12 Things That Scarred Us In The '90s

If you haven't noticed, people who grew up in the '90s aren't really over having grown up in the '90s. We have a lot of nostalgia for the '90s, there are a lot of things about the decade that we put on a pedestal and romanticize. There were also a lot of things about the '90s that left us terribly, awfully scarred for life. Some of them were actually just horrible things, like the idols we lost, and others, like accidentally man-slaughtering our electronic pets, were a bit more frivolous — but scarring nonetheless.

There are a lot of things '90s kids just can't let go of — unlike Jack in the middle of the ocean after the crash of the Titanic, who most certainly did let go. Which incidentally, is one of the things we can't let go of. Confused yet? Anyway, the point is, the '90s left us with several scars, and we wear them now like badges of honor. Different things affected different people in various ways in the '90s, but many of us have been left with similar afflictions and dark memories. Here are the things that scarred us in the '90s, and that we may truly never move on from.

1. Watching The First Scene In The Dark Crystal Where The Weird Beaked Thing Dies

Sure, the Dark Crystal came out in 1982, but if you can show me a '90s child that wasn't forever scarred by the scene where the weird beaked creature turns to dust at the start, then I'll eat my hat (of course after first buying a hat, as I don't actually have a hat).

2. The Death Of Jack On The Titanic

Rose said "Never let go," but what did Jack do? HE LET GO. And consequently, scarred a generation of children who believed in the promise of forever.

3. The Fact That Freddie Prinze Jr. Only Liked Rachel Leigh Cook After He Made Her Over

All our ideas about love and attraction and self worth were really rattled by She's All That in the '90s. The idea that we could be desirable to a hot guy if we COMPLETELY CHANGED OURSELVES was damaging to a whole lot of '90s girls.

4. Cher And Josh Falling In Love In Clueless

Likewise, it was very confusing to be a kid idolizing a BROTHER and SISTER falling in love, even if they were step-siblings (no excuses).

5. Accidentally Killing Your Tamagotchi (Probably On Multiple Occasions)

It wasn't like you meant to kill your Tamagotchi. It's just that for whatever reason (maybe your parents banned you from it, or it wasn't allowed at school), you weren't able to feed it, or you neglected it, and it died. It wasn't your fault. But being an accidental murderer still left you scarred.

6. Reading Too Many Goosebumps Books

Who decided reading intense horror stories was a good way for children to spend their time anyway?

7. Losing Kurt Cobain

Being confronted, for the first time, with the death of your idol was, to say the least, difficult. It wasn't easy to get over, and it's likely you still remember where you were and how you felt when you heard about the passing of your idol.

8. When Anjelica Huston Pulled Her Face Off In The Witches

Holy mother of God. I still have nightmares about the scene in The Witches when they reveal their "real" faces.

9. When Mufasa Died In The Lion King

Mufasa was our Bambi's mother (although that was pretty heart wrenching if you watched it in the '90s, too). Chances are you're still pretty traumatized by his needless death.

10. Death By Bees In My Girl

Let's be clear on something. My Girl is not an appropriate movie for children. Or anyone. I don't know why our parents let us watch it in the '90s. Macaulay Culkin dying of bee stings is pretty much the worst thing that happened in the entire '90s, and chances are you're welling up even thinking about it right now.

11. Never Seeing Wilson's Face on Home Improvement

Creepy faceless neighbor is creepy, no matter how wise he's pretending to be.

12. When Your Hyper Color T-Shirt Stopped Hyper Coloring

Eventually, all hyper color t-shirts stopped working. They just... Lost their hyper colored-ness. Then they looked like tie dye t-shirts, which was OK, but it was no magic hyper color. R.I.P., all the joy in our hearts.

Images: 20th Century Fox; Giphy (6)