The Mysterious Mr. Enter / Jonathan Rozanski's "Growing Around" - IndieGoGo Campaign Failed, John going off the deep end, "Turning Red" is ignorant about 9/11 (later retracted)

[Crescent Fresh]

You know what would be a fascinating mental experiment? Explaining the entire premise and reality of growing around, but replace the terms “kids” and “adults” with “whites” and “blacks” and then see just how horrified someone gets. That’s basically what this is, an extreme alternate version of what would happen if the south won the war. Even more dystopic than Colombia in Bioshock(and coincidently, both are presented as a paradise by the creator)

First of all, ew, double post.

To actually respond, however, I think that might be the most fundamental issue with the entire thing: What rights do adults have?

When you’re growing up from a kid to an adult, you only gain rights. The right to drive, vote, buy M-rated games, see R-rated movies, drink, smoke, etc. In the GA universe, you lose the first two which are pretty inarguably the most important ones the second you turn 18, and the rest are completely unapplicable.

It kind of brings me back to my other point of “why even live past 18?” If you’re going to spend the rest of your life as an effective slave... literally, why live?

 

[Jumbo Gay Threat]

Maybe Growing Around marks the day when Enter turned 18 and thought that his life went down hill. After all, lots of people do stupid shit when they have a mid life crisis but in enter’s life it came a little earlier than expected.

 

[LiquidKid]

First of all, ew, double post.

To actually respond, however, I think that might be the most fundamental issue with the entire thing: What rights do adults have?

When you’re growing up from a kid to an adult, you only gain rights. The right to drive, vote, buy M-rated games, see R-rated movies, drink, smoke, etc. In the GA universe, you lose the first two which are pretty inarguably the most important ones the second you turn 18, and the rest are completely unapplicable.

It kind of brings me back to my other point of “why even live past 18?” If you’re going to spend the rest of your life as an effective slave... literally, why live?

Accidental double post actually. Happens to everyone once in a while.

As for the rights thing, ignoring the home for the childless, he has mentioned that some kids keep their job as adults somehow. My guess is so long as they sing mentally grow up, they’re fine? Idk, he still thinks that this is the show best suited to tell kids that it’s okay to grow up

Loathesome, absolute trash - blacklisting him quietly so this never gets made proper was the right move. And he can take his comparisons of far superior Western works of his that we all mostly know and love/tolerate and shove it up his pedo faget ass, honestly!

He'll never compete and must be forced to fail; the true horror to me, however, is how Entard still can't see the truth and face facts: He cannot compete and must fail.

I don’t think he was ever blacklisted, nor do I think he ever will be. That implies he ever made it far enough to make an impact on the industry. I would be surprised if anyone knows his name outside of that one person I had harassed.

What the fuck now I have so many more questions. Is this one of those weird spin-off episodes?

At some point, Enter decided to collab with Ava and write a crossover episode between Growing Around and Hammerspace (Ava's project). Yes, he decided to make a crossover for two shows that don't even exist. Interestingly, unlike every other script for Growing Around, Enter didn't write this fully by himself. According to him, Ava did actually help.
View attachment 1227189
Although you wouldn't be able to tell since the writing feels 100% like Enter.

If you guys go back a bit, I did a review and synopsis of that crossover.
It’s also worth going back a round that point because that’s when our boy NNewt made his first appearance

 

[BlueCandle]

If you guys go back a bit, I did a review and synopsis of that crossover.
It’s also worth going back a round that point because that’s when our boy NNewt made his first appearance

I will give Ava some credit I think she's a pretty competent artist all things considered, and Enter is very lucky that he managed to tard wrangle her to do his bidding. Especially considered that iirc the original artist who first designed the characters and artstyle got like redpilled or something and left the show and took the ownership of the artstyle with them, which is why a few of the images in his gallery credit some random third party for the character designs. At least I think I remember something like that happened but I might just be retarded.

Also, I think all of Newts posts on this thread were removed after his big sped out.

 

[MysticMisty]

Jumanji - getting sucked in board games, spiders the size of dogs, a goddamn plant that eats you. Giant mosquito who break glass.

