In the fourteenth episode of Jane the Virgin<\/i>, Jane learns she has to let go of the past; Petra enlists Jane to help her with Rafael; Rogelio deals with a stalker. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Jane the Virgin<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Trigger Warning: For extensive discussion of stalking, nonconsensual drugging, and sexual assault\/rape<\/b>.<\/p>\n
Back Together Again<\/b><\/p>\n
Lord, do I ever feel called out by this show. The timing of it all is odd! As I said in my last review, in therapy I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m working on the mental task that is moving on from someone, and here we are, deep in a plot on Jane the Virgin<\/i> about how these characters must learn to move forward rather than be held down by the past. That doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mean that the past doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t matter or that it shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t influence decisions. If anything, Michael and Jane can use the past to help inform how they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll continue together now that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re engaged again. How can they not make the mistakes they made in the past? Part of that can be achieved through honesty, which is what both of them acknowledge. Their relationship fell apart because of a lack of it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So, take the conflict that happens inside \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Thirty-Six.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Michael sees all the loving emails that Jane sent to Rafael, and it hits him hard. Yet rather than stew in that feeling, he admits to Jane that he was hurt. He is honest<\/i> with her. And I see that as growth! He knows he can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hide this stuff from her because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll only get worse if he does. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a way to move forward while acknowledging the past, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where Jane ends up, too, by the time she meets Michael after Petra gives birth. Thus, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not surprising that Michael sees that as the perfect moment to propose. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re on the same page. They both want to move forward instead of replicating the past. AND NOW THEY\u00e2\u20ac\u2122RE GONNA GET MARRIED!!!! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wild that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re now beyond the halfway point of the season, but weirdly, as much as the serialized plot moves rapidly, this doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel premature. I think Jane and Michael are really ready to do this!<\/p>\n Angelique Harper<\/b><\/p>\n So, fuck Angelique, first of all. Wow. Not just for stealing someone\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s idea\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a racial component to this that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not addressed but makes Angelique\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions even grosser!!!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dbut for the way that she then folded the truth into this story that she uses to make herself seem like a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153true\u00e2\u20ac\u009d writer. She was struck by a muse during a massage! Which… not exactly a complete lie, except that the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153muse\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was Jane, and Angelique stole the idea. And I was so eager to see Angelique held accountable for what she had done. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s possible that we might see this at some other point in the show, and I want to talk about this aspect more in the next section. Here, though, I wanted to address a very interesting thing the show does. Angelique stole Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s idea, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s firmly established. But then, as Jane reads the actual book, she sees that the book Angelique created has almost no similarity to what Jane planned.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153professional\u00e2\u20ac\u009d author for only a few years, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think that makes me an expert on the industry, but I did want to offer some insight on this particular story aspect. Because I know more than one author\u00e2\u20ac\u201dand I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m including myself in this!!\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho has seen a deal announcement or a book reveal go live and realize that the premise is almost exactly the same as something you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re working on. Now, granted, this is a situation in which plagiarism doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t exist, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not quite the same as Angelique stealing Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s idea. But an idea is just that: a vague notion of what a story can be. However, you could give a pitch or a premise to ten authors and get ten completely different stories! Hell, we live in a world in which countless versions of a similar story exist. Look at pretty much any genre, and you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll see a litany of narrative tropes repeated across multiple books. Is Moby Dick<\/i> the same story as China Mieville\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Railsea<\/i>? Not at all; the latter book is in conversation with the former. Or look at that weird coincidence where two films\u00e2\u20ac\u201dCapote<\/i> and Infamous<\/i>\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwere developed and released within a year of one another. Those are based on a real person, and neither one is really the same film at all<\/i>. Within the world of children\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s literature, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen multiple books with similar premises be published in the same year, and both of them finding their own audiences.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So while I still want Angelique to admit what she did, I want Jane to have success more<\/i>. I want her to finish a novel; I want her to get an agent; I want her to have a huge launch; I want her to fulfill her dreams. And she is uniquely qualified to write a story that no one else can. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perhaps the most common piece of advice I give to new writers: There is a story out there that only you<\/i> can tell. Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s version of the romance during the Revolutionary War wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look like Angelique\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, yes. But she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also got a story within her that is her own to tell, and I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t wait to see it.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Petra Asks For Help<\/b><\/p>\n To expand on what I said at the end of the video for this episode, I still remain hopeful that Jane and Petra could<\/i> develop a real friendship. After the last time I hoped for this, though, I am being cautious. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t let my desires for these two to take over again!!! But what fascinates me about Petra in this episode is that she is very<\/i> Petra-esque right up until she turns around her car and takes Jane to go confront Angelique. She goes to Jane for help with Rafael because she knows Jane can do things with Rafael that she can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a selfish reason, and she knows that, too. Petra doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t really care how difficult and painful this would be for Jane, either. That<\/i> is the version of Petra we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen a lot over the thirty-five episodes prior.