"My mom left me ALONE in the living room with "The Day After" on the TV..."

Oh nooooooo.

The Neverending Story was a judgement call that I'm trying not to regret. It just felt so easy to me, considering how many times that movie has come up over the years in film related discussions, and the death of Artex.

Same with Optimus Prime in The Transformers movie. That one was HUGE, so I was glad that I didn't have to mention it.

But that Care Bears experience you've mentioned. That must be something in the way of compartmentalized trauma, because it just seems to me like it should be part of the conversation as much as the Transformers movie.