Family Matters

Family is an integral part of many stories, and in my view, it is the cement that holds together three incredible tales. In Star Trek, we see how the family of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest hold the Enterprise together and work as a unit to overcome any obstacle that’s thrown in front of them. In Harry Potter, we actually see that Harry has at least three families, and they each help him become the hero he develops into. Finally, the Turtles are a family too. Yes, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles have an origin that explains how they really are a family, and I think it works pretty well for their dynamic. And it is, in my view, the family dynamic that helps make these three stories so enjoyable.

A New Family

When I watch The Man Trap, episode 1 of season 1 of Star Trek: The Original Series, I get a strong sense of what I think set this version apart from the original pilot…family. Sure, the network executives can say The Cage was too cerebral for the audience, but I think this episode has so much more soul than that pilot.

Captain Kirk really seems to care about his crew; Uhura and McCoy are vital characters that drive the story, and Spock is significantly more well rounded in this episode as well. It’s the interplay of all these characters as a family that makes this installment work.

While the pilot episode seems to have been written with Captain Pike’s command front and center, this episode makes it clear that there is a lot of teamwork that makes the Enterprise run. The captain is important, but he isn’t the whole show, it’s that teamwork…that family, that makes the show a success and ties it into my theme for the day.

Three Families One Child

Another story where I think family plays an important role is Harry Potter. In the first chapter, we actually see that Harry has three different families that he’s a part of.

First, we have his biological parents, James and Lily Potter, who die protecting their son from the evil Voldemort. While we don’t see much of them here in the first chapter of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the whole story begins shortly after their death. Eventually, we learn how much they loved their child and how that love helped protect him from Voldemort’s curse.

Secondly, Harry is part of the Wizarding family. Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Hagrid form the nucleus of this second family. They are great stand-ins for the parents Harry never got to meet, even though they are not related (as far as I know). In this first chapter of the story, they clearly love Harry very much, and it’s that love that prompts them to leave the child with his Aunt and Uncle. Growing up with a muggle family is an integral part of Harry’s development, so I think this was a good decision by the Wizards.

Lastly, we come to the family that I’m sure Harry would instead do without. The Dursley’s, Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley provide a roof over Harry’s head while he’s in the muggle world, but that’s about it. None of them are particularly good specimens of humanity, but they do feed and clothe Harry for a bunch of years. They also ground Harry by showing him how horrible people can be, even if they’re not intentionally evil.

I’m sure Harry would have been much happier with just the first two families, but I think this muggle family is just as important in the long run for Potter’s development. And it is family that I believe makes Harry Potter such an enjoyable story.

A Long Time Ago

Finally, the missing piece to the Turtles story is revealed in TMNT #5. I always wondered about things…I knew they were Teenagers…I knew how they were Mutants…I knew they were Turtles…but I never knew the story of how they were Ninjas.

Now I know.

We’ve had the origin story of how the turtles were in a lab experiment and how they were bathed in mutagen, but here we see the development of their personalities. Splinter was a father back in Feudal Japan who turned his back on the Foot Clan when they started indiscriminate killing. A father in that his soul began in Hamato Yoshi centuries ago.

Yoshi had four sons who he tried to hide and protect from the evil leader of the Foot Clan, Oroku Saki. But when Saki killed his sons, Yoshi swore he would destroy Saki and the Foot Clan when they met again.

I can only believe the Turtles are the embodiment of the Yoshi Clan and are determined to exact vengeance on the Foot. This rounds out the idea of how the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles came to be ninjas and why they have such a strong sense of family holding them together.

It’s a Wrap

These three stories highlight how important family is and how it can be used to tie such strange concepts as wizards, ninjas, and starship captains together. None of the characters in these stories work solo, and I’m not sure if they could, but wrap them into a family, and they can overcome all kinds of obstacles.

Ramble 2020.02.08 | Family Matters