15 ’80s Movie and TV Scenes That Left Kids Emotionally Scarred

As the internet saying goes: «If you watched these movies and TV shows in the ’80s, you may be entitled to compensation.»

We’ve previously covered the things that kept ’80s kids up at night, but now it’s time we get a bit more specific and put the spotlight on the movies and TV shows we watched that left us with — let’s just say it — emotional scars. Having fun yet?

The Movies and TV Moments That Totally Blindsided ’80s Kids

Some of these were actually made for kids. Some weren’t, and if our parents couldn’t find a sitter, they just dragged us to the theater when the ratings system was in its adorable infancy. A few we were actually forced to watch in school, a somewhat traumatizing and weird way to keep us Goonies off drugs, away from strangers, and aware of the reality of nuclear war. What the heck, man?

The one phrase that pops up when ’80s kids talk about these moments is the same every single time: «I’ve never fully recovered from watching…»

Stranger Danger, Nuclear War, and Dead Horses: The ’80s Scenes That Hit Different

On television, these themes were usually part of the now cliché «Very Special Episode.» Sitcom writers would dramatically pause the laugh track, throw a crushing out-of-left-field storyline into the middle of an otherwise bubbly, happy-go-lucky series, and let us deal with the aftermath.

READ MORE: Think You Know ’80s Movies? Try to ID These From Just One Frame

What we have here are 15 of these moments — scenes from movies and episodes from TV that left us emotionally wrecked. A note on format: for movies, we’ve focused on a single crushing scene. For TV, we are highlighting the entire gut-punch of an episode. We’ve also provided clips when possible.