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Yet when she gets corroboration that Angelique stole Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s idea, she takes Jane to a signing to confront her. Any way I look at this, y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, I cannot see what Petra gets out of it. It doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help Petra to coach Jane through the confrontation; it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help her to stand in line at a bookstore for Jane\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s turn; it doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t help her to do anything<\/i> here. Rather, she sees that someone was hurt by someone else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s actions, and she offers her own unique abilities to help. It is perhaps one of the most selfless things she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s done in the whole show!\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n And look what happens next. Jane helps Petra when Petra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s water breaks. Now, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s much more like Jane to help people when she doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t benefit from it. Right? But there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an exchange of kindness here that feels<\/i> like real friendship. It feels like the start of something. Am I being hopeful? Sure. But Jane demonstrated that she would help Petra when she desperately needed it. She spent so much time with Petra, including when Petra was denied an epidural! At the same time, Petra gave Jane the help she needed, too.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Alba\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Past<\/b><\/p>\n Wow, this… this HURT. Look, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like Xiomara is wrong about her perception of her mother\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s behavior. Indeed, over the course of this show, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen how much Alba has judged her daughter for her promiscuity. And even if she never said it outright, it was a form of slut-shaming. Maybe it was a funny joke at times, but sometimes, this kind of joke can wear a person down. Sometimes, the truth at the heart of a joke can hurt more than it can delight. Over time, Xiomara has had to deal with the projection of shame from Alba. And that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really what it is, right? Alba was shamed for her choice with Pablo, and she was tormented because of it. But she then pushed that punishment onto her daughter for nearly forty years<\/i>. So yeah, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s perfectly understandable that Xiomara was pissed after finding out her mother had been a hypocrite! She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d been judged for years for something Alba had<\/i> done.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As upsetting as this was to watch unfold, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m glad it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s out in the open. These people lived with a stigma for decades. By talking about it openly, they can begin to escape that type of pain and be kind with one another. Stigma can manifest in such a intensely private way; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s isolating like that. Being open and vulnerable? It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a way to move forward, and isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that a huge theme of this episode?<\/p>\n WHY DOES ALBA THINK PABLO IS A CURSE, THOUGH???<\/p>\n Rafael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Descent<\/b><\/p>\n While Rafael\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s later behavior can be explained by his desire to find his half-brother, Derek, I do have to accept that Rafael was<\/i> in the midst of a descent into his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dark place,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d as Petra called it. After being rejected by Jane and<\/i> Petra, he starts drinking heavily. (Which makes his judgment of Luisa feel unfair.) He pursues physical relationships and temporary pleasure. All of this is understandable after all the shit he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been through. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m mostly curious what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s doing from here on out. Is he still going to behave this way after<\/i> the investigation into Derek is complete? How will he parent THREE children? (Three children all born from artificial insemination without his consent, actually.) What\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s his life going to look like now? I TRULY DON\u00e2\u20ac\u2122T KNOW.<\/p>\n Rogelio<\/b><\/p>\n This was a hard one to watch. Intellectually, I could detach and see why the show was doing what it did with Rogelio. As I said on video, it was so clear to me that the writers presented a trope\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe entire scene from Rogelio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s first televnovela\u00e2\u20ac\u201das evidence that certain narratives are much more disturbing in real life. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m sure most of us can name an example of a story where someone was held captive and fell in love with their captor. A lot of the time, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s presented as a romantic story, and yet, as Rogelio experiences this same thing, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s portrayed as an unfolding horror film. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no fantasy here; there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no romance. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just awful<\/i>.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n But it was difficult to see depicted because too much of it aligned with an experience I had when I was twenty. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t talk in detail about being a victim of sexual assault because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve often felt like I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want that experience to be publicly consumable. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a story to me. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll say this: I was drugged and violated by a woman I lived with, and unfortunately, I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see the red flags until it was too late. So at least in that sense, there was something redeeming here that I appreciated from my point of view: at least the villain here was clearly<\/i> a villain. The show makes no attempt to portray Paola in a sympathetic manner, nor are we meant to see anything she does as romantic. Tonally, it is<\/i> weird because I felt like the horror wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t always<\/i> relied on, but that might just be a personal thing more than any real criticism of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s onscreen.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I suppose this is also just a bias, more than anything else. I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t view this quite as an entertaining plot twist, especially that ending. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m very<\/i> worried about Rogelio and what Paola is capable of. I pointed out that she was isolating Rogelio in the last episode, but I had no idea how complete that isolation would be. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trying to craft a story in order to assume the role of Rogelio\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true love, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obvious she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll do whatever she can to keep this horrific fantasy alive. Exactly how much of that are we going to see? And will the show properly deal with the trauma that Rogelio has clearly been through? I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. I hope so.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The video for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Chapter Thirty-Six\u00e2\u20ac\u009d can be downloaded here for $0.99<\/a>.<\/p>\n Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n – You can now pre-order my second YA novel, Each of Us a Desert<\/i>, which will be released on September 15, 2020 from Tor Teen!<\/a> In the fourteenth episode of Jane the Virgin, Jane learns she has to let go of the past; Petra enlists Jane to help her with Rafael; Rogelio deals with a stalker. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to watch Jane … Continue reading
\n– Not only that, but my very first pre-order campaign is now live for North American readers! If you submit proof of pre-order, you can get a limited edition print that comes with the book<\/a>.
\n<\/strong>– If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"