# I Hate E.T.!!!!
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [March 21, 2002, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398 "2002-03-21T20:40:04Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 3
### Author:  [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2002, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398/41 "2002-03-23T15:31:40Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by riserius1 \*
> \*\*Imagine my dismay when, 10 minutes into the movie one of the characters refers to another as “penis breath”. Nice family movie, eh? \*\*
I very well may be misremembering here, but I thought that line came from _Close Encounters of the Third Kind._
Was that line really in _E.T._?
---
### Author:  [@snermy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snermy)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2002, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398/42 "2002-03-23T15:58:50Z")
I don’t hate ET but I was certainly underwhelmed.
I saw it when I was 10 in 5th grade. I thought it was okay, but I didn’t go gaga over it. My 5th grade teacher apparently did. She made the entire class read the “book of the movie” (to this day I know it was hacked…er…written by William Kotzwinkle. Yes, let us not teach our child to know the names and work of good books, let’s get them focused early on that maligned subset of leeterature that is “based on the motion picture!”. ) There was a quiz and we had to do a book report. It wasn’t badly written, and I’m sure Kotzwinkle had bills to pay, but dang!
What I remember not liking with the movie was the “magic” ending-yeah, it was cool how ET could make everyone fly and stuff, but he could only do after almost dying? How about to avoid the plastic sheeting crowd in the first place? And then he’s some sort of psychic vampire who gains strength when you love him a lot? Please, either just make him a magic bunny from frou frou land with special magic glitter power, or give us _some_ stab of an explanation how this thing worked…
Also I was bother by how it showed all the adults at first just wanting to get rid off/lock up ET. I didn’t want to believe we would really do that, so for me instead of being ‘feel good’ it kind of made me wonder how naive I was. Yeah, I was raised with a lot of wheat germ (really excellent on mac-n-cheese), no tv, milking our own goats and keeping every kind of pet know to man. Mom and Dad were the ones I went to if I wanted to rescue some critter, and I thought the movie was pretty damn cynical about evil adults vs the innocent love of children.
[slightly off topic and rambly]
This is one of my least favorite things about kids in movies in general, kid aren’t angels or devils or cute little punchlines. They have their whole interior life too and deserve more than to be treacled up and dumbed down in movies for adults.
Now movies _for_ kids are entirely different. I personally liked fairy tales. What I didn’t like were all those greasy “realistic” 70’s movies…you know how everyone was running around with shiny faces, bad hair and bad lighting, kids squabbling and parents threatening divorce… Yeah, it was more realistic, but as a kid I didn’t want realism, I wanted idealism and fantasy. One of my favorites in our video collection was Cocteau’s _La Belle et la Bete_ because it was so dreamy looking. Still is actually. But some kids obviously really like ET, they could do a lot worse…
---
### Author:  [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2002, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398/43 "2002-03-23T16:05:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Rysdad \*
> \*\*
>
> I very well may be misremembering here, but I thought that line [“penis breath”] came from _Close Encounters of the Third Kind._
>
> Was that line really in _E.T._? \*\*
Yes it was. The line “penis breath” has appeared on many a list of Things Steven Spielberg Has Refined, Added, or Removed For The 20th Anniversary Edition of _E.T._ (in this case, removed).
---
### Author:  [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2002, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398/44 "2002-03-23T16:06:06Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by riserius1 \*
> \*\*I remember when this awful movie came out, everybody and their brother (including a few reliable friends of mine) described it as “the Wizard of OZ for our generation” among other things. After tons of hype I relented and took my 7-yr-old sister(I was 17 at the time) to see it.
> Imagine my dismay when, 10 minutes into the movie one of the characters refers to another as “penis breath”. Nice family movie, eh?
> Things seemed to go ok until the scene where the scientists/guys in spacesuits arrive WITH NO WARNING!!!
> So imagine these big scary spacesuit guys show up and my sister starts crying,“Who are they? What are they doing?”.☹
> Then the best part, where they start defribillating ET to revive him. My sister has not realized that ET was dying as they weren’t very clear about that particular plot point. So, to her it looks like they are killing ET. 😕
> Again, nice family movie, eh?
>
> Thank god my 6-yr-old has seen the commercial and is absolutely against anything having to do with it.
>
> A pox upon this movie, I say.
