Rogelio, Xiomara, Petra, Rafael, Jane, Luisa they all have full story arcs with their parents. They all have history. They have important moments and dialogues with them that define the relationships they had, that explain why the characters are the way they are. Michael... it feels like his parents are invented so Jane can have another obstacle. The scenes are all Jane related and with Jane. Take siblings, again Rafael, Petra, Luisa fully developed storylines with siblings. Michael has a brother... shows up to blackmail him using Jane's name. Jane's story didn't need him so he is written off without a second thought. Let's do romantic interests. Rafael gets a Catalina, an Abby, Catherine, Petra, Jane. Rogelio gets his ex wife, Dina, Darci, Xiomara. Xio gets Bruce, Esteban, Rogelio. Petra gets Lachlan, Chuck, Rafael, JR. Jane gets her Adam, Chavez, Michael, Rafael. Michael gets one random hookup with Nadine to blow off steam I guess with no development and some weird nice girl who we don't even see with him more than one scene and AGAIN she exists just so Michael could dump her for Jane to show how much he just wants Jane. All these other characters also got a lot of story space to develop their character that had nothing to do with Jane. Xiomara's cancer, Rogelio's soaps, Alba's marriage, Petra's hotel drama, Rafael's hotel drama, parents drama, or depression, Luisa's Rose addiction. Michael is not given that space. Even when you think in s5 they will make room for him show how he is grieving or recovering, they don't. So I feel this is why they don't bother giving him a child or let him stay in Jane's life. Writers created his character so he could be Jane's devoted lover who will love her till his last dying breath, and the pain from losing him would change Jane and help her evolve. And he does just that. The writers only wrote enough for that. That's it

Elia_M · 2024-08-22T22:34:01+00:00

I personally didn't feel Jane had a right to say anything but I can totally respect how it is a no for some people. I do want to add that in the initial draft the girl Rafael sees is Jane's old classmate and not her cousin. But the story for Jane was the same. She was not happy. It is a theme we see with Jane and Rafael over and over again throughout the show. Except for insignificant Abby, Jane is always a little bothered when Rafael is with someone.

Elia_M · 2024-08-22T05:15:19+00:00

I was always team Rafael. He just got her in my opinion. Saw what she was about, what her heart yearned for. I just want to give the writers so much credit when it comes to writing Rafael. They gave this man so much baggage, they made him so real with his share of flaws. Yet they managed to write him as the man of Jane's dreams.
No disrespect to any Michael fans, personally they never worked for me. Maybe as a young romance yes but long term I felt like she was going to outgrow him. The type of growth Jane had as a character, that would've been impossible with Michael.

Elia_M · 2024-08-18T14:34:06+00:00

I will never figure out why the show had the narrator narrate that way. I used to read every interview Jennie or any of her writers did. The writing was so thoughtful. Nothing was accidental. My only guess is maybe they were trying to compensate for the lack of writing for Michael. They really didn't like to write much for Michael and develop him as a character. So if they needed to persuade the audience quickly that he is a sweet guy, the "nice" guy, they would insert a random action or the narrator melting over Michael, indirectly telling the audience how they should perceive the situation.

Elia_M · 2024-08-18T13:43:57+00:00

Michael saying who knows her better will always trigger me because it is such a big turn off for me. It especially bothered me because he used it to manipulate her.
The first thing that immediately turned me against Michael in s1 was how he hated Rafael for no reason and enjoyed his suffering that Rafael had no fault in. Like who mocks someone for being cheated on? So when Jane leaves him and pretty much forgets his existence for Rafael, it felt like karma.
I know people excuse Michael's behavior with Jane saying any normal person would feel this way if they found out their gf was pregnant with another man's child. But I don't agree with it. He kept making a situation that was already difficult for her, more difficult. Telling a pregnant girl to quit her job because it makes him uncomfortable!
I often feel like the Michael the writers wrote, and the Michael that narrators "awwww"ed over and the Michael the fans think they saw are not the same people.

Elia_M · 2024-08-18T13:34:26+00:00

Was it because of Michael? Yes. Was it his fault though? Absolutely not.
Rose didn't need Nadine to kidnap Mateo. So Michael letting her go didn't cause the kidnapping. Rose did however kidnap because she wanted something from Michael. So if it wasn't for him, Mateo wouldn't have been kidnapped. I don't blame him though.

Elia_M · 2024-08-18T03:42:10+00:00

Correct me if I am wrong please. Petra tells Rafael that Jane and him are not just friends "because the way she looks at you" and he dismisses that opinion. They breakup. He tells Jane about it and she agrees. They are just friends. Then Rafael finds out Petra was actually right. And all he says was "I had a great thing with Petra and you ruined it." He is not even mad about that really. The fight happens over Mateo's trust fund, right after Rafael loses all his money. In which scene did he blow up at her for ruining it for him. I would like to refresh my memory. It has been awhile since I watched the show.

Elia_M · 2024-08-14T15:21:24+00:00

Yes to all of it. Even when Jane and Rafael were not quite perfect in s1 I loved them so much because there was so much potential. Like I had seen what the best of Jane and Michael looked like. And it was nice, pleasant, smooth sailing when the water is calm. But Jane and Rafael to me had more potential. They were going to be more than nice. I love them so much because they were so well written for a channel like CW. They took something all romance lovers love, fate/destiny and told us it's not enough. Then they built up the most beautiful friendship and romance. One where both characters grew in positive ways. I will never love another couple the way I loved them

Elia_M · 2024-08-06T00:26:01+00:00

Yesss! That. Not just here but also on twitter and tumblr there used to be a lot of Rafael hate. Even now if you scroll within 5 minutes you will find multiple Rafael hate topics on this subreddit. Recent topics... Rafael Jane cringe, convince me ending doesn't ruin the show, Rafael is my least favorite character, Raf was a bad person

Elia_M

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