Do you believe the TMNT exist?

[LenniluvsBrian]

I like to believe that I have. But who knows if I really did or not.


~Lenni~

[lexy3643]

i'd stick close to donny or Leo. either one. becaus i love them both!

i would love for tmnt to excite but they don't

[Michaelangelo]

I choose : Yes, in the collective consciousness of the fans

The reason I picked this is, is because in away the Turtles are real with all of us.  They got history, they got character, they got such a life that no one could ever take away from them.  These Turtles have taught people things, they have been there for people in time of need, even if it's not being a hero on the scene saving them in a fight, they have brought people together, they have shown us to respect those around us.  They have been a great example for many, and have make their dent in the world.

Any character that can change how things are really in our lives, are alive in their own way.   They're about alive as let's say Elvis is.  True he was once a real human, and lived a real life.  Though he's dead now, but he's still got fans and people who enjoy the work that he did.  So Elvis lives, not in body but in memories.   And that is how the Turtles live, in our memories.  

Come something that wasn't real teach me how to read?  Teach me how to defend myself?  And help me get some of the best friends I've ever had?  Through the Turtles my life has gotten better, and I know many others here on TMNT-L and other message boards that can say the same.  Thanks to the Turtles, we're together.    So in away, they are real.

Even if we can never go up and shake their hands or hang out.  Our memories will keep them alive.

[Aignatius]

Well said, Mike. How they can have a positive influence on a lot of people, and can make such an impact in their lives is a phenomenon in itself.  

[LenniluvsBrian]

Well said! I agree - how can they not exist, when they mean so much to so many of us?


~Lenni~

[Aignatius]

But the way you're describing it isn't the same as how Mike described it. You insisted that you've actually seen them. So, what are they, something that is part of the collective consciousness, or something you think actually exists in this world, because you've seen them?  
Rather confused by your replies...

[AristaNiara]

Well, everything is based off of some area of fact.  So who knows?  Heck, if you think about it, Superman can EASILLY be a guy with REALLY nice telekenisis (which does exist, I know people who have it).  Spider-man can easilly be someone who did end up in a freak government accident.  As for the X-Men...okay, I don't think I need to explain mutants.  And Batman is just some psycopath who needs to be locked up and admitted into a mental institution (Note: I HATE Batman so that's why I'm being mean about who/what he can be).

So can the TMNT be real?  Well, we don't know what the governments all over the world have done!  They may have created them and maybe they were adopted by some homeless guy (think first cartoon) and were taught how to fight and then the government found him and turned him into a rat.  So what better place to hide than in NYC?  I don't know.  It's just a stupid thought.

Sorry, I couldn't help but write all this in.  Especially when I've seen way too much weird stuff myself.  So anything's possible in this world...it wouldn't surprise me if they were real but I don't expect it.

[TMNTpunker]

I mean...our gov't has done so many things that we don't know about...yet. What makes us think they don't have the capabilities to make mutants? They've done so many other bizarre things right? Who knows...maybe the turtles are aliens from another galaxy! Haha we don't know...but what I do know...and agree with Mike and everyone else is that they exist in our minds and that's all that matters. The turtles have changed my life in so many goood ways. They've taught me respect, honor, love, trust, faith, what to look for in a man to marry, and that life is a very precious thing. That the color of ones skin shouldn't be a barrier between people, or how one looks on the outside, its whats on the inside that counts the most, right?

Yea...well...there's my opinion. Have fun with it.

[LenniluvsBrian]

I can state my opninion & agree with everyone else's too. I feel in my heart that they do exist - because, like I said, it had to have been them I saw when younger, unless my imagination is extremely good at playing tricks on me. But, I can see things from everyone else's point of views too - whether we believe them to be real or not, they've still taught us all plenty of good things. Even if only how to make a better & more interesting pizza - lol.


~Lenni~

[Nanette]

I really wish they're for real.that would be fun to hang out with them.

[LenniluvsBrian]

It'd be Awesome if they jsut suddenly walked in the front door - lol.


~Lenni~

[Aignatius]

I would prefer they called, first.  

[lexy3643]

god i've really missed a lot!

I really wish they're for real.that would be fun to hang out with them.

yeah, then you could go on all thier missions with them and help them out.

[Absaraka]

GW is going to give me one stern talking-to for this one, but here goes.

*cracks knuckles and warms up his fingers*

(And you guys KNEW I'd eventually post on this topic, right?)

I believe they do exist on another plane.  Even in the physical universe we're in right now, matter is thought-responsive when you get down to a really micro level.  So if physical matter in the "real world" can be changed by thought, what then of more thought-responsive dimensions of reality?

Someone--think it might have been Edgar Cayce--once said that thoughts are things, which would explain a lot.

As far as I'm concerned, they do exist: the only question is, did they or didn't they exist before Eastman and Laird drew them up?  Typical Libra that I am, I can argue both sides.  Here goes:

Theory: Yes, they did

The TMNT have been around for a very, very long time, and were only first glimpsed by E&L in the early 80's.  E&L got down their impressions on paper, which helped them better "see" these characters again.  They kept going back, drawing what they saw, and further strengthening the connection between the TMNT and the physical plane.  Meanwhile, those who read the comics began to form their own mental/spiritual/psychic links to the TMNT, further cementing the connection between the TMNTverse and our world.

Now, as a side note, that would also hold true of every "fictional" character out there, not just TMNT.  If this is true, Aslan is out there, somewhere.  Robert Langdon is out there, somewhere.  Jack Falstaff is out there, somewhere.  Conversely, so, too, are the White Witch, Silas, and Hotspur.  (I'm even dropping Shakespeare allusions in here...can you tell I've thought about this way too much?)

If the TMNT already existed before they were "seen" over here, then that would answer a lot of questions very quickly.  To wit: how we know certain things about certain characters, even without being explicitly told; and how we know how their true voices sound, even though they've been done dozens of times by a lot of different actors.

Speaking only for myself, I can only remember so much about what first drew me to the TMNT.  It was almost 20 years ago, so a lot of the first things are lost to memory, but this much I can never forget:  when I first saw that mini-series, I felt I already knew them.  Crazy, because I'd never encountered them before, but the feeling was still there: somehow, I already knew who they were.  If they already existed, that would explain that: I was making some kind of mental/emotional/spiritual/psychic connection to characters that already were fully fleshed out in another world, and there was nothing I could add or take away.

That's one possibility.

Theory: No, they didn't

The TMNT didn't exist before being created by E&L.  Beginning with the first books, and continuing through all the exposure the characters got in the late 80s and early 90s, all the thoughts about the TMNT--from creators, fans, everyone--helped bring life to the characters.  In a way, it became a group construction project: the more they were thought about, the more real they became, eventually taking on lives of their own.

Those who've read "The Secret" will know what I mean when I say: thoughts become reality.  I've used focused thought to win a Capitals road jersey, and I'm just one guy.  Picture millions and millions of TMNT fans out there, each of them making the TMNT that much more real with every thought they think about them.  Even if they didn't exist before E&L drew them up, all the millions and millions of thoughts about them in the past two decades-plus, will have long since been enough to bring them to life in a more thought-responsive dimension.

That's another possibility.

Good thread!  Let's have more discussion...

Raka

[LenniluvsBrian]

Wow. Very - [gah! what's the word!?!] - insightful! You make very good points. But technically, whether they existed before E&L or not, they still exist!


~Lenni~