TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES - Serio Comics 12
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES written and drawn and originally self-published by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, from The Ultimate Collection Vol. 1 published by IDW and Nickelodeon
Comic Con was great
Suffice to say, for now, I learned a lot about the comics and graphic novel publishing business from my host ;)
And can’t wait to employ that knowledge in my SHOULD WE BUY A GUN? endeavor
This past weekend I had the very fun and honestly enlightening experience of watching with a dad friend and their child in the theater the most recent cinematic contribution to the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES franchise:
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: Mutant Mayhem
So I also decided to go back and read the original comic book that it’s based off of
Not only because Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird successfully self-published the comic and turned it into films (and TV shows and much more)
But because I really admired some of the depictions of masculinity in the 2023 adaptation by Seth Rogen and the rest of his producing/writing/directing team
I and my illustrator for SHOULD WE BUY A GUN? are nearing the 3/4th mark of completion of our book
And ever since I finally shot a gun for research
I’ve stopped rewriting and rewriting it
And knew how to finish it
So the project truly feels completable finally
Part of that is the clarification of the masculine arc of the male half of the couple and the feminine arc of the feminine half of the couple
Which ironically or obviously involves some clarification of my own polarities :)
And for which I have also read and re-read and then mostly re-read again the book:
THE WAY OF THE SUPERIOR MAN by David Deida
Don’t worry there has also been a tremendous amount of yin books read this year and for this project ;)
What I liked about Seth Rogen and his team’s adaptation of TMNT was that the filmmakers presented, to me at least, a very strong but integrated masculinity
One that was both protective of others and heroic
But also not power-mad or overly vengeful
There’s a moment in David Deida’s book where he tells an example of how women (or any-gendered-people with a more feminine essence) both want their men (or any-gendered-people with a more masculine essence) to put them first but also paradoxically not to, to put their mission to give their service to the universe first too
He uses the example of a person being called to a valid war
If the person were to say to his partner something like
“Oh, actually, I’ll stay home with you”
The partner might initially be pleased
But would perhaps subconsciously or ultimately quite consciously realize that’s not what is good
The partner would perhaps more likely want their person to fight for the collective, for the mission, for the ideals that are also realities that make their life possible
Similarly, in the 2023 TMNT film, there are moments where the Turtles debate not continuing to fight and give up their mission
To (spoiler alert) defeat this guy
To instead go home and eat pizza
And watch anime
But
There is that same palpable unease
Humorously but seriously depicted by the filmmakers
That seems to say
To give up your purpose
For comfort
and security
Temporarily
Is ultimately self-and-family-and-community defeating
and likely leads to
tremendous
and perhaps permanent
Insecurity instead
Eastman and Laird’s original TMNT is from the 1980s and thus depicts a bit of a different representation of masculinity than the 2020s version
Eastman and Laird quickly pick up on a similar theme as Deida about masculinity
Which is that while femininity is perhaps centered on love
Making sure the flow of it is available for others and self
The masculine is perhaps more centered on freedom
Making sure the flow of it is available for others and self
Deida uses the example of sport
Where a football game is the pressure to gain freedom
Against the blocking defense
A touchdown is a mission
To win the ritualized war game
We all of course have masculine and feminine energies to integrate into various proportions
And yet there is something gratifying about embracing the positive masculine when it feels almost counter-cultural at this point in time
It does perhaps make sense however why the old yang culture has to constantly be revolutionized and subtly updated when you look at the origin TMNT story
The father-figure Splinter instead of being over-protective and needing to let his boys have the freedom to become men and protect others’ freedom like in the 2023 film
Is instead in the original comic a father figure that orders his boys to be instruments of war to avenge his own father figure’s murderer who has since gone on to commit more and more crimes restricting others’ freedom
And the boys unquestioningly do their duties
Whether or not you agree with the idea that groups of people committing tactical violence has been partly a historical and evolutionary good for humanity
Like in this Atlantic article
The ideas of pacifism or that war is useless or immoral or always for corrupt reasons is something that has risen more and more into the mainstream
Particularly in another recent blockbuster this summer: BARBIE
With a moment spoofing the unnecessariness of combat through silliness
Though whether the filmmaker Greta Gerwig is arguing that only in most contexts violence or war is useless and immoral and silly
But in some very unusual ones is actually appropriate
Is not within the purview of her extremely effective satire
Yet just as some people played with Barbie differently as kids
And are learning now to ‘play’ with the ideas of Barbie differently as they grow older
I remember playing with toy figurines like TMNT and battling like this:
And winning wars in black and white good and evil terms like this:
Yet
I am also now quite open to more subtle distinctions
Where ‘villains’ and ‘antagonists’ are redeemed
Like…
Spoiler alert!
Double spoiler alert!!
Triple spoiler alert!!!
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES written and drawn and originally self-published by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird, from The Ultimate Collection Vol. 1 published by IDW and Nickelodeon is available at Goodreads, at Skylight here in LA, at other indie retailers at Bookshop.org, and from Amazon
The film TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: Mutant Mayhem is in theaters
And so is BARBIE!