[emag]

Oh, man, I lived through the '80s hysteria about D&D, to the point where one of my (parochial school) friend's mother wouldn't let him associate with the rest of us classmates if D&D was even suspected. Years later in college, I read "Mazes & Monsters", and while I thought it was an interesting story, I could clearly see the mental illness involved, which was entirely outside any concept of RPGs. If anything, one could lay blame at (spoiler warning!) J.R.R. Tolkien, for the "twin towers" references in his works and where the title character ended up.

Watching the video clips had me howling/cringing. The later frenzy directed at other RPGs, like the SJG stuff already mentioned, just pretty much seals the deal that "the previous generation" (let me live in the past, please) just didn't understand fiction/fantasy. That was a whole 'nother set of data points in my education/maturation process as an independently thinking adult...