To me, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is one of
those classic films that can be seen over and over again and you can find
something that you never noticed about it before in previous watching's. This
was definitely certain while I was watching it in class. One of the first new things
that I noticed was the amount of smoke and fog that is found in the film. In
fact, while watching one of the first scenes with the kids sitting around the
table I noticed what looked like cigarette smoke billowing around them which
made it seem like the setting was a bar filled with adults rather than a bunch
of kids sitting around playing Dungeons and Dragons.
This was surprising to
me because before I had always thought of E.T. as a kids film about a boy who
befriended and shared feelings with an alien and it was as simple as that.
After re-watching the movie I think that it has much deeper issues impacted
into it including the breakdown of the American family. This cultural anxiety
is implicated in the film so much. The running theme of there being no father
around in the family, as he's "in Mexico with Sally" and the mother
being so distressed by this she doesn't even notice that her kids are housing
an alien in their room is huge. Not only
that, but all adults (except Mary) in the first half of the film are only shown
as mysterious silhouettes or (even more mysterious) shown from the waist down.
This is most prominent
for the character of Keys (ha keys, I see what you did there Spielberg). He is
not only completely mysterious to the viewer in the beginning of the film but
also in a way he is really scary and creepy. Then, his face is actually revealed
near the middle/end of the movie and (to me) he is STILL scary and creepy. I
never trusted him when he was talking to Elliot about how E.T. had "came
to him too." He was about as trustworthy as Elliot's actual father in my
mind.
There were some other
things brought up in Tomasulo's essay "The Gospel according to Spielberg
in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial" about the film that I also had never
noticed before. I am not very religious and was quite skeptical about how E.T. related to it before reading the
essay but now that I have, I do see a lot of the Christian imagery being used
in the film including E.T. being almost Jesus like and being resurrected and
such. The Christian imagery that was brought up that interested me the most
though, was the E.T. movie poster basically
replicating Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel artwork depicting God creating Adam. The
images really parallel each other.
Overall, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is still an
amazing film and will always be a classic no matter how many religious or other
comparisons there are and I loved finding new things about it.
When the movie first started I thought the kids were smoking in the kitchen. The fog was a little over done in the film but did help created the eery feeling of mystery. I think the scene with Elliot washing his plate and the fog billowing up around him was unnecessary. I think it was supposed to be the steam from the water but it was so intense it just got awkward.
ReplyDeleteI didn't make that connection with the kitchen scene looking like a bar but that does make a lot of sense now. Maybe to go along with the breakdown of the family, he was also making an analogy to kids growing up more quickly. That the boys were running the household and acting like adults by being up late and ordering pizza without the mom's permission.
ReplyDeleteSpielberg can be a bit heavy-handed with the effects and symbolism alright. Some good observations here. But what does it all add up to, do you think? What do the Christian symbolism, untrustworthiness of adult males (and father figures) and all the intrusive fog have to do with each other, do you think? Take that next step and see where your thoughts go! Also, use the reading a bit more explicitly--it makes your analysis stronger.
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