Why John Lennon’s Son Wasn’t Allowed to Watch Commercials
TL;DR:
- John Lennon’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, said his father made him follow certain rules.
- John would not let Sean watch commercials.
- Sean said he would watch certain animated films over and over after his father’s death.
John Lennon’s son, Sean Ono Lennon, was not allowed to watch commercials. Sean explained why his father hated commercials so much. In addition, he revealed his father wouldn’t allow him to eat certain things.
John Lennon’s son said the former Beatle really liked ‘The Muppet Show’ but not commercials
During a 1998 interview with Rolling Stone, Sean discussed memories of his father. “I have a lot of memories of just talking with him, hanging out and watching TV,” he said. “I remember him playing guitar. I don’t remember any specific songs.”
John loved one show in particular. “I remember watching The Muppet Show with him,” he added. “He loved The Muppet Show.”
Sean explained why his father didn’t allow him to watch part of television broadcasts. “And he would always turn the TV off during the commercials,” he recalled “I would go, ‘Dad, we’re going to miss some of it.’
“And he would go, ‘No, we’re not,'” he said. “He’d wait two minutes, then put the TV back on. He told me that anything you ever see on a commercial is a lie.”
John Lennon would not let his son eat regular candy
John had Sean follow other rules. “I wasn’t allowed to eat refined sugar,” he said. “I wasn’t allowed to eat dairy. I grew up completely macrobiotic.
“The sweetest thing I had were these little dried fish, these Japanese fish,” he continued. “That’s what he would give me as candy. The first time I had a Coca-Cola was years after he died.”
Sean Ono Lennon discussed his mother’s parenting style
On the other hand, Sean described Yoko as a permissive parent. During a 2015 interview with Humanity, Sean said his mother was not the sort of person who felt the need to introduce her son to anything. He felt Yoko had a “laissez-faire attitude.”
In a 2006 interview with New York, Sean said the television served as his babysitter following his father’s death. He said he would watch Walt Disney’s Bambi 10 times over the course of a weekend, or the French film Fantastic Planet many times in a row and nobody would bother to stop him.
As a teenager, Sean enjoyed German expressionist films such as The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Sean said he was a “pseudo-intellectual” at the time. As he grew older, he was able to appreciate more childish fare such as Will Ferrell movies.
Sean eventually watched a lot of movies even if his father had issues with television advertisements.