I was in elementary school when the first Jumanji movie came out and, spoiler, nobody I knew was even remotely scared by the movie. I have a feeling Enter was one of those kids who was a massive pussy (everyone knew one at one point) and thus expects all kids to feel the same way because of the 'tism.

Watership Down, a movie where rabbits tear each other apart in a bloody mess is rated PG.

Much fuss is made over Watership Down by tons of people, which is likely the only reason why Enter felt he had to bring it up too. Yet a lot of people don't seem to know or care that Watership Down was a story the author would tell his young daughters on long car trips. They loved it so much they begged him to write it down and turn it into a "real" story, which he did.

 

[coach_mclurk]

It feels like Enter blames all the world's problems on cartoons not being moral enough. That's the only way I can see why he's so transfixed on kids' shows. Ironically the world would be a worse place if GA aired on TV.

 

[Tragedy of the Senate]

As for the rights thing, ignoring the home for the childless, he has mentioned that some kids keep their job as adults somehow. My guess is so long as they sing mentally grow up, they’re fine? Idk, he still thinks that this is the show best suited to tell kids that it’s okay to grow up

He said something about this in the Growing Around commentary video (Max's Many Birthdays). Around the 13-14 minute mark:

In fact, this concept and this show is the best place to teach that (it's okay to grow up) moral. If I can sell kids on it being okay to be an adult here, in my world, then it's sold to them everywhere else. How well did I do it in Max's Many Birthdays? Well, that's up to you. But I do think that this lesson is important to hear, whether I did it well or not.

Even after this video, I don't know how this show tells kids that it's okay to grow up.

 

[Piga Dgrifm]

Maybe Growing Around marks the day when Enter turned 18 and thought that his life went down hill. After all, lots of people do stupid shit when they have a mid life crisis but in enter’s life it came a little earlier than expected.

I don’t know. His childhood was an unhappy one if he’s to be believed. And we all know how he feels about the general concept of “school”. So I can’t see how he thinks playing vidya all day is a crisis. It sounds like he's got what he wanted, which was to do nothing.

On that note about school, I used to think his problems with it were to do with things like standardized testing or zero tolerance policies. Things that are reasonable to be bothered by. Minor power level, but the state I grew up in kind of went apeshit with standardized testing to the point we’d have several huge tests each year and it was really rare the teachers could actually teach much of anything because EVERYTHING needed to be based around these tests and nothing else. And when zero tolerance was brought into my school, if you reported that someone had done something shitty to you, you’d be the one punished instead of them.

I could understand Enter’s rage against the school system back when it seemed these were the kinds of things he was angry about. But several scripts in GA, most notably Childhoods End, show that these aren’t the problems he has. Just in that episode he shows that he thinks kids being proud of academic success is bad, schools having rules like “pay attention” is wrong, and that nobody should ever want to continue their education past high school and the only reason you would is because you were brainwashed. He has this very childish “I hate school!” thought process and never stops to consider what parts of the system are ACTUALLY broken and what parts are there for good reason.

 

[LiquidKid]

I was in elementary school when the first Jumanji movie came out and, spoiler, nobody I knew was even remotely scared by the movie. I have a feeling Enter was one of those kids who was a massive pussy (everyone knew one at one point) and thus expects all kids to feel the same way because of the 'tism.


Much fuss is made over Watership Down by tons of people, which is likely the only reason why Enter felt he had to bring it up too. Yet a lot of people don't seem to know or care that Watership Down was a story the author would tell his young daughters on long car trips. They loved it so much they begged him to write it down and turn it into a "real" story, which he did.

Water ship down was never a kids movie. The fuss is made because the British rating board didn’t realize this and just assumed it was a kids film because it was a cartoon. That’s the only reason it’s talked about, because British incompetence traumatized a generation of toddlers.
that's also why the follow up film, Plague Dogs, though the better movie by all accounts, isn’t nearly as remembered. That one was appropriately rated for adults

 

[Brit Crust]

It feels like Enter blames all the world's problems on cartoons not being moral enough. That's the only way I can see why he's so transfixed on kids' shows. Ironically the world would be a worse place if GA aired on TV.

I really dislike this black-and-white mentality that cartoons, especially those aimed at children, should teach life lessons. It's perfectly fine for children's cartoons to be irreverent; not every show or episode has to impart a moral.

