The Michael "Sonny" Corinthos Non-Appreciation Thread

[Chairperson Meow]

I think Ugh in the Afternoon describes Sonny.

[ulkis]

I think Sonny is genuinely devastated/upset/scared at losing Michael, going to prison, and losing all he has. I think there is probably a part of him that's thinking "if I give him what he wants maybe it will help me get out of this somehow", but I think it's mixed in with everything else. I think there's also a part of him that figures it's all over, so he might as well do this one thing that Michael wants and it might score him point. All in all I think Sonny is too freaked out to really actively manipulate Michael.

[CPP83]

All in all I think Sonny is too freaked out to really actively manipulate Michael.

 

 

 

If there has been one constant in Sonny's life which drives him, imho, it is his fear of being alone. He's always been afraid of that, of losing people, of losing them to better people, to more deserving people.

 

He truly is a coward first and foremost, he never just earns loyalty and love, he takes it, he steals it, he will ruin another's happiness for the sake of his own. He refuses to grasp the understanding that he is the first person who can control his actions and his behaviour. Sonny blames everyone else in the same way he clings to everyone else, the people around him define him.

[jsbt]

I have nothing substantive to add. I'm just really hoping that someday we can change this thread title to "In the Closet with Sonny Corinthos"

[Chairperson Meow]

I need Brenda to come back and make out with Michael at The Trial for AJ's Murder.

[DollEyes]

 

I have nothing substantive to add. I'm just really hoping that someday we can change this thread title to "In the Closet With Sonny Corinthos."

 

  I respectfully disagree. For one thing, I don't understand what it means, plus IMO it doesn't express the contempt for Sonny that I believe he deserves, which is, to put it mildly, a lot.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

  I respectfully disagree. For one thing, I don't understand what it means, plus IMO it doesn't express the contempt for Sonny that I believe he deserves, which is, to put it mildly, a lot.

 

DollEyes, I think perhaps what jsbt is referring to Trapped in the Closet, R. Kelly's epic saga about his nonsensical life. It can be found in twenty-two parts on youtube, each one more ridiculous than the last. It makes the writing on GH look like King Lear. If that isn't what it refers to, then perhaps it's just related to Sonny's whining about how Deke used to lock him in the closet as punishment. I kind of prefer the former, just because R. Kelly is also a disgusting pig.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Cobalt Stargazer

[OnceSane]

I thought jsbt was referring to Deke locking Sonny in the closet when Sonny as a child. Or us locking him in the vets' closet and throwing away the key.

[Chairperson Meow]

Sonny in Trapped in the Closet makes me lol, squee, and kind of scared.

Now I need this.

[jsbt]

I thought jsbt was referring to Deke locking Sonny in the closet when Sonny as a child. 

 

That is what I am referring to, although it is also an admittedly naughty play on words from this gay guy.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

I can understand why Morgan made the exception too but I still find it a huge double standard typical of the show.

 

And while there's a whole fuckton of things I hate about Sonny, this is what I hate the most - that the narrative always gives him an escape hatch. He shoots Carly in the head? It's Lorenzo's fault. He kills AJ? Ava's to blame. Michael goes to prison? The judge had it out for him. He pretends to feel bad about stuff for about five minutes, long enough to get pity and ego-stroking from whatever kid of his is within arm's length, or whichever woman he's currently sharing his bed with, and then he returns to his path of destruction without so much as a pang. That's why I'm savoring his fake misery as long as I can, because when it ends he's still  going to be the same bag of crap he was before this latest fiasco.

[Lillybee]

The thing is that the idiots in charge are not showing Sonny being miserable in prison.

[Chairperson Meow]

The weekly promo shows Sonny seeing Johnny.

The misery is coming.

[testardo]

I will watch the return of Johnny. As long as he remembers what Sonny did to him and caused his sister/mother. Go Johnny !

[Chairperson Meow]

Johnny has goons. He knows all, sees all, remembers all.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Not quite . . . what Sonny was doing was gross, but he didn't force that baby into Ava, and I wouldn't call what he did using her as a living incubator. She's the one who said I'm pregnant, and he said okay I'm gonna leave you alone till you give birth. I suppose if there were technology available where Sonny could transfer the fetus he would have done it, so in that sense you could use the phrase living incubator, but it doesn't feel quite right though imo. I would say it would only be appropriate if Sonny forced Ava to carry the child. I don't think the situations between Stavros/Lulu and Sonny/Ava are comparable really.

