drunkalice

Seems to me that neither of the two was depicted as pure as snow so far.

SweetSymphony

Hmmm what? A few weeks ago, Team Rafael was arguing how Michael is so shady but now he's pure as snow?

I feel like both Michael and Rafael's characters have gotten the short end of the stick to make the general audience accepting of Jane's flip flop actions which isn't fair to them.

ds44

they've worked really hard to portray the latino suitor as the bad boy and evil when both of them are flawed. My problem is that they are too afraid to take jane out of the mary sue box and just keep tearing the guys down.

shut_uo_ste

Rafael isn't Latino, is he? Justin who plays him is Italian and the actor who played his father is Italian too. I personally would find it offensive if they tried to pass off Italian actors as Latino characters. I hope that is not the case (I assume Luisa is Latino on her mother's side). Plus, I really don't see that as the message at all. Michael and Rafael are both shady at this point. Which is why I think Jane is done with both of them for now and will probably be drawn towards her Professor. What Rafael needs is something outside Jane to focus on.

ds44

I've always thought he was shady, but that the writers were trying to portray him like a saint. I just never bought into it. What they should be doing is portraying all THREE as flawed.

I always thought his character was bordering on nice guy syndrome, but that's mostly likely my perception. I thought Noel reeked of it too, but the writers apparently disagreed.

fox24

I agree

wild sage growing

I've always been under the impression that neither Rafael nor Michael are even close to "pure" characters.

fox24

I agree

bgal81

The Solanos - like Carlo Rota, Fabiana Udenio, and Justin Baldoni - are Italian. We've never been given any hint that Rafael and his father are Latino and Rafael's struggles with Spanish seem to be one more indication that he is not. While not every Latino person speaks Spanish - such as some of my own family due to when and where their parents emigrated - Emiliano would have had every incentive to teach his children given that they were growing up in Miami and it would have been immensely useful to them in both their personal and professional lives.

Michael Cordero has an Italian surname so he is probably also Italian as well, at least on his father's side.

Also, I feel like such framing, aside from being erroneous, co-opts very real social justice issues regarding representation and Hollywood's portrayal of PoC.

drunkalice

For some reason I always took it as a given that Rafael was Latino, even though Justin has to be Italian-born or half Italian based on his surname, so thanks everyone for clarifying. Being Italian I'm pretty happy with having two apparently Italian main guys here also interesting that neither of them is a mafioso or a gangster, finally.

LunaSolTierra

What I need TPTB to do is make Jane take responsibility for her actions.

drunkalice

It's really hard to blame Jane for anything because she's adorable, but I can't commit to fully ship her with either guy because she seems to move on from them so easily while both are painfully stuck on her. It was only last year that she was treating Michael like she barely knew him and falling for Rafael completely, this year it's pretty much the same, only switching the two guys. We audience always understand where she's coming from, but it must be hard from Rafael and Michael's POVs.

Wingster

Didn't Raf both understand and speak Spanish in s1?

I don't think he is shown as evil. He's always done what he can to ensure that he, Jane and Mateo are the "traditional" family (aka he and Jane together)
Like last year with the proposal

drunkalice

What he did here was pretty ****ed up though. And he lived with that and played the innocent flower, which is the worst part for me.

Lethally Floral

He understood Spanish. I don't recall if we've ever seen him speak it. And that would make a lot of sense. I think it's much easier to read/listen absorb a foreign language (listen/read) than it is to produce it (speak/write.)

Solano does have origins in the Iberian peninsula as a last name but I do not think he's latino in the way we use it. The family is likely European. I wonder if they're going to make Luisa's mother from South America since I do get the impression that she is a latina on the show.

I'm going to say that while the show certainly explains why Jane does what she does, I am having a harder time connecting with it.