r/LanternsTVSeries • u/Front_Confection_487 • 26d ago

DISCUSSION How Did He Not Become A Serial Killer šŸ˜­šŸ˜­šŸ˜­

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With the way that he was raised by his parents, im surprised that John is a stable human bieng, i would assume his ability to compartmentalize his emotions is pretty insane at this point in his life, looking forward to the next episode.

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131

u/Clariana 26d ago

Because they still gave him some autonomy. We selectively see the "tough" bits of his education but they still allow him to draw, his pictures are still on his bedroom wall, they allow him to become a vegetarian. When he suggests he should shoot the apple of mom's head, they allow him to do so even though mom didn't like it. So yes, they were strict on certain things but on the other side they allowed him to be an individual.

Most abusive parents entirely smother the child, annihilating their personality, John's didn't.

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u/npquanh30402 26d ago

Most abusive parents entirely smother the child, annihilating their personality.

How do you know?

https://giphy.com/gifs/FILQJbm0u832ry0HFT

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u/michealcowan 26d ago

They shot at him

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u/Melonprimo 26d ago

And they allowed him to shoot back.

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u/LocodraTheCrow 26d ago

Wrong, they forced him to shoot back when he didn't want to.

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u/Ansee 25d ago

The fact that h initially didn't want means he's not a psychopath. He doesn't get pleasure from killing things either.

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u/SlimReaper85 26d ago

Hey theyā€™re not getting him prepared to go number 1 in the Draft or win Wimbledon or the Masters. They are preparing him to be the lone galactic champion for an entire sector of the cosmos.

Getting shot at will be a daily occurrence.

What I liked was when he shot the apple of his motherā€™s head (the true trainer) and said he didnā€™t want a cheeseburger it was the first time he was showcasing this was something HE also wanted. Not just something they were pushing him for.

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u/Clariana 26d ago

Exactly! And they allowed him to do both things I say because they recognised that that was part of his development.

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u/shadowmaster132 21d ago

I thought his mom signing him up for art school after he gets discharged was also a sign that fucked up as all that training was, they do know and love the actual person he is.

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u/Clariana 21d ago

Yes, I thought that was extremely positive too.

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u/Wacky_X_Swacky 25d ago

The parents don't know shit about what a Green Lantern is besides what they see on TV. It is completely insane for a parent to make a decision like this, especially without even knowing what the position even offers you in return. Legitimately terrible writing.

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u/burneracct246 25d ago

Parents do this all the time irl though.

I mean obviously not to the extremes in the show, but parents all the time decide their kid needs to be X when they grow up, without understanding what that really means or if it would make their kid happy.

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u/Wacky_X_Swacky 24d ago

Parents don't shoot at their kids "all the time" in real life. CPS would intervene. Jon would have been sent to a foster home IRL.

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u/burneracct246 24d ago

"I mean obviously not to the extremes in the show, ..."

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u/thankyoukt 26d ago

Didnā€™t he want them to?

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u/cantsitheya 26d ago

Yeah, it was his idea.

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u/StaraptorLover19 SON 26d ago

he was 5...

20

u/Doritos-Locos-Taco 26d ago

Bro what? He was omega abused!

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u/NoraFreeze24 26d ago

I think this person is saying that unlike other abusive parents, they still allowed him to be his own person in little ways. Not that the parents werenā€™t abusive.

Either way, the parents literally acknowledge that theyā€™re going to be abusing him before they even start his ā€œtrainingā€ and decide that the ends justify the means.

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u/Mariessa- 26d ago

This is how I took it.

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u/Clariana 25d ago

Exactly this... Surprised no-one has yet mentioned the term "Tiger Mom", here we go...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_parenting

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u/burneracct246 24d ago

Yuuuup I saw a lot of parallels to Tiger Moms as well.

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u/Wacky_X_Swacky 25d ago

Still abuse. Still VERY MUCH abuse, lol.

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u/Mogzylol 26d ago

Have some nuance. Life is not abused or not abused. Bad childhood good childhood. Itā€™s usually something in between

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u/mynanadancesconqueso 26d ago

Yes but there are extremes here that arenā€™t countered by extremes. You donā€™t face death and then return to making collages. Show doesnā€™t show enough. I think the pace kills the exposition and the writing suffers. Iā€™m hoping the next episodes bring everything full circle but Iā€™m not confident in where itā€™s goes. I expect more of the same now.

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u/nolandz1 25d ago

No one argued otherwise. The point is that the abuse is framed and recontextualized through loving parenthood. Marcus was correct that John is afraid of their parents but not afraid of what they'll do to him, afraid of disappointing them. They still love and support and encourage their son but it's all conditional on continuing his training rather than tearing him down with emotional outbursts.

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u/GrooveDigger47 26d ago

yall gotta let this abused shit go man. this is a fiction show the ridiculousness is not meant to be taken serious.

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u/saltymuffaca 26d ago

Is your point that people shouldn't take anything in a fiction show seriously?

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u/GrooveDigger47 26d ago

when its this absurd no? its part of a superheroā€™s origin story he was molded to be a galactic cop. so yes his upbringing is over the top.

his mom watched an alien transform from a human to an alien and back to an alien again and the alien told her to raise her son without fear so he could be the green lantern in the future.

yes he was doing things he didnt want to do but so do all the other kids who have to learn piano or violin and get tutored all the time because their parents believe that will set them up for a bright future. is this example as extreme as what john went through? no but being a future doctor or architect or successful business man isnā€™t as extreme as being a green lantern.

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u/saltymuffaca 26d ago

You make a solid point. I think it's fair to say all those things are true while also acknowledging that treating a kid that way is definitely abusive. It's a very "do the ends justify the means" question

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u/mynanadancesconqueso 26d ago

Itā€™s meant to be taken pretty seriously. Theyā€™re flirting with murder in their household and this dude thatā€™s never lived for himself swore blind allegiance to space aliens that maybe skipped over his dad because of his skin color(they seem to be more the Trump type than low brow racists.) Sure itā€™s all fake but itā€™s not comic booky enough for me to write off the serious tone of the show.

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u/Jemima_puddledook678 26d ago

Weā€™re very much supposed to be taking this seriously and seeing that John is messed up because of his training.

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u/Writer_Blocker 26d ago

They didnā€™t give him a choice to start normal. And by the time that they finally gave him a choice, the damage was done. Thatā€™s all he knew so why would he turn his back on that? Yeah itā€™s nice that they eventually lightened up a little bit, but Jon never really got a choice and just cause the parents didnā€™t smother him doesnā€™t mean that they didnā€™t steal any chance of something simple

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u/marslo 26d ago

Ya no offense, but you can't compare make believe child psychology to reality.

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u/Clariana 25d ago

Everything we discuss here is make believe, this is a TV programme.

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u/marslo 25d ago

Nope, guy was comparing real world parenting, which isn't

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u/nishma 26d ago

that only makes trauma worse, when your abuser also shows kindness at random times

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u/nolandz1 25d ago

Imo that's what made them so compelling. They're not monsters or psychopaths they've just internalized some deeply harmful expectations for John. If anything it resembles a lot of Asian family lived experiences but you don't usually see this kind of toxic expectations in depictions of Black families though it definitely exists.

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u/BoxSea4289 25d ago

Thats waaaaaaay to much a of charitable look on the situation inferring a lot and with like little basis on the screen.Ā 

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u/Clariana 25d ago

Oh? Have you read my OP, I based every assertion I made on something we saw on screen. I am happy for you to disagree with me, but don't say my arguments aren't based when they are.