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Ronnie - is she past her sell by date?
Topic Started: 8 Sep 2015, 16:32 (7,039 Views)
Christina
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Perfectly summed up Ian.
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WalfordFanatic
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I wish Ronnie was leaving with Charlie and Matthew. Roxy is totally fine to stay, think she's better away from Ron.
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Thanks Nick
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ian
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Christina
8 Sep 2015, 22:26
Perfectly summed up Ian.
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Planck
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I don't understand what has happened to Ronnie. She spent years trying to get a baby and now she has one she can't spend five minutes with him.

I think it has been mentioned by other people on this forum how we should have seen Ronnie bond with her baby seeing as she spent the first few months of his life in a coma.
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Mrs Peel
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Forget the "tragic heroine" epithet. She was never that, and it was a clever con by Santer and DTC of a certain demographic of audience.

Ronnie is and always has been a psychopath and control freak, just like her father. Her obsession is Roxy; her obsession with having a child was as a replacement for the child Archie had adopted. Once she finally achieved that aim, she lost interest in the baby. Even now, her priority is controlling Roxy. Charlie and her son, quite clearly, bore her.

She glassed her younger sister when she was a child when Roxy wouldn't do as Ronnie bade her. She has interfered in every relationship Roxy has ever had - with Damien (pretending that Damien had assaulted her), with Sean (goading him into hitting her to convince Roxy not to proceed with their relationship), and with Aleks(paying him to date and dump Roxy). I can understand her concern about Roxy's association with Dean, but Roxy is a grown woman with a child of her own and needs to be allowed to live her life and make her own mistakes and resolve them.

Mostly, Ronnie has behaved inappropriately because she simply could. She broke up her first boyfriend, Joel's, marriage, simply because she felt she was entitled to Danielle's birth father as a right. She didn't give a rat's arse about his wife and children. Once she'd found he'd had a vasectomy, she binned him. The kidnapping of Tommy Moon is something for which she's never shown remorse.

Carl White was a dodgy guy who dated her sister. She annoyed him and he came onto her in an insulting way, but it wasn't an attempted rape. She brained him with a bottle of champagne, then moved his inert body to the Arches where she tied him up and expected Phil to kill him. When Phil exiled him from Walford, she knew perfectly well he'd return, which is why she killed him, from behind, as he bent over the boot of the car. Then she callously disposed of his body in the most gruesome way.

That doesn't make her any sort of heroine,anti-heroine, role model of phallic female at all. It makes her sick and unsympathetic. The soaps may be in a realm of unreality these days, but they are still the modern-day equivalent of the old mediaeval morality plays, and people, generally, like to see people who do very bad acts, ultimately punished. As recently as a decade ago, this was true, even if the taking of another life was, initially, an accident.

Steve Owen accidentally killed Saskia, when he was fighting for his life as she was choking him with his own tie. Self-defence, but once he'd hidden the body, the act became something else. Some years later, he was killed trying to leave Walford. Dennis Rickman, the heart-throb of thousands of viewers, killed a man in cold blood. In fact, he executed him, and later Dennis was killed. Chrissie Watts, admitted her guilt, after she was cornered and went to jail.

The fact that characters like Ben, Martin and Stacey have, actually, served prison times for lives they've taken, albeit short sentences, resonates with viewers. They've been seen to pay for their offenses. But Ronnie left to troll the streets of Walford, dispensing justice as she sees fit, is not only unrealistic, it's amongst the realms of fantasy.

She wreaks havoc and leaves a trail of destruction in her wake, usually pointing toward Phil's door; but now she's sussed that having someone else do her dirty work is the way to go, but does it work? A fat lof of good she did Dot, getting her Donkey to beat up the drug dealer;Dot went to prison anyway. She'll probably end up haivng Dean killed, which is one of the two reasons she's sleeping with DonkeyTard now - she'll try to convince him to kill Dean. Doing that, she'll find that she will be intrinsically linked with him now forever, because she will know that he killed Dean, and he knows she killed Carl.

