Thoughts on a second chance for “the female ninja turtle”?

The Coffee Man · 05-18-2015, 01:19 AM

To the members of the TMNT fandom who have heard of her, I have to ask, do you think that someone working on TMNT, whether it be on a movie, tv show or comic, should give the infamous Venus de Milo a second chance in the franchise?

This has been something I've been thinking about recently when watching the recent shows. I’m aware that she’s hated by the entire fandom and even the creators of the franchise itself, and for good reason, mind you. She was pretty much the embodiment of a Mary Sue. She tore apart the brotherhood of the turtles, the show itself stating that the turtles weren't related to each other just so she could serve as a love interest for one of them and was made out to be this character that the turtles needed on their side in order to fight the villains and yet she doesn't need them. Hell, I don’t even like her role in Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation.

But sometimes I can’t help but wonder if this was a character that just had the misfortune of coming out at the wrong time. Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation came out during a period where the franchise had hit rock bottom. During that period we had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, The Red Sky Seasons, the Coming out of our Shells Tour, that awful Christmas video and the Image Comics.

The show was complete dud, not only did it say that the turtles weren't brothers and introduce a Mary Sue character, it had crappy stories, the costumes were bad, the special effects were bad (though in its defense, this was a 90's live-action show), the choreography sucked, each fight scene had these obnoxious sound effects, the acting sucked and it was just trying way WAY too hard to be Power Rangers.

The Christmas Video and Coming Out of our Shells aside, this show was TMNT at its worst. It took five years after its cancellation to put the franchise back on track with the 2003 Cartoon. No one wanted to touch Venus de Milo after The Next Mutation, in fact she became a berserk button for Peter Laird, he hated her so much that when Turtles Forever was being made he made it a rule that there was to be absolutely no mention of Venus.

Now, while this can be seen as a good thing sometimes I can’t help but wonder what it would be like if she was put into the hands of a good writer. Maybe there is a way to pull her off well. Make her a character who’s on equal ground with the turtles, doesn't ruin the brotherhood of the turtles just so she can be in a relationship with one of them and doesn't have the entire story revolve around her. It can probably work. I wouldn't mind seeing the franchise give her a second chance.

That’s my view on the whole thing. Your thoughts?

05-18-2015, 01:19 AM	#1
The Coffee Man Random Punk Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Canada Posts: 21	Thoughts on a second chance for “the female ninja turtle”? To the members of the TMNT fandom who have heard of her, I have to ask, do you think that someone working on TMNT, whether it be on a movie, tv show or comic, should give the infamous Venus de Milo a second chance in the franchise? This has been something I've been thinking about recently when watching the recent shows. I’m aware that she’s hated by the entire fandom and even the creators of the franchise itself, and for good reason, mind you. She was pretty much the embodiment of a Mary Sue. She tore apart the brotherhood of the turtles, the show itself stating that the turtles weren't related to each other just so she could serve as a love interest for one of them and was made out to be this character that the turtles needed on their side in order to fight the villains and yet she doesn't need them. Hell, I don’t even like her role in Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation. But sometimes I can’t help but wonder if this was a character that just had the misfortune of coming out at the wrong time. Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation came out during a period where the franchise had hit rock bottom. During that period we had Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, The Red Sky Seasons, the Coming out of our Shells Tour, that awful Christmas video and the Image Comics. The show was complete dud, not only did it say that the turtles weren't brothers and introduce a Mary Sue character, it had crappy stories, the costumes were bad, the special effects were bad (though in its defense, this was a 90's live-action show), the choreography sucked, each fight scene had these obnoxious sound effects, the acting sucked and it was just trying way WAY too hard to be Power Rangers. The Christmas Video and Coming Out of our Shells aside, this show was TMNT at its worst. It took five years after its cancellation to put the franchise back on track with the 2003 Cartoon. No one wanted to touch Venus de Milo after The Next Mutation, in fact she became a berserk button for Peter Laird, he hated her so much that when Turtles Forever was being made he made it a rule that there was to be absolutely no mention of Venus. Now, while this can be seen as a good thing sometimes I can’t help but wonder what it would be like if she was put into the hands of a good writer. Maybe there is a way to pull her off well. Make her a character who’s on equal ground with the turtles, doesn't ruin the brotherhood of the turtles just so she can be in a relationship with one of them and doesn't have the entire story revolve around her. It can probably work. I wouldn't mind seeing the franchise give her a second chance. That’s my view on the whole thing. Your thoughts?