10 Outstanding Adopted Movie Families

By Ian Boucher /

4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

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In my first article at WhatCulture I talked about the Ninja Turtles and their home in New York, a city of immigrants. But I forgot to get into the immigrant background of the Turtles. As best as we can guess, the Turtles themselves were probably born in America, but they were adopted by Splinter, a rat who immigrated with a human couple from Japan. The Turtles are therefore like first-generation Americans€”they€™re kids who probably had a bilingual upbringing, and this combination of cultures, within their larger mishmash world, continues to be a part of their lives every day, as well as Splinter€™s. The Shredder, on the other side of the coin, uses his original culture, his new home, and the €œfamily€ of American teens who live there for his business goals. The movie€™s eclectic tone and setting certainly bring these ideas out. Intercultural family and larger interpersonal connection bring a lot to this movie and further enrich the other very cool ideas already in the movie, which in turn come from the mythology of the Turtles.