Sooner or later, this will have to end. I do think that the end of the road has come, at least, for Ronnie. It should. The character has run out of steam. Trying to promote her as a female version of Grant to be contained by Phil is not only a joke, it's an insult to Grant. It doesn't work, and the actress, herself, has lost interest in the role to the point that she's phoning it in.

Unfortunately, we won't be rid of any of DTC's creations, who've sussed that and who now seem to grace whatever storylines are thrown their ways as if they're entitled to being on the programme. Not only characters like the Mitchell sisters, but Whitney as well.

It would be refreshing if DTC would get rid of the character.
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Christina
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Planck
8 Sep 2015, 22:54
I don't understand what has happened to Ronnie. She spent years trying to get a baby and now she has one she can't spend five minutes with him.

I think it has been mentioned by other people on this forum how we should have seen Ronnie bond with her baby seeing as she spent the first few months of his life in a coma.
. One of Ronnie's goals was to have a baby of her own after everything she had been through to in relation to kids, Dannielle, James, the miscarriage. She wanted a baby more then anything yes. Having a baby to Ronnie is just something to tick off a list. She's achieved what she wanted. Now she's bored with the baby and her marriage, the only reason she married Charlie was because she was pregnant, she had no feelings for him, he just happened to be the man that got her pregnant. She wanted a baby so badly at one point she got pregnant by Owen (the baby she miscarried), the dad of the baby is of no importance to Ronnie whatsoever. The big love/obsession of her life will always be Roxy.
Edited by Christina, 8 Sep 2015, 23:19.
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Mrs Peel
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What annoys me is Roxy, from time to time, has a great epiphany and knows that Ronnie is obsessed with her to the point that she tries to control her life. When Roxy was pregnant with Amy by Jack, Ronnie whisked her off to - yes! - Ibiza, where they were going to live happily ever after, only for Roxy to get fed up with Ronnie's obsession and flee to Archie!

Yet Roxy keeps returning to Ronnie, crawling in bed with her and promising never to let any man come between them. There's an underlying sapphic current in Ronnie's obsession with Roxy, of which either Roxy is unaware or which she suppresses.

The only justifiable end for the Mitchell sisters should come with Ronnie raping Roxy, and Roxy killing her; but no producer would have the balls to present that.
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ChrissieW
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I was a Ronnie fan but I never saw her as a "tragic heroine" as I find such labelling of characters limited and simplistic, although I appreciate the "tragic heroine" tag is one many other Ronnie fans embraced. In fact the heaped on tragedy for female characters is something I wish they'd move away from. I liked Ronnie because I found her interesting and if she was still interesting I'd still like her regardless of her lack of morality because she's a fictional character, not - god forbid - my older sister. The big problem with Ronnie is that she's no longer interesting. It could be a bad patch she's going through (but it's been going on a long while now) or it may be she really has reached the end of the road after a series of miscalculations have backed her into a corner. I fear it's the latter. If DTC - the man who has a framed picture of her and Roxy on his office wall - can't get her functioning well, who else will be able to?
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MrSunshine
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Mrs Peel
8 Sep 2015, 22:55
Carl White was a dodgy guy who dated her sister. She annoyed him and he came onto her in an insulting way, but it wasn't an attempted rape. She brained him with a bottle of champagne, then moved his inert body to the Arches where she tied him up and expected Phil to kill him. When Phil exiled him from Walford, she knew perfectly well he'd return, which is why she killed him, from behind, as he bent over the boot of the car. Then she callously disposed of his body in the most gruesome way.
She didn't know he'd return. She was really surprised actually. When in the arches he began to sexually assault her and she pulled the boot down on him as he was clearing things out the way to make room for her.
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MrSunshine
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Mrs Peel
8 Sep 2015, 23:30
What annoys me is Roxy, from time to time, has a great epiphany and knows that Ronnie is obsessed with her to the point that she tries to control her life. When Roxy was pregnant with Amy by Jack, Ronnie whisked her off to - yes! - Ibiza, where they were going to live happily ever after, only for Roxy to get fed up with Ronnie's obsession and flee to Archie!

