Sympathatic portrayals?

[NameGoesHere1066]

God, are you kidding me!? What is up with all the Raphael hate lately? In what way does Raphael come across as a bully or a selfish dick? Because what I've seen thrown around lately about him. Oh boo hoo, he slammed Mikey's face in his birthday cake, he's such an asshole! Didn't any one think that maybe Mikey deserved it, like Mikey normally does when he gets slapped or beat up or put in place by one of his brothers?

Oh noez! He almost killed Mikey with pipe after Mikey won a sparring match with him and rubbed it in his face! Oh no Raphael just stormed out of the lair because every one wants to follow Leo blindly and not listen to what he has to say! Oh no Raphael resents Leo's position because Splinter favors him over Raphael. Oh good grief Raphael calls his brothers or some one else a coward because they would rather avoid an issue than face it head on. What a complete dick head Raphael is, how dare he speak the truth about people!

Seriously I think people who make these comments about Raphael are just jealous because he's more human and sympathatic than their favorite turtle. Raphael storms off and gets angry because he is in pain people! The other turtles don't have the same baggage as he does. Raphael has to live with the fact he can't go up to the surface and be among people and be resented for what he is. How can any one say that he's a not sympathatic, or worse a bully about things?

[Sage Ninja]

Can I ask how exactly not being able to go up to the surface and being resented and not being able to be among people is only Raphael's problem? Last I checked Don, Mike, and leo have to deal with the same damn thing as Raphael does, so I don't get why that some how give Raph so much emotinal baggage than the other guys.

I don't dislike Raphael but I can say that some of his reactions and how he handles things can being genuianly annoying and bothersome to the viewer/reader. So it's not because people who comment on how they don't like it are jealous of Raphael is supposedly more popular than their favorite turtle. That's a a pretty arrogant assumption to make. And yes some times Raphael does act like a bully for no reason on occassion. You can't fault people for not liking that.

[Coola Yagami]

I do agree a bit on Raph being a bully. Yes, Raph is the pissy angsty one. And yes, all 4 of them face the same problems, it's just... Leo and Don shove it aside by immersing themselves with their ninjitsu or techology, Mikey is so carefree he just doesn't care, and Raph bitches about it. In a way, Raph gives off the most realistic reaction, but we also can't have all 4 turtles being emo and pissy.

I know Mikey is just damned annoying in the 2K3 version.. but sometimes Raph just picks on him for the hell of it.. and I hate that. Yeah, sometimes Mikey starts it too, I just don't like how Raph does it more. This was worse in the old toon cause Raph would ALWAYS rag on Mike and Mike would never make some kind of insult about Raph. Plus, it always looks like Mikey is the wimpy guy that for some reason can't help but pester the much bigger stronger jock. Mike would do something to provoke Raph, and then when Raph would smack him, he would do nothing about it. It would be nice to see Mikey put Raph in his place once in a while.

[Sage Ninja]

Leo and Don shove it aside by immersing themselves with their ninjitsu or techology, Mikey is so carefree he just doesn't care, and Raph bitches about it. In a way, Raph gives off the most realistic reaction, but we also can't have all 4 turtles being emo and pissy.

I'm sorry but I don't think becoming violently pissy and impossiable to be around is a very relatable reaction to have because you feel angry and frustrated with your life. At least not with out consequences. I've had a pretty violent temper for most of my life do to the frustrations of how things are in my life when I was growing up, but I never got away with lashing out and storming out when it could cause trouble for others or my self. I guess that's why I feel Raph's freedom to lash out with out getting chewed out (most of time) is unrealistic because I seriously doubt if some one realistically went as far as Raphael can when pissed off that, they would just be told to take a walk.

[Rooish]

Originally Posted by Sage Ninja

I'm sorry but I don't think becoming violently pissy and impossiable to be around is a very relatable reaction to have because you feel angry and frustrated with your life. At least not with out consequences. I've had a pretty violent temper for most of my life do to the frustrations of how things are in my life when I was growing up, but I never got away with lashing out and storming out when it could cause trouble for others or my self. I guess that's why I feel Raph's freedom to lash out with out getting chewed out (most of time) is unrealistic because I seriously doubt if some one realistically went as far as Raphael can when pissed off that, they would just be told to take a walk.

Agreed. I was going to actually respond at length to above angry Raph defender comment, but decided it's so laughably faulty in logic that it's not worth it.

So the only point I will mention is: why the hell would I be jealous of Raph being more "human and sympathetic" if, by the very nature of him not being my favourite Turtle, I don't find him the most "human and sympathetic"? Is it so hard for people to believe that not all people relate to Raph best? In part because I sometimes do think he's a jerk, and if I were to act like he sometimes does, I'd be disgusted with myself and want to change that behaviour?

[Jelly Bean]

why the hell would I be jealous of Raph being more "human and sympathetic" if, by the very nature of him not being my favourite Turtle, I don't find him the most "human and sympathetic"

well I notice that some Mikey fans sometimes complain that there favorite turtles isn't handled right and that he doesn't measure up to how they think he should be portrayed.