 

No offense, ulkis, but this is exactly the kind of argument that has destroyed any possible affection I've ever had for Sonny. Sure, if I squint hard enough and tilt my head in the right way, what Sonny wanted to do to Ava isn't as bad as what Stavros was going to do to Lulu. OTOH, he had a choice too. He had a choice not to screw his son's girlfriend, to practice a little self-control. Or to at least practice safe sex. As he chose to exercise neither option, he's just as much the author of this garbage dump of a situation as she is, and now he's whining because he didn't get to kill her the way he wanted to. Sonny fails at life, and Ron fails at writing him as anything other than a complete monster. YMMV.

[Lillybee]

Since Sonny doesn't bother to use condoms, I wonder how many SDI's he has spread around PC.

[ulkis]

Not quite . . . what Sonny was doing was gross, but he didn't force that baby into Ava, and I wouldn't call what he did using her as a living incubator. She's the one who said I'm pregnant, and he said okay I'm gonna leave you alone till you give birth. I suppose if there were technology available where Sonny could transfer the fetus he would have done it, so in that sense you could use the phrase living incubator, but it doesn't feel quite right though imo. I would say it would only be appropriate if Sonny forced Ava to carry the child. I don't think the situations between Stavros/Lulu and Sonny/Ava are comparable really.

 

 

No offense, ulkis, but this is exactly the kind of argument that has destroyed any possible affection I've ever had for Sonny. Sure, if I squint hard enough and tilt my head in the right way, what Sonny wanted to do to Ava isn't as bad as what Stavros was going to do to Lulu. OTOH, he had a choice too. He had a choice not to screw his son's girlfriend, to practice a little self-control. Or to at least practice safe sex. As he chose to exercise neither option, he's just as much the author of this garbage dump of a situation as she is, and now he's whining because he didn't get to kill her the way he wanted to. Sonny fails at life, and Ron fails at writing him as anything other than a complete monster. YMMV.

 

 

None taken. But I'm still having trouble seeing where the comparison comes in. Ava wanted the baby. Lulu didn't.  Also, Ava had plenty of choices. She could have left town after she killed Connie instead of sticking around for Sonny to potentially find her out. and not killed Connie in the first place. Lulu had zero choice in being kidnapped and then someone trying to strap her to a table and shoving an unwanted embryo up into her. Not to mention zero choice in being kidnapped and having her egg taken from her in the first place. Ava didn't force Sonny into impregnating her any more than Sonny forced her. 

Edited December 18, 2014 by ulkis

[Cobalt Stargazer]

None taken. But I'm still having trouble seeing where the comparison comes in. Ava wanted the baby. Lulu didn't.  Also, Ava had plenty of choices. She could have left town after she killed Connie instead of sticking around for Sonny to potentially find her out. and not killed Connie in the first place. Lulu had zero choice in being kidnapped and then someone trying to strap her to a table and shoving an unwanted embryo up into her. Not to mention zero choice in being kidnapped and having her egg taken from her in the first place. Ava didn't force Sonny into impregnating her any more than Sonny forced her. 

 

IMO, it doesn't really matter that much that Sonny didn't force Ava to have sex. I could go so far as to say that he did mean to get her pregnant, since I don't think it should have been her choice alone about whether to use protection, but I'm not sure Sonny even knows what a condom is. Given the number of children he has, unless he's as dumb as Morgan, he knows where babies come from. So the fact that he didn't bother to suit up is either obnoxious or intentional. Or both.

 

Regardless, I was thinking on it, because that's what I do, and maybe it isn't accurate to compare it to Stavros and Lulu. Because, y'know........Panic Room.

 

Given that Sonny just loooooooooooooves Carly so much, at least this week, why would he do to Ava what Ric did to Carly? Granted, I like one and hate the other, but didn't Sonny threaten to put a bullet in Rics head when he found out about the Panic Room? Of course, death threats are Scummy's way of saying I love you, and if he tries to blow you up with a car bomb then that means he really cares. But I don't see how we (the general we) are supposed to hate Ric but be sympathetic to Sonny, because that's what the narrative seems to be telling me. Otherwise why would Ron write crap like "That's not how I would have handled the situation" when it relates to Ava being in jail? Because what that says, to me, is "Damn it, I was supposed to be allowed to kill her!" Meanwhile, Carly is holding his hand while he's in jail, so I guess she doesn't really care about the Panic Room stuff, either.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Cobalt Stargazer

[ulkis]

Panic Room is a better comparison I think, yeah.

[ulkis]

Paevey, for all his limitations, is much better than both Geary and Howarth. I have never seen him undermine his scene partner(s), draw focus, ham it up, or purposely tank a scene as those two hacks frequently do.