Yet Roxy keeps returning to Ronnie, crawling in bed with her and promising never to let any man come between them. There's an underlying sapphic current in Ronnie's obsession with Roxy, of which either Roxy is unaware or which she suppresses.

The only justifiable end for the Mitchell sisters should come with Ronnie raping Roxy, and Roxy killing her; but no producer would have the balls to present that.
As a rape victim herself Ronnie would NEVER rape anyone let alone her sister whom she loves and tries to control.

That plot wouldn't make any sense from a character standpoint and it would be disgusting to see onscreen.
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Jade
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MrSunshine
8 Sep 2015, 23:37
Mrs Peel
8 Sep 2015, 23:30
What annoys me is Roxy, from time to time, has a great epiphany and knows that Ronnie is obsessed with her to the point that she tries to control her life. When Roxy was pregnant with Amy by Jack, Ronnie whisked her off to - yes! - Ibiza, where they were going to live happily ever after, only for Roxy to get fed up with Ronnie's obsession and flee to Archie!

Yet Roxy keeps returning to Ronnie, crawling in bed with her and promising never to let any man come between them. There's an underlying sapphic current in Ronnie's obsession with Roxy, of which either Roxy is unaware or which she suppresses.

The only justifiable end for the Mitchell sisters should come with Ronnie raping Roxy, and Roxy killing her; but no producer would have the balls to present that.
As a rape victim herself Ronnie would NEVER rape anyone let alone her sister whom she loves and tries to control.

That plot wouldn't make any sense from a character standpoint and it would be disgusting to see onscreen.
Yet she didn't bat an eyelid or speak up about Archie when Roxy and Amy (no less) moved in with him. I find it hard to believe she didn't speak up then. That is what drove Kat to tell Zoe the truth the fact Zoe was going to live with Harry she wanted to protect her.

But yes of course she wouldn't want to see her get hurt like that by Dean. If anything there have been a few times it has been shown to be almost incestuous the way Ronnie is with Roxy. It would not I think surprise me if she tried to do something like that to Roxy. Many rapists are actually have been victims themselves so it wouldn't be out of character, rape is also mostly about control and she does that in spades with Roxy. Truth is MOST rape victims are not rapists but rapists usually have some abuse in their own backgrounds. Not long after Roxy returned there was this scene in the boxing gym where they were in the ring making up after a fight before we knew it they were rolling around on top of each other, the way Ronnie looked at her did give me the chills. Like when she put on Archie's ring a sign like him she was becoming quite evil. The fact you think control means she can not be rape makes no sense rape is all about control. That is why we have things like attractive men raping elderly women they don't necessarily attracted them its more a control thing over women. An old woman can be seen as a easier target. Roxy regresses to a child with Ronnie and Ronnie encourages it. Classic signs.

I think rape, paedophilia, domestic violence and so on are disgusting things we see onscreen but that does mean EE should shy away from it. In fact I said at the time Linda shouldn't have been the rape victim since we always seem to pick a certain type in EE. And not the taboo of say elderly rape which is very common and one of the most underreported crimes. Would it be hard to show? Sure but it happens and is rarely reported or discussed we need to dispel that. So being disgusting on screen doesn't necessarily mean its a bad thing.

Yet I applaud EE for doing it. Rack Ronnie I couldn't stand and would have happily seen axed this Ronnie is more interesting. However of late she has becoming incredibly stale.
Edited by Jade, 9 Sep 2015, 01:10.
Your approval is neither desired nor required.

Julia Smith "We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. Above all, we wanted realism".

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MrSunshine
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That's just lazy writing though. Ronnie was set up to be the over protective sister and that has developed into the overly controlling sister but she's not a rapist.

She needs to go see a therapist.

Recycling the same scenes of she and Roxy and the absolute shite of she and Vincent is not doing the character any favours but that's the writing. Plans for the character need to be changed for a Sharon/Kat style save.
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Jade
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MrSunshine
9 Sep 2015, 01:14
That's just lazy writing though. Ronnie was set up to be the over protective sister and that has developed into the overly controlling sister but she's not a rapist.

