While children of the '80s fight futile online battles against the corruption of their beloved franchise, the children of the '00s think both old and new versions of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are pretty silly.
I just don't know who to root for in the latest "Kids React" video from the TheFineBros. One moment I'm with the Romulan-looking kid, getting all excited about Leonardo, then I'm throwing things at my monitor as he declares the new movie turtles better. Of course I'm a big fan of the boy who disses Michael Bay, but at the same time I'm worried he'll hurt Yannick's feelings. So conflicted.
The takeaway here isn't really about the turtles themselves, but the way media is delivered to children in this day and age. The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were super-important to me in the late '80s, but back then they were one of a handful of adolescent-aimed properties, so they had a bigger hole to fill. Kids these days have a very lovely CG TMNT cartoon, but it's a mere fraction of the media they consume every week.
In the end, I was always more of an Adolescent Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters fan anyway. I'm taking my children and moving into a cave.