Like most educational shorts from the 50s, Don’t Be Afraid is about a boy named Billy with a mother who wears a nice dress with an apron over it at all hours of the day.
Unlike most educational shorts from the 50s, Don’t Be Afraid centers on the terror of being alive. Buckle up for the existential dread of simply being Billy, kids!
Billy’s afraid of everything, and his mom’s not afraid to shame him for it. Things in the closet, warm stoves, climbable gutters, friendly school janitors - they all chill young Billy to his core. Mom tries to help Billy by pointing out that other kids are afraid of things, too, like dogs and bringing home bad report cards to judgmental parents. But those kids are wrong to be afraid, Mom says. The world is full of scary things, Billy, and everyone is afraid, but you shouldn’t be, because being afraid is wrong. Get it, Billy? Do you feel better now, Billy??