She needs to go see a therapist.

Recycling the same scenes of she and Roxy and the absolute shite of she and Vincent is not doing the character any favours but that's the writing. Plans for the character need to be changed for a Sharon/Kat style save.
What would be lazy making Ronnie have some sort of odd control and attraction to her sister?. It doesn't even need to go as far as rape but inappropriate touching etc which Roxy isn't sure is wrong but it isn't right etc. This is yet another thing that happens and Ronnie actually fits the MO perfectly. She wasn't that protective of the sister whom she permanently scarred, said nothing about her own abuse when Roxy with Amy moved in with Archie etc. I don't see her as protective but as ultimate control of her and in turn Roxy becomes child like around her. I don't see what makes her not a rapist at all she shows many signs. Her cold indifference to other people especially women (her hen night she had no friends apart from Roxy, she has no female mates), her controlling nature, her psychopathic traits to others, like watching Carl getting crushed, putting on her abusing father's ring etc. Rape is ultimately about control and nobody is more of a control freak than Ronnie.

I am not saying write her out, I am saying push the envelope I can totally see why others see why it might turn that way with Roxy. When she was rolling on top of her and move her up and down that just isn't crap people do with their sisters What is boring is Ronnie walking around with a cold face going from one boring bloke to another. Stealing from bank of Phil and acting like a psychopath with no payback. DTC said she was becoming a villain then do it, show women can and do sexually assault. She could stay on look at Dean and Archie. They were hardly temporary. Make her interesting as a dark villain then a still faced psychopath going from one boring bloke to another. From Jack, Joel, Charlie, Vincent etc that's boring and has been going on years.
When pushing the envelope and they use Dark Ronnie for me it makes her super interesting.
Your approval is neither desired nor required.

Julia Smith "We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama which could encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. Above all, we wanted realism".

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ChrissieW
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MrSunshine
9 Sep 2015, 01:14
That's just lazy writing though. Ronnie was set up to be the over protective sister and that has developed into the overly controlling sister but she's not a rapist.

She needs to go see a therapist.

Recycling the same scenes of she and Roxy and the absolute shite of she and Vincent is not doing the character any favours but that's the writing. Plans for the character need to be changed for a Sharon/Kat style save.
Sharon and Kat were trashed by producers who didn't care for them and then fixed by producers who did. My problem with Ronnie is that she's struggling as a character under a producer who loves her. That makes it a very different situation to Kat and Sharon. If Kat had returned in 2010 with either John Yorke or Tony Jordan in place as EP it would have been a very different story and her return would likely have been a success. She certainly wouldn't have been regressed into a sleazy, hard-faced bitch. That's my worry with Ronnie, this isn't some clueless EP who has no understanding of the character doing a hatchet-job on her, this is the work of the guy who created and nurtured her. This is the path her creator sees fit to place her on.
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MrSunshine
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Jade
9 Sep 2015, 01:25
MrSunshine
9 Sep 2015, 01:14
That's just lazy writing though. Ronnie was set up to be the over protective sister and that has developed into the overly controlling sister but she's not a rapist.

She needs to go see a therapist.

Recycling the same scenes of she and Roxy and the absolute shite of she and Vincent is not doing the character any favours but that's the writing. Plans for the character need to be changed for a Sharon/Kat style save.
What would be lazy making Ronnie have some sort of odd control and attraction to her sister?. It doesn't even need to go as far as rape but inappropriate touching etc which Roxy isn't sure is wrong but it isn't right etc. This is yet another thing that happens and Ronnie actually fits the MO perfectly. She wasn't that protective of the sister whom she permanently scarred, said nothing about her own abuse when Roxy with Amy moved in with Archie etc. I don't see her as protective but as ultimate control of her and in turn Roxy becomes child like around her. I don't see what makes her not a rapist at all she shows many signs. Her cold indifference to other people especially women (her hen night she had no friends apart from Roxy, she has no female mates), her controlling nature, her psychopathic traits to others, like watching Carl getting crushed, putting on her abusing father's ring etc. Rape is ultimately about control and nobody is more of a control freak than Ronnie.