 

[OverTheEdge]

Even though Chris is far more inept when it comes to writing, I would live in his setting over Mr. Enter's in a heartbeat if I had to chose. They're both terrible, but at least the insanity of the Sonichu setting is mostly restricted to CWCville. Meanwhile, Mr. Enter has crafted a whole world that operates under the same insane logic with nothing even remotely normal in it.

 

[Doctor of Autism]

I don’t know. His childhood was an unhappy one if he’s to be believed. And we all know how he feels about the general concept of “school”. So I can’t see how he thinks playing vidya all day is a crisis. It sounds like he's got what he wanted, which was to do nothing.

On that note about school, I used to think his problems with it were to do with things like standardized testing or zero tolerance policies. Things that are reasonable to be bothered by. Minor power level, but the state I grew up in kind of went apeshit with standardized testing to the point we’d have several huge tests each year and it was really rare the teachers could actually teach much of anything because EVERYTHING needed to be based around these tests and nothing else. And when zero tolerance was brought into my school, if you reported that someone had done something shitty to you, you’d be the one punished instead of them.

I could understand Enter’s rage against the school system back when it seemed these were the kinds of things he was angry about. But several scripts in GA, most notably Childhoods End, show that these aren’t the problems he has. Just in that episode he shows that he thinks kids being proud of academic success is bad, schools having rules like “pay attention” is wrong, and that nobody should ever want to continue their education past high school and the only reason you would is because you were brainwashed. He has this very childish “I hate school!” thought process and never stops to consider what parts of the system are ACTUALLY broken and what parts are there for good reason.

Enter was probably one of those kids who thought they were enlightened by asking "Why do I need to learn X when I could be learning real world skill" or how college is unironically evil...no wait he actually believes that.

 

[Shokew]

I really dislike this black-and-white mentality that cartoons, especially those aimed at children, should teach life lessons. It's perfectly fine for children's cartoons to be irreverent; not every show or episode has to impart a moral.

As someone who love him his cartoons and some very few anime, yeah. Forced morals == bad-to-worse episodes every fucking time, no matter where or what it is! Something I've learned and even endured from experience - experiences Entard has hypocritically all but ignored, himself, so far.

I don’t know. His childhood was an unhappy one if he’s to be believed. And we all know how he feels about the general concept of “school”. So I can’t see how he thinks playing vidya all day is a crisis. It sounds like he's got what he wanted, which was to do nothing.

On that note about school, I used to think his problems with it were to do with things like standardized testing or zero tolerance policies. Things that are reasonable to be bothered by. Minor power level, but the state I grew up in kind of went apeshit with standardized testing to the point we’d have several huge tests each year and it was really rare the teachers could actually teach much of anything because EVERYTHING needed to be based around these tests and nothing else. And when zero tolerance was brought into my school, if you reported that someone had done something shitty to you, you’d be the one punished instead of them.

I could understand Enter’s rage against the school system back when it seemed these were the kinds of things he was angry about. But several scripts in GA, most notably Childhoods End, show that these aren’t the problems he has. Just in that episode he shows that he thinks kids being proud of academic success is bad, schools having rules like “pay attention” is wrong, and that nobody should ever want to continue their education past high school and the only reason you would is because you were brainwashed. He has this very childish “I hate school!” thought process and never stops to consider what parts of the system are ACTUALLY broken and what parts are there for good reason.

What you pointed out about standardized tests and zero tolerance policies are exactly what holds American schools in general back from being any good. It's actually a darn good argument for why home school is on the rise. That, and getting kids into academy / boarding type schools, which is sadly expensive as fuck. I don't know all the solutions, I just know like anyone else, well - pretty much except Entard, we can and should be doing better - getting rid of BS like standardized tests and zero tolerance policies is a good start. Not an easy set of solutions, but it would be a starting step in the right direction, I must admit.

As for Enter hating school in general - well, I don't see him coming up with ANY real solutions that don't involve ripping off something from Codename:KND and doing it all horribly wrong, honestly. Besides him showing off his inner pedo and/or faget in increasingly scary ways.

