"The NeverEnding Story": More Than Just a Kids' Flick – A Descent into Authorial Anxiety?

Okay, so I've been revisiting "The NeverEnding Story" again, and something’s been nagging at me. Beyond the cool puppets (RIP Artax, seriously, traumatized for life) and the sheer imaginative world-building, I think there's a really interesting subtext about the power and responsibility of storytelling itself. Think about it: Bastian, a lonely kid who literally escapes into a book, ends up rewriting reality within that book – Fantasia. He's basically given godlike authorial control. But here's where it gets interesting: with every wish, he loses a piece of himself. Isn't that a pretty dark commentary on how creating worlds, even fictional ones, can consume the creator? I mean, look at the Nothing. It's not just some abstract force of destruction; it's the embodiment of lost stories, forgotten dreams, the death of imagination. And Bastian, through his apathy and unchecked wish-granting – becoming a tyrant, basically – almost creates more of the Nothing. It's like the movie is saying that bad stories, stories that lack purpose or meaning, are actively harmful, not just a passive waste of time. This connects to the whole theme of needing belief and imagination to sustain Fantasia. Without it, the world fades. It's a not-so-subtle jab at audiences who demand constant entertainment but offer nothing back in terms of critical thought or genuine engagement. And let's not forget the actual author of "The NeverEnding Story" within the movie. We never see him, but his presence is felt. He's given Atreyu and Falcor this impossible task, knowing what Bastian will do. Is he purposely trying to break Bastian down so he'll create better stories, or is he just doing an experiment? It's cruel either way. Maybe the point is that even the author can't fully predict or control how his story will be interpreted, and that is a scary responsibility. This makes me wonder if the director (whoever he was) was trying to say something about feeling overwhelmed with the amount of power storytellers have and the responsibility that comes with it. Maybe I'm overthinking it, but the deeper I go, the more I feel like "The NeverEnding Story” isn't just some feel-good fantasy flick; it's a complex, maybe even accidental, meta-commentary on the art (and burden) of creation. And maybe, just maybe, it's a warning to authors (and audiences) to take their roles in the storytelling process a little more seriously. What do you guys think? Am I way off base here?