When The Day After aired in 1983, I so wanted to watch it. It promised to be the television event of year. My parents, probably wisely, didn’t allow me to watch it, though, and it was probably a good thing: Mr. Rogers dedicated several episodes to calming children who had seen the film.
Now, over thirty years later, I discover it on YouTube.
The fear of the Cold War was so much more focused than the fears we face today. At least then, there was one enemy, and we could hope, along with Sting, that the Russians loved their children, too — and of course they did. Now, with the primary threat of nuclear explosions coming from terrorism, there’s the wild card element of religious fanaticism and the certainty that drives it.
I prefer the Cold War, if I had to choose. But I’d rather not have to choose — as if we can choose such things…