Yeah, we didn’t spoil it for Sophie, just let her go through the gamut of emotions, though we were surprised when she got upset because ET was leaving… we were like, “Sophie, that’s the entire point of the movie!”
The thing with the divorced parents
Growing up in the 70’s it was a theme in TV. The typical portrayal was The Brady Bunch. I never actually knew if the other parents were divorced or dead. I really couldn’t decide because if divorced, why didn’t they ever visit thier kids? If dead, why weren’t the kids ever sad about their dead parent? Same with the Partridge family.
There are two scenes about the missing dad, both feature some terrific acting and writing.
The first is after Eliot sees ET in the corn and tries to convince his family that he saw something that wasn’t a wolf/leprechan/deformed kid. The mother says, (with a really great undertone to her voice) how Eliot can tell ask his dad about it and then Eliot lets out some of his underlying anger with “I can’t. He’s in Mexico with Sally.” Clearly Sally is dad’s new girlfriend and perhaps she was his girlfriend before the marriage ended. The older brother’s reaction “I’m going to kill you” quietly to Eliot for upsetting their mother, Gertie’s confusion and mom’s “He hates Mexico!” is the kind of stuff that you rarely saw previously. The other scene is between the brothers when they are looking for parts for the ‘phone’. That we are listening in through the survailence van adds a great level to the scene. They smell dad’s cologne on a rag and talk identify it but don’t say much else but there is a lot being said by the actors in that scene in the subtext.
Unlike most entertainment of this type, this movie does not bring mom and dad back together or resolve any of these conflicts is another thing that makes it different from the typical depcition. Oliver Twist moves in with his rich relatives, Cinderella and Snow White marry the Prince.
Eliot, has no proof of his time with ET. The government is going to go into full denial mode and they will assaginate the character of any person, incluiding Eliot, who carries on the ‘crazy story’ of there being an alien befriended by a boy. Then of course the UFO nuts will worship Eliot as a god and that can’t be healthy.
Nope, those kids are doomed.
At 15, when it came out, I adored it and saw it multiple times. It was funny, sweet, scary, charming, exciting and wondrous. Though its tropes have been repeated a kabillion times since, and I’m far more jaded, and the effects seem dated (gotta say that E.T. himself is still an amazing achievement), I still haven’t changed my opinion. I watched it just this year and it sucked me back in. I admired the incredible performances, laughed at the funny lines, and cried when E.T. left.
At the time it seemed that most aliens in movies were evil, soulless, would-be Earth conquerers. If we met them in space, they’d battle and enslave us. If they came to Earth, they did so in creepy sleek ships bearing technology that would probably wind up killing or at least harming us in some way. They’d probably kidnap us and do unspeakable things, or at least remove us from everyone we love for decades if not forever. Space was scary.
Spielberg’s vision for E.T. gave us an alternative, one of the few to show us a creature who was emotional and sympathetic. He was a botanist who seemed just as enchanted by Earth stuff (like Reece’s Pieces and TV) as we might be of otherworldly technology. He befriended a bunch of very ordinary kids – not geniuses, not princesses, not superbrave heroes – in their very ordinary modern suburban setting. And when he displayed his own cool technology, it wasn’t unfathomably ‘alien’ – he used a freakin’ Speak ‘n’ Spell, an umbrella, a saw blade and a record player.
E.T. was both ‘other’ and ‘us’. He recognizable in a way that few (if any) aliens were at the time. Hell, the whole point of the link between Elliot and E.T. is empathy. The script adds a bit of darkness to this by showing us the danger in Elliot’s empathizing too much and forgetting that E.T. isn’t just a mini-human.
But here I am overanalyzing. In the end I think it’s exactly what Spielberg strived for: a remarkably entertaining, emotional, amusing, eye-popping movie.
If nothing else, he never gave us a sequel that everyone expected and I’m sure the studio desperately wanted, which proves that (despite the silly digitizing away the guns) Spielberg is indeed smarter than most of Hollywood.
I was 12 when this thing came out, and even then I thought it was tacky, sentimental crap. I’ve never been tempted to see it again.
What appalled me most at the time was that you couldn’t get away from all the ET merchandising. That was horrible beyond belief–ET underwear, ET big McMacs, ET glasses, ET video games, ET bibs, ET toilet seat covers, ET Tee Shits, ET plastic plate wear, ET reusable tampons (ok some of those I made up). But, the merchandising flood I admit colored what had been merely my ambivalence toward the movie with some hearty disgust.
ET to me stands for most of everything that was stinkingly bad about the 1980s. The rest is covered by Ronald Reagan and Culture Club.
I hope this is one of the ones you made up! :eek:
Oh god, now you’ve stepped in it.
Despite Alien and The Thing, the year 1982 gave us plenty of beneficent aliens – they abounded in Atar Trek I and Star Trek II, Buck Rogers, Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back, and lots of kids shows. Going back earlier there wrere lots of convivial alien folk on TV and in the flicks. Friendly aliens were by no means an innovation of ET.
choie enumerated many of the reasons I liked ET when it came out, and why it was enjoyed by so many. It was a different sort of alien. Star Wars was a movie about aliens who battled; here was another sort.
