Romance and Interpersonal relationships:
The interpersonal relationships between April and the turtles in which one first assumes should be inverted. It is not the turtles that desire April; it is April who desires the turtles’ affections, to be their object of desire. April who is both sexually frustrated and confused (much like the female protagonist of Max mon amour, how does one explain the concept of a mature woman being sexually interested in a bunch of under aged “teenage” giant mutant reptiles?), is forced to conform with the normalcies of accepted societal standards even though she herself is the best radical field reporter of NYC. She contends with the hopeless struggle at trying to show society the truth (while also being a women) when the truth to the situation is that there is no truth (the very impossibility of both audiences ever taking anything she has to report on seriously); a job as significant as shoveling snow and she knows it and yet she has no hopes of escaping until she met the TMNT and becomes a willing convert to their organization and their cause.
The turtles on the other hand are fully at home with their identities which they often repeat with the phrase, “I just love being a turtle!” They know they cannot ever integrate into human society, they know they are completely incompatible and hence the need to always remain within the shadows, to hide from society and to not reveal themselves in any way possible (they conform to the monetary system and pay for all their material goods, pizzas and so forth, not out of moral convictions but merely to keep their existence concealed). The turtles contend with the presence of April and keep her entertained for very practical reasons: for reconnaissance through April’s media connections and for financial support for their organization, there is no romance and this is utterly clear at the end of the movie without the slightest hint of emotional response at the union of April and Casey Jones.
In order to fulfill April’s desires as turtles, they recruited the violent deranged psychopath known as Casey Jones. Casey is explained to be an ex-professional hockey player whom suffered a terrible injury ending his career, but considering his violent outburst towards members of society whom he deems as crooks are acted out with such physical precision, that can almost even rival the turtles themselves in physical ability, one then can assume that the injury suffered was extreme head trauma leading to his deranged and psychotic state. This makes him a highly useful member to the turtles’ organization; easy to manipulate and highly obedient, physique of an ogre, low maintenance costs, willing to carry out tasks that lead to self-destruction, etc.
To be Continued…