Listen, I get it. I think back on some of my favorite childhood movies, and there’s a darkness there. I’m part of the generation that watched Dorothy get shock-treatment at the beginning of Return to Oz, saw Artax sink into the Swamp of Sadness in The NeverEnding Story, and realized that, even if Inigo Montoya got his revenge in The Princess Bride, he’d never get his father back — and I emerged a mostly functional adult. So yes, I understand that kids can handle tough emotions in media. And that it’s probably healthy for them to experience those feelings in small doses in a controlled, safe environment, where they can build up some resilience they can draw upon and use in other, real-life situations.
But seriously, you have to quit it. Stop trying to make my kid cry at the movies.