I am not saying write her out, I am saying push the envelope I can totally see why others see why it might turn that way with Roxy. When she was rolling on top of her and move her up and down that just isn't crap people do with their sisters What is boring is Ronnie walking around with a cold face going from one boring bloke to another. Stealing from bank of Phil and acting like a psychopath with no payback. DTC said she was becoming a villain then do it, show women can and do sexually assault. She could stay on look at Dean and Archie. They were hardly temporary. Make her interesting as a dark villain then a still faced psychopath going from one boring bloke to another. From Jack, Joel, Charlie, Vincent etc that's boring and has been going on years.
When pushing the envelope and they use Dark Ronnie for me it makes her super interesting.


Sorry. When I was referring to lazy writing I just meant how the character's overprotectiveness became a longing for control.

I do think when she goes dark it's interesting but I feel that puts the character in a box and I know what Sam Womak can do so I want to see her given the chance to do that.

I just think it would be so interesting for Ronnie to take a look at herself and say how she feels. Ronnie in therapy would be glorious.
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MrSunshine
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ChrissieW
9 Sep 2015, 01:35
MrSunshine
9 Sep 2015, 01:14
That's just lazy writing though. Ronnie was set up to be the over protective sister and that has developed into the overly controlling sister but she's not a rapist.

She needs to go see a therapist.

Recycling the same scenes of she and Roxy and the absolute shite of she and Vincent is not doing the character any favours but that's the writing. Plans for the character need to be changed for a Sharon/Kat style save.
Sharon and Kat were trashed by producers who didn't care for them and then fixed by producers who did. My problem with Ronnie is that she's struggling as a character under a producer who loves her. That makes it a very different situation to Kat and Sharon. If Kat had returned in 2010 with either John Yorke or Tony Jordan in place as EP it would have been a very different story and her return would likely have been a success. She certainly wouldn't have been regressed into a sleazy, hard-faced bitch. That's my worry with Ronnie, this isn't some clueless EP who has no understanding of the character doing a hatchet-job on her, this is the work of the guy who created and nurtured her. This is the path her creator sees fit to place her on.
I also find DTC's vision has been tarnished.

I think babyswap made the viewers see Ronnie completely differently. People were calling her evil then. So I think Dom decided to go down that route and somewhere down the line he's changed his mind which leaves us with a character full of inconsistices.

It is worrying since she's Dom's creation but I think no character (played by a good actor) is beyond repair because the actor has the ability to show different sides and therefore the character can be saved. But the writing needs to change.
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Professor Plum
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I am over Ronnie and her constant lip smacking. I have said in another thread about how the Mitchell mantra has become "you are my sister" . I am tired of Roxy and Ronnie continually shouting at each other. The only way Roxy can be free of Ronnie and become her own person is to do her in. I would like to see Mrs Peels ideas come to fruition (well, not really, but you know what I mean) as I believe it is the only way the story can be concluded naturally. Until then, its just going to be the same old same old, going round in ever decreasing circles.
Just livin' in perfect New Zealand!
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pugg
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McFudd
8 Sep 2015, 16:32
Ronnie is a controversial character in this forum and whilst I appreciate she has lots of fans, I feel she is no longer needed on the show. She is ruining other characters and I don't see how she is still relevant. She needs to get her comeuppance for killing Carl White.

Do you think there's more they can do with Ronnie or do you think she needs to be arrested and leave for good? I don't think Samantha Womack's acting performances are convincing because she seems to be bored of playing Ronnie now.

Thoughts? :)
Well and truly past her sell buy date, look at that sour face , just like lemons ^o)
If you always want what you can't have, what do you want when you can have anything?
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Bad Wolf
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Slightly off topic but I've only just put two and two together and realised Roxy is now with the guy who framed her ex-husband for attacking Patrick.
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Amazee-Dayzee
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I do have to wonder though, when Charlie leaves, will he be taking Matthew with him? I can't see him depriving Dot of her great-grandson after all her loses.
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