 

[coach_mclurk]

Enter was probably one of those kids who thought they were enlightened by asking "Why do I need to learn X when I could be learning real world skill."

That's funny considering Enter has one of the cushiest jobs available and yet he hasn't bothered to learn any real world skills. Hasn't learned how to write, how to draw, how to communicate, etc. All it would have taken is time, which he has plenty of, and actual effort. Instead he makes up excuses and ignores criticism, believing himself to already be at the peak of his ability. If he practiced drawing every day and researched proper techniques, he could animate the show himself, or at least make a storyboard instead of dumping all his cash on useless commissions. But no, better to act like the world is out to get you and that improvement is impossible.

 

[Massively Strong Greed]

I really dislike this black-and-white mentality that cartoons, especially those aimed at children, should teach life lessons. It's perfectly fine for children's cartoons to be irreverent; not every show or episode has to impart a moral.

And if you are going to teach a moral, do it subtly. “Dear Princess Celestia” segments and the like are objectively bad writing.

 

[Master Shake]

And if you are going to teach a moral, do it subtly. “Dear Princess Celestia” segments and the like are objectively bad writing.

Probably why the show dropped it around season 3.

 

[tamago]

tl;dr "Gee, people complain so much about MY cartoon being dark, yet they conveniently ignore so many other examples of popular children's media that go even darker."

Yes, but when most other children's media goes into nightmarish territory, the protagonist is a victim of that cruelty; not the instigator. In a situation like "Growing Around," where adults are thoroughly abused and neglected by their child overlords, Mr. E is expecting his audience to always root for the overlords and laugh when the adults suffer, when any sane writer would take things in the exact opposite direction. Yes, the world can be terrible. Yes, some children should understand the world can be terrible. No, they should never be led by media to make the world even more terrible. This is what makes the premise of "Growing Around" so horrific.

Another thing is, in those shows where dark shit happens, there is a possibility for the characters to actually end it through some way. In his cartoon, not only is their life fucked due to something that they can't control, they become fucked forever. This show would make children terrified of growing up, and I'm assuming that Enter's stupid moral for this show is that it's ok to grow up? What on Earth even is it since he kept on sperging about morals in cartoons in his videos?

 

[Piga Dgrifm]

I legitimately have no fucking clue how he's built this world, where you lose your rights to drive, vote, have a job, and own property at 18, and if you complain you get sent to a torture camp where you're forced into diapers like an ABDL's wet-dream, then looked at it and thought to himself; "Yes, this will make kids less scared to grow up!" The only way I can see this show teaching kids that is they learn to accept the stressful responsibilities that come with being an adult IRL because at least they aren't in this hell-world. And I know that isn't his intention.

 

[LiquidKid]

Another thing is, in those shows where dark shit happens, there is a possibility for the characters to actually end it through some way. In his cartoon, not only is their life fucked due to something that they can't control, they become fucked forever. This show would make children terrified of growing up, and I'm assuming that Enter's stupid moral for this show is that it's ok to grow up? What on Earth even is it since he kept on sperging about morals in cartoons in his videos?

He’s also missing the point.
Dahl is punishing bad kids for being bad and rewarding Charlie for being good(that’s also that one book he wrote where the couple steals cum of celebrities to sell to women who want celeb babies, but that’s another issue entirely).
The stories with dark elements are intended to show bravery, overcoming tough obstacles, and self confidence. You need a big bad for there to be a big good. It just so happens that the big bad is most effective when it’s a little scary.
There is no big bad in GA. The horror comes from the casual human rights abuse

 

[tamago]

He’s also missing the point.
Dahl is punishing bad kids for being bad and rewarding Charlie for being good(that’s also that one book he wrote where the couple steals cum of celebrities to sell to women who want celeb babies, but that’s another issue entirely).
The stories with dark elements are intended to show bravery, overcoming tough obstacles, and self confidence. You need a big bad for there to be a big good. It just so happens that the big bad is most effective when it’s a little scary.
There is no big bad in GA. The horror comes from the casual human rights abuse

The big bad is apparently the people who want their rights back... hmm....
I know it is a really autistic way of Enter making a fantasy world "for kids" but he doesn't know anything about kids other than he likes seeing them crossdress.