It is analogous to another movie that is reviled by many, and that is Dances With Wolves. For generations, we were subjected to the Indians of North America as people to be conquered, vanquished, wiped out, disposed of. The only good Indian is a dead Indian. Less than human.
For all its faults, Dances With Wolves provided a different view. To be sure, there were other movies that gave us Indians that were actual human beings (The Outlaw Josey Wales comes to mind, but I’m sure there are other examples). But this one was enormously popular, highly produced and make quite a bit of effort to provide some authenticity and present a view of history from the native point of view.
So, I guess my point is that this differentness made ET appealing to many people. To me, a soft-hearted teenager, it was magical.
Watching it again today (we purchased the 20th anniversary release and I’m *appalled *by the digitized changes) … it seems very dated. Not magical at all and I’m still somewhat of a soft touch. I think it was released right at the time that it was best appreciated – when the country was in a mood for a kinder, gentler Man From Space.
I am beginning to think that maybe ET was more popular with those that were less into older Sci-Fi and Sci-Fi themes. Some of the comments about how it was different are really beginning to make me scratch my head.
I might have to rent it just to see how my kids like it.
Really? I never saw much signs of Tron worship here at the Dope.
Yeah, but notice how all of these were set in the far future or so far distant from Earth – they weren’t exactly attempts to show what a regular, 20th century Earth society might experience.
Anyway, I never said it was the only one to show a friendly alien, but one of the few to do so. Spielberg’s decision to make E.T. a ‘regular’ nonscary little dude was a big part of the movie’s popularity (and longevity, I think).
Edited to add: Note that I’m a biiig Star Wars and Star Trek fan, so it’s not like I came to E.T. never having seen aliens before. But a regular alien in a regular suburban house with regular kids and regular (or at least identifiable) technology? That was unusual and a clever conceit.
In the first episode of The Partridge Family, Shirley Partridge said she was a widow. And one of the episodes of The Brady Bunch, little Bobby expresses concern that his dead mother (of whom he has a framed photo) will be upset by his “new mom”.
What episode of The Brady Bunch was that?
IIRC, it was the first episode.
I hate to even mention it, but Battle Star Galactica 1980 was before ET.
Star Trek visited Earth at least 3 times before 1982. Spock was involved every time.
There were some contemporary Aliens of non-humanoid shape in Josie and Pussycats in Outer space. 
Heinlein and the other Golden-Age writers had dozens of stories with friendly aliens on Earth.
The Man who fell to Earth was in 1976, but hardly for kids I will acknowledge.
I already mentioned the great movie, “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”
In “Close Encounters” itself the Aliens were friendly if mysterious. No combat of course.
Some of the those Killer Bs from the 50s and 60s had friendly Aliens.
Twilight Zone & Outer Limits even had a few friendlies.
Remember that ET was already dying when the scientist stepped in. It’s true that the scientific approach was not the correct one, but they didn’t cause the problem.
But what ET is really about is wonder, and the sense of wonder. While the scientists in general don’t have it, the Peter Coyote character does, and he is the one who gets to see the spaceship lift off. Remember how he tells Eliot that he’s been waiting for this day all his life. The scientists are show from Eliots point of view - big, mysterious, and faceless; but I’ve never seen them as evil. They are trying to save ET’s life, and the isolation may be to protect him as well as us. It might not be the right solution, but it is done in good faith.
It’s not clear to me that they would try to keep a talking, sentient ET a prisoner. There is the chase, but is that from lack of understanding on both sides, or is it only for that wonderful set piece?
I can certainly see how those looking at things from Eliot’s pov would consider the scientists to be evil, but the scientists are the good guys in Close Encounters, so I’m not sure that’s what Spielberg meant.
It was doomed from the start. It was basically a kids movie and Sci Fi. Those are death to critics. The 1953 War of the World should have been considered for Academy Award in my opinion. For the time great effects and great acting. But not going to happen. ET did not have a chance.
After the movie my son cried. I asked why, he said ET was gone and he wanted one. That was not my take.
What do you mean? ET has been positively reviewed by the vast majority (90+%) of film critics.
You’re conflating two different things: the responses of critics, and the responses of the members of the Motion Picture Academy.
The 1953 War of the Worlds won the Academy Award for its special effects, and was nominated for its editing and sound. E.T. was nominated for Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, and Editing; and won for Original Music Score, Sound, and Special Effects.
Hmm. Maybe growing up in a two parent household made me less likely to identify with Elliot? Yeah, this isn’t the first time I regretted my happy childhood–it will make for super dull memoirs!
It’s amazing how much goes over your head when you’re a kid. Elliot’s family came off as…a bit unpleasant to me, but it never really sunk in that living without your dad would be a fairly sad/life altering thing.
Still, the depitcion of children dealing with the death of a parent or a divorce is not delt with in the same manner in these shows or the movies mentioned or the fairy tales as it is in ET.
ET is not a fairy tale when it comes to those issues. Those issues are unresolved and will remain so.
Oh and the aliens in Close Encounters were pretty friendly, if a little weird.