Written by