“Don’t look back, keep running”

Remembering death as i was growing up.

This is a selection of videos and images which I remember and how shaped my ideas, made me afraid and inquisitive about death as a child. 

There was a school safety video that has stuck in my memory for being particularly scary. It was one about the railway where the kids football boots get caught on the line as hes crossing the tracks, he gets stuck as a train is coming and his legs get cut off. His sister watches the whole thing, screams and then she doesn't speak again. I was always really affected by the fact that she was so scared that she never spoke again.  I've been trying to find this one for you but no luck here are some other equally chilling ones. Enjoy!

Dark and Lonely Water 

 

Aids Monolith 1987

The Smoker of the future 

 

Stay out of the Fridge!

 

Electricity

ET. 

I found ET's death memorable because it is actually a story of resurrection as he comes back to life.   E.T’s health begins to decline, and while Michael and Elliot go out for Halloween with E.T. The next morning Michael finds E.T dying in the forest, and when he takes him to Elliott realizes that he is also dying. Mary, Elliott’s mother, becomes frightened when she discovers her son’s illness and the dying alien, before government agents invade the house. Scientists set up a medical facility in the house, quarantining Elliott and E.T. Their link disappears, and E.T. then appears to die while Elliott recovers. A grief-stricken Elliott is left alone with the motionless alien.

This death is ingrained into the memory of all who watch it the film because the child with his childlike innocence and joys must face the grim realities of death through his friend. As he holds the lifeless corpse of his friend in his arms, we all feel the sadness and loss with him.  

The death of Artex. The Neverending Story

I always remember the death of Artex as a really sad moment of my childhood. It didn't matter how many times i watched it, i always cried. It place in the deadly Swamps of Sadness, that Artreyu must pass in order to see the ancient Morla, the wisest being in all of Fantasia. Arteyu’s passage is hindered though, due to his horse, Artax, who is enveloped by the sadness of the swamps and sinks into the mud. No matter how Atreyu tries to pull his trusty steed out of the mire of dark emotions, he must leave Artax behind, and watch as he sinks into the swamps depths. 

Disney Death

This YouTube video is a compilation on all the best known disney deaths

The death of Daphne in Neighbours

This one gave me nightmares for weeks! I used to watch the Australian series "Neighbours' religiously in my early teens and this death scene of the character Daphne struck me particularly when she came round from her coma said 'des' her husbands name and then tragically slipped away.