 

Yeah, but that's cause he's a) a one year vet - I don't think Geary or Howarth did any of those things either when they were at the show for only a year - and b) he can't do any of those things. How can he purposely tank a scene when the guy can't focus on anything but making sure he says all his lines?

 

Plus I'll defend Maurice Benard here. I don't think he has purposefully done anything to mess up a scene or phoned it in in years. He's just tired. I don't think that means he deserves a permanent place on the show at all and if they said Sonny/Maurice was exiting tomorrow I would be very intrigued. But I think he's been trying his best, probably since Ron and Frank got here, if not earlier.

[Chairperson Meow]

I wouldn't call Howarth, Geary, nor MB hacks. I may hate Sonny, Luke, and Franco as characters, but all three of those actors can school RP in acting, performance, and respecting screen partners. RP is an attractive guy playing a likeable character. MB, Geary, and RH were all guys who turned day parts into iconic characters. When RP learns head movements, then he can talk.

[ulkis]

Okay, for some reason when I saw "Howarth" my brain translated it as "Benard". Maybe I need more coffee today or something.

[Chairperson Meow]

Eh he's known more commonly as MB here so I called him that as opposed to Benard. I call him Maurice when I get pissed at him flubbing his lines, but if I'm being fair he hasn't done it that much lately.

I want to hate you Mo, but I can't. Mo is what I call him out of false affection. Because I'm sure he cares./sarcasm

Edited December 23, 2014 by Grrpants09

[ulkis]

Eh he's known more commonly as MB here so I called him that as opposed to Benard. I call him Maurice when I get pissed at him flubbing his lines, but if I'm being fair he hasn't done it that much lately.

I want to hate you Mo, but I can't. Mo is what I call him out of false affection. Because I'm sure he cares./sarcasm

 

no, I meant when Tiger wrote "Geary and Howarth" my brain just assumed "Maurice Benard" at the end of that sentence instead of "Roger Howarth", which is why I brought it over to this thread in the first place. If I had read Tiger's post properly I would have never responded here in the first place, cause he didn't mention Sonny or Maurice.

[Tiger]

no, I meant when Tiger wrote "Geary and Howarth" my brain just assumed "Maurice Benard" at the end of that sentence instead of "Roger Howarth", which is why I brought it over to this thread in the first place. If I had read Tiger's post properly I would have never responded here in the first place, cause he didn't mention Sonny or Maurice.

I actually think Mo has been really good since the end of Oct. IMHO, its been his best and most consistent work since VM's 2002 return.

[sunnyface]

I actually think Mo has been really good since the end of Oct. IMHO, its been his best and most consistent work since VM's 2002 return.

 

 

For some reason, his line delivery has been better lately but I still am unable to not react viscerally to his presence on the show. 

 

Anyone heard/read anything about MB renewing his contract?  With Jason and Carly front and center, it appears less and less likely that his contract will not get renewed.

[peachmangosteen]

I actually think Mo has been really good since the end of Oct. 

 

I agree. He even seems to remember a good chunk of his lines!

 

Also, I'm glad he's got the grey beard thing going on, but he really needs to let his hair go natural, too. It looks even more ridiculous now with his beard.

Edited December 26, 2014 by peachmangosteen

[sunnyface]

Here's a recent interview with MB. 

http://michaelfairmansoaps.com/general-hospital/the-maurice-benard-interview-general-hospital-2/2014/12/24/

 

 

And as for the Sonny haters … I love them too!

 

Besides submitting the crypt sex scene for emmy consideration because it was cool (insert emoticon of Lila Q in shock) and claims that he is attempting to throw some humor into his prison scenes, it was a good article.

 

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, one thing I have come to realize with the soaps: the fans just die for the history.  You can almost do no wrong when you have a lot of history, and it’s important to the fans!

 

 

 

Boy this show rocked before the guns replaced the stethoscopes.

Edited December 26, 2014 by sunnyface

[jsbt]

I actually respect a lot of what he has to say there. I think he is boxed in by the character and the various writing regimes, but I also think he struggles with material while balancing his health. And he is right about the guns and kids and Sonny's rep.

[sunnyface]

. And he is right about the guns

 

 

Not so much.   I don't care if there are actual guns, the guy is still threatening and reveling in violence. There shouldn't be any script time spent on the 'feelings' of a violent thug of a character. It's like banging my head against the wall with all of this violence crap on this show.  I don't begrudge MB's satisfaction of his success.  That disgusting behavior has been and is being rewarded. 

[Tiger]

I don't know if it's the Christmas spirit or what, but I really hope Mo re-signs.

At worst, I love to hate Sonny. Heh, I might actually become a legit Sonny fan if he really does pimp out and then kill Freakco, especially if it happens off screen and I never have to see that sick freak again.