>
> Chris W \*\*
I have to disagree… kid movies really patronize kids, especially Disney garbage! Hey, this stuff exists in real life, (not E.T.), but death does, bad language… to sugarcoat everything will give people a false idea of what life’s like. I know kids who grew up completely sheltered and they are the people who can’t deal with life. Anyone who stays away from things like this as if don’t exist is going to be in for a rude awakening. I don’t blame them. They have minimal friend, and get seriously depressed by the news. I’m not saying it’s right for your sister, or even you at 17, but I would hate to see all kid movies that the more sensitive kids can’t go to be eliminated. This is why I wan’t to see a goonies part 2, In the first, the kids act like… KIDS!? GOONIES Isn’t know for it’s deep plotline, it’s know for the rag-tag characters who didn’t have movie-going kids wanting to kick the crap out of. Most kids in the 90’s (not so much now), HATED those teen boys in all those…“She’s All That” types of film. (I’m 21, and, I DO hate most of the characters in American Pie, but other’s I guess are ok with them!?).
Back to E.T. Kids 6+ were probably exposed to the content of that movie before they even saw it. You never said a “penis breath” like thing to, or around, your sister before that movie? It also shows a single mother trying to bring up her kids right, and in real life, it’s tough for 2 parents to keep kids blurting out things once in a while. Now most PG-13 and R rated things, exaggerated realities, like “this is a bad day for the not-so-by-the-book cop, ‘Jimmy Jicnick’”. That’s why they are rated what they are.
Ok, so E.T. isn’t real, but it’s a story… -stories are often about extrodinary things, happening to ordinary people. And, even though I hated this movies, and didn’t see a point to it, I think it depicts the family well… at least in the beginning.
I know there is a “too young,” so any parent that concerned might see it before showing their kids. If they don’t wish to spend the money or time, then don’t have anyone see it. I think there’s fair warning… ET scared that CRAP out of me when up to age 11. Anything about an alien that looks like that, should warned parents that if they have a sensitive child, they should take the older people in the family. It’s a family movie because it has real issues. Those HBO shows about eating disorders was dubbed as “family TV.” I wouldn’t say those HBO shows would even MAKE SENSE to a young child, but it has family topics. Doesn’t mean the who family should see it.
The new E.T. took out that “Penis breath.” BTW
What I am saying is just because your sister didn’t like it… or, did she??? Doesn’t make it “wrong”, just wrong for you and your siss.
---
### Author:  [@snermy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snermy)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398/45 "2002-03-23T16:41:04Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by MyFootsZZZ \*
> \*\*
> I have to disagree… kid movies really patronize kids, especially Disney garbage! Hey, this stuff exists in real life, (not E.T.), but death does, bad language… to sugarcoat everything will give people a false idea of what life’s like. I know kids who grew up completely sheltered and they are the people who can’t deal with life. Anyone who stays away from things like this as if don’t exist is going to be in for a rude awakening. \*\*
Agree and disagree. Obviously, I was at that movie, I also wasn’t that young. I also think that there are a lot of crappy kid’s movies, but I don’t think it’s the sugar coat so much as the total lack of substance under the sugar as well. Kids don’t have to watch 5 tv killings a day to know things die, they’ll get more heartache from when Fluffy dies anyway… On the other had, I don’t think parents should tell kids that Fluffy went to live with someone else. But that has nothing to do with giving kids _good_ stories versus depressing, confusing crap. Charlotte dies in Charlotte’s Web, but she doesn’t spend the whole book calling Wilbur a “poopy head pig” just because some focus group established that this phrase will crack up yer 4-8 demographic.
I don’t see how it necesarily follows that a rude awakening at 4 or 6 is better than a rude awakening at 10 or 12. And I’d rather let kids decide how what they can aspire to from the best example of what our people can create than the worst. Or the mediocrest, in E.T’s case —\>desperate attempt to get back to the op since I don’t want to start/abandon a GD today 😉
---
### Author:  [@Atreyu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atreyu)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398/46 "2002-03-23T20:18:56Z")
> [@](#):
>
> _Originally posted by mobo85_
> **Yes it was. The line “penis breath” has appeared on many a list of Things Steven Spielberg Has Refined, Added, or Removed For The 20th Anniversary Edition of E.T. (in this case, removed).**
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by MyFootsZZZ \*
> **The new E.T. took out that “Penis breath.” BTW**
As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I saw the new version of “E.T.”, and the “penis breath” line remains intact in it. I’m not sure where the story of the line’s removal from the movie got started, but it is a completely inaccurate story.
