flowerpetals

I think people are forgetting that Rafael was born in Italy. River is not his biological mother.

SuitUp

That's such a weak argument. Generally, whichever character fans like they're not sitting around thinking, "wow my fave is ugly".

Rafael being hot barely stratches the surface of why fans love him. If after 5 seasons they don't get that. They never will.

wanderer78

You're right. But the show can easily retcon that by saying the documents were faked. Or River is actually Italian. You get the idea. I actually don't like the theory because I'm not a big fan of River. But I think it's plausible.

endgame

Also isn't the implication that we only like Raf because he's hot kind of an insult to their fav? Like they're all basically confirming that they think Rafael is hotter than Michael. If I were Brett Dier, I think I'd be a little offended that my diehard fans use that in every shipper argument. Michael isn't hideous by any stretch but you would think he was a fugly troll by the way they blather on and on about how we're all just 12-year-olds who only want Raf for his looks.

I am rarely drawn to characters like Rafael this much. He's outside the mold of every favorite character I have loved for the past 5 years. So I really do like him for so many reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with his looks. He's objectively very attractive but I also see why people find Michael attractive too so looks haven't been a deciding factor. Michael being a sh**ty person and the narrative never addressing his BS was.

Re: Rafael's Mom Spec. I definitely don't want it to be River either.

flowerpetals

Per the bolded: Haha exactly!

River is as likely to be Raf's mom as Jane is to marry Michael in the end. lol

ds44

Yeah they are very obtuse. I think they are threatened by several things and hotness is at the bottom:

-Rafael has his own story outside of Jane
-He is written as a whole person
-The story was always about Rafael and they know that Michael was always written as the plot device in their way.

wanderer78

The hot thing is silly because it's television, it's the CW. Everyone is attractive. For me, Justin is what elevates Rafael from being just a pretty face and a good bod. There are hundreds of good looking guys in his age range in Hollywood who also have an intense work out regimen. I remember reading an interview with Jennie several years ago...it might've even been during the first season. She said it was really hard to find Rafael. And Justin was a last minute casting because they were having a hard time finding the right guy. Oddly enough, I wasn't instantly attracted to Rafael. I think it was the scene towards the end of 1.02 where Jane tells him she's going to sue Luisa where I started to feel

About Rafael's bio family. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if the show drops that dangling thread altogether. He's clearly not their priority.

*DreamerGirl

Nope it was someone on tvline like a couple of months ago, other people that comment thank that poster for bringing nothing to the original poster's comment and for leaving that dumb comment.

That's why I can't help but laugh when that's all they can come up with in a discussion.

endgame

Even though I still have hope that it won't get dropped, I won't be surprised in the least if it does. Rafael has supposedly had multiple conversations with Luisa in S5 (off-screen) and never brought it up? I'll be sad if they don't revisit it or if its a last minute thing.

I didn't realize they took a while to cast the role of Raf. So interesting to know. What you said about Justin is exactly right. There is literally a sea of rando hot guys out there. Justin elevated the material and brought heart to the character. The casting for JTV has been excellent. I'm glad they waited for the right person to come along.

wanderer78

I found the interview. Here's what JSU says about casting Rafael/Justin:

Adapting a telenovela with Jane The Virgin showrunner Jennie Urman

It's from an old interview in 2014, and I highly recommend it. It's very interesting.

Same. I might even throw a fit.

flowerpetals

Very informative article. Thank you for digging it up and sharing it!

Muffy_Simba

I always remember that he was born out of the country. In 3x07 it's revealed that he was born in Italy.

But JTV wouldn't be the first series in history to leave a storyline unresolved. Ugh. JTV actually has other unresolved storylines.

Lethally Floral

I do know Rafael passed through Italy on his journey to FL but Italy isn't a strange place to spend a few months or a year.

I get that it'd feel weird to break out the biological parents so late in the game but I'd rather it be a real actor/actress rather than cameos. And Raf being born in Italy (or at least spending some time in an Italian orphanage) doesn't eliminate anyone, really.

ImSupposedtobeWorking

About Rafael’s mom: so, if I remember correctly Mutter (Mudder?) was really Rose’s mom- right? So that would mean that Luisa is her step-sister and Rafael is her (adopted?) brother?
I always thought that maybe Rafael was really Luisa’s brother, that her mom had an affair with someone else and gave birth to him in Italy, maybe that why she was “committed” and then Mutter and Emilio adopted him? That would explain why he doesn’t have their DNA. WHen Raf is talking to his mom the first time, she says that she got married and pregnant at 24- would this mean that Rose is Emilio’s daughter?
I don’t think that they will drop it because it was big enough to continually bring up, but I also think that it will not be that big of a deal in the scene of things. I am going to go back and rewatch.

blugirlami21

Speaking of Rafael's parents. Can we talk about the fact that Luisa destroyed his birth records? I have a hard time with her character when they have her do stuff like that because she's mad at Rafael.