Sonny can just walk into the prison yard, he and Johnny can share a laugh over Freakco being dead after being ho'd around the prison, and then resume hating each other!

Edited December 26, 2014 by Tiger

[Chairperson Meow]

I'm never going to cheer any character being raped. I dgaf who it is. That's just wrong and disgusting. There's a line that I don't want any soap to cross. That's my breaking point. Imo that would be worse than the Karen Wexler stuff, bullet of love, and Franco is warm and fuzzy crap. It's shitting on the entire history of the show. Again.

Once again, we've strayed from what could have been a fantastic Macbethesque tale involving history and actors that can carry it- into another disgusting rape fetish story. I'd rather see Sonny actually come to terms with what he's done. That Micheal is not his son. He never was. I'd rather that anyday over another rape story.

[Tiger]

IMHO, what Franco did to Michael and Sam is far worse than what Sonny did to Karen or anyone else. And usually I am totally against rape stories in general, but rape is extremely common in prison and Franco is essentially a rapist himself and rapist, particularly child rapist like Franco, are typically subject to the worst behavior from fellow inmates. Ron is actually telling a topical story here.

Edited December 26, 2014 by Tiger

[nilyank]

Maurice finally renewed his contract. Sonny will be us in the near future.

 

 

http://abc.soapsindepth.com/2014/12/exclusive-maurice-benard-inks-a-new-deal.html

[jsbt]

Franco taking it in prison would be poetic justice for what he did to Michael, but since Sonny threatened him with it it's clearly not going to happen. I really don't care that he did, either. It's not like there's some red line of idle threats that people (or an angry parent, in Sonny's case) can make against bon vivant, serial killer and semi-professional rape facilitator Franco. Short of eating Ava's baby because he fell in love with the kid, there is basically nothing Sonny or anyone could do or say to Franco that would make me outraged.

[Sake614]

Bah humbug! I knew it would happen but kept hoping for the best.

[tvgoddess]

 

I don't know if it's the Christmas spirit or what, but I really hope Mo re-signs.

 

I'm blaming this on you, Tiger. I knew he would re-sign, but I was holding out for a Christmas miracle.

[Tiger]

I'm blaming this on you, Tiger. I knew he would re-sign, but I was holding out for a Christmas miracle.

At least you didn't tell me to "REPENT REPENT REPENT REPENT" and then throw a lamp at me : )

[tvgoddess]



 

 

 

MICHAEL:

Since Sonny is the baby daddy to Ava’s baby, or we think he is at this point, even if Sonny and Ava both get out of prison, she is going to get a pass now, right?  He would never kill the mother of his child?

MAURICE:

Courtesy/ABC

No.  Sonny won’t kill the mother of his child.  He will do stuff, but he won’t do that!

 

Um, excuse me? What is this bullshit? He's known he was possibly the father or grandfather this entire time, and he had no problem with killing her. Now he's suddenly changed his mind because "he won't do that!" WTF ever. This only makes me hate Sonny even more, as if that were possible.

[ch1]

I think MB has to lie to himself to make his character seem less reprehensible.The man not only was willing to kill Ava but he told Carly (the so called love of his life of the moment) that he would kill her at one point.  

 

I can't even be upset about the resigning news because the only way he is leaving is when the show is cancelled.  I just get irritated by the will he or won't he game.  Its complete BS.

Edited December 26, 2014 by ch1

[Sake614]

At least you didn't tell me to "REPENT REPENT REPENT REPENT" and then throw a lamp at me : )

Don't give us any ideas

[jsbt]

I think it's more Maurice doesn't believe Sonny would do [insert whatever]. That being said, they did write it. As an actor, he may be operating off the motivation that Sonny doesn't truly mean it, wouldn't be able to do it in the end. I don't believe that re: Ava, but I understand his take. Actors work off their own versions of internal motivations and backstories all the time, especially soap actors where the story is fast and furious and too often prioritizes plot over character.

[Cobalt Stargazer]

Um, excuse me? What is this bullshit? He's known he was possibly the father or grandfather this entire time, and he had no problem with killing her. Now he's suddenly changed his mind because "he won't do that!" WTF ever. This only makes me hate Sonny even more, as if that were possible.

 

Seriously. Like, exsqueeze me? Was it not Sonny's stated intention to Panic Room Ava so that he could kill her after taking the baby? The only thing that separates him from being exactly like The Nina is that he didn't actually induce labor. Shut up, Maurice.