---
### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2002, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398/47 "2002-03-23T21:08:43Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Atreyu \*
> \*\*
>
> The other major change was the addition of an early scene that takes place primarily in the bathroom. I liked this scene, and it adds a bit of foreshadowing and some explanation for what really may have happened with E.T. later in the movie.
>
> \*\*
It’s been YEARS since I’ve seen ET-what exactly happened in this scene, and what did it foreshadow?
I forget-why did he get sick again?
---
### Author:  [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)
#### Post date: [March 23, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398/48 "2002-03-23T23:07:54Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Atreyu \*
> \*\*
>
> As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I saw the new version of “E.T.”, and the “penis breath” line remains intact in it. I’m not sure where the story of the line’s removal from the movie got started, but it is a completely inaccurate story. \*\*
I’m sorry, I thought I read all the posts on this topic. My bad.
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by snermy \*
> \*\*
>
> I don’t see how it necesarily follows that a rude awakening at 4 or 6 is better than a rude awakening at 10 or 12. And I’d rather let kids decide how what they can aspire to from the best example of what our people can create than the worst. Or the mediocrest, in E.T’s case —\>desperate attempt to get back to the op since I don’t want to start/abandon a GD today \*\*
I know what you mean. What I meant was that kids of early ages might not have a problem with E.T. the movie, but might get a little “tense” when E.T. dies. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a positive experience. Just as some movie are tense for older people. It doesn’t depend on age, it depends on the child, and that’s why Parental Guidance is, well… Suggested. People don’t think about what “PG” means enough. I think it covers a wide range of movies, for a wide range of kids. I could take my 6yo make cousin to ‘The Truman Show’, he would get it. My 9yo female ‘cuz’ would have no clue as to what’s going on in the movie.
Only reason why I’m defending E.T. is because it’s content is one of the few things I appreciate about the movie. I don’t want that to die out in PG movies. I think some PG’s should have “spiced up content” thrown in, (did I mention the Goonies)… That being said, I WASN’T ready for E.T. My parents, (dad mostly-- my mother would have let me go see it, but my father talks her out of things;)), did some talking around and read up on the movie, and new it wasn’t MyFoots material. (this was when it was on video, my brother rented it, I was 2 when it came out.) Just think about the young actors though… they had to bring up tears, get very mad, pretend like all this is real and happening to them.
Getting back to the OP; yeah… E.T. was bad. I didn’t ‘HATE IT’ as much, but I can see why you would. I’M REALLY SHOCKED that it made it so big.
When I was four or so, it was weird times growing up. When I slept over at my two older cousins house, they had Star Wars bed sheet. They had HUGE Raiders of the Lost Ark posters. The rooms were pained dark blue. They had audio tapes of the E.T. story. Even the little picture of E.T. freaked me out on the cassette. But aside from E.T. “Adventure” was popular, and space was too. There was a huge picture of some space shuttle in their rooms. My brother would bring over his kids book about space with Charlie Brown and gang as the stars. They would look at the pictures and say stuff like: “Look what it says here!!”. Even then, at the ages of 4, 5, 6, I pretty much knew that this was a weird time to be alive and as young as I was. And to this day I feel the same way.
It was pretty scary to me, and E.T. was no exception. So maybe the reason why E.T. seemed like a stupid movie to me was because I had to wait a while to see it. When I did, I was too old. I didn’t loose my childlike wonder, there were scenes in E.T. I could appreciate greatly. Even though this was product placement, I really likes the Recess part. Now I learn the it was supposed to be M&M’s. But the good of the movie never pieced together and, though it made a lot of money, it’s still not remembered today like other movies are, even with the re release.
---
### Author:  [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)
#### Post date: [March 24, 2002, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398/49 "2002-03-24T00:38:36Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \*
> \*\*
> I forget-why did he get sick again? \*\*
I think it was because he wasn’t used to the Earth’s air. The whole reason they go to Earth was to collect plants, and you see this in the movie; as they were traveling botanists. You also get a short glimpse of inside their space ship; steamy to keep the plants healthy. I’m assuming what ET needed was a very humid atmosphere; something California didn’t provide.
[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-e-t/99398.md?page=2)