I’ve been showing favorite childhood movies to my kids (as you do). Man, they sure are violent. It doesn’t seem to bother my kids (didn’t bother me either, I don’t think…) but this sadistic, monstrous scene from Sword in the Stone has forever scarred us all.

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I have to warn you before you watch this scene again (don’t watch it for the first time, just don’t)—I feel like when it ended, a part of me was lost forever. I can never be fully myself again:

There’s no resolution. We don’t pick up the story later. It’s just pure sadness, loss, a death deeper than death.

77.4% of these movies begin with one of the protagonist’s parents dying but nothing touches the sadness of this girl squirrel. Nothing.

Perhaps the innate defenses we have to protect us from serious trauma (like the death of a parent) don’t get triggered by this girl squirrel scene, so we’re open to the full spectrum of excruciating pain.

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As someone who lost his mom at 5 years old, I can tell you, there are some complicated (if crude) protective mechanisms in place, kind of like a safety valve that shuts off when the flow of negative emotions is too great.

I wonder if the Disney scientists discovered the optimal, maximum pain they could deliver without triggering the safety valve, forever altering all children with the true pain of loss.

One thing is clear: Ratings boards don’t know what’s going to have the biggest effect on kids.

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