[CPP83]

Maurice has never and will never, imo, admit to the horror that is Sonny because he's played him for too long. He will always view Sonny with a sympathetic eye and try and explain away his awfulness. I know over the years he hasn't agreed with some of the directions the writers have taken Sonny in but he sticks it out, though at this point I wish they would just come to a mutual understanding that it's time to finally close the book on this character.

 

I'm just wondering how they will get him released from prison because I don't see Maurice playing Sonny in prison for much longer.

[Chairperson Meow]

I think Maurice has to be able to sleep at night to rationalize Sonny's actions or he'd melt down. I don't mean that rudely, just that from the interview I get that some of the material gets in his head.

[tvgoddess]

 

Maurice has never and will never, imo, admit to the horror that is Sonny because he's played him for too long. He will always view Sonny with a sympathetic eye and try and explain away his awfulness.

 

And I do understand that to a degree, because Maura does a similar thing with Ava in that she believes that Ava does everything she does for a reason. I think any good actor does that, even young ones like Isabelle Fuhrman who played horrible characters like Esther (Orphan) and Clove (The Hunger Games). MB though is trying to make it sound like there are lines that Sonny won't cross, which we all know is bullshit since they've shown for the past 7 months onscreen with him doing just that.

Edited December 28, 2014 by tvgoddess

[Cobalt Stargazer]

 MB though is trying to make it sound like there are lines that Sonny won't cross, which we all know is bullshit since they've shown for the past 7 months onscreen with him doing just that.

 

At least he isn't taking Laura Wright's tack, where she criticizes the "haters" for being against Carly's relationship with Freakco. I hope Maurice is only trying to rationalize Sonny's utter hideousness to himself, not badger us into liking it.

Edited December 28, 2014 by Cobalt Stargazer

[CPP83]

I think Maurice has to be able to sleep at night to rationalize Sonny's actions or he'd melt down. I don't mean that rudely, just that from the interview I get that some of the material gets in his head.

 

 

 

Frankly I don't think Maurice puts nearly that much thought into playing Sonny anymore, he more so goes through the motions both onscreen and in his interviews. I think it's been some time since he really took things seriously from Sonny's perspective, it's why I often see his acting as being tired and weary or even bored.

 

In the 90ps and early 2000s, when they were really putting Sonny through a good bit, especially when they wrote in that he was in fact Bipolar, those were the times, to me, that Maurice really got beat up playing the part.

 

Hell it got him on Oprah even, heh.

 

 

And I do understand that to a degree, because Maura does a similar thing with Ava in that she believes that Ava does everything she does for a reason. I think any good actor does that, even young ones like Isabelle Fuhrman who played horrible characters like Esther (Orphan) and Clove (The Hunger Games). MB though is trying to make it sound like there are lines that Sonny won't cross, which we all know is bullshit since they've shown for the past 7 months onscreen with him doing just that.

 

 

He always has when it comes to Sonny because the way Maurice sees the role is with rose coloured glasses. For two decades I've heard pretty much the same tripe come out of him and the writers about Sonny, so these claims of what Sonny would "never ever do" aren't new. They still have never had him kill one of his baby mamas on purpose so that's all he needs for an excuse.

 

Steve did the same with Jason after they turned him into the rat bastard killer he became. Jason always had his "reasons" for whatever he did despite how awful or horrible, even when it came to abusing/mistreating/killing women.

[Chairperson Meow]

It's weird because Ava is the one person I can almost buy him killing. She's not Brenda to him. She's not the mother to any of the children he's bonded with. She murdered Connie- a woman who meant a lot to Olivia, Dante, and was his childhood sweetheart. Also, in a weird way, it'd be giving Micheal justice for AJ's death- using the infamous Sonny logic. (Of course verse 10, chapter 12 says Sonny must also kill himself after or Micheal or Monica or Jason must kill Sonny) Now, if Sonny killed Brenda or decided "rawr I wanna kill Brenda or chose anyone- especially Carly- over Brenda, I'd cry foul. I think the order of Sonny's importance is himself, Jason, Gummy Bear Mafia, Brenda, the kids he remembers, the baby mamas, kids he forgets, then other family members, then various other people he doesn't hate. But yeah, I totally see him killing Ava.

But I do not see Ava, Julian, nor Carlos nor Johnny rolling over and taking it. Carlos and Johnny give no fucks about Ava. They just want to kill Sonny. Actually, they want revenge. So rather than have Sonny the Good Mobster (wtf is a good mobster ) why not play Sonny with a target on his back? Then add Jason getting his memories back and feeling like he's lost out. He saw the way Sam and everyone felt about the gunman. Make him hate that he was a criminal and that Sonny killed his brother. One more target on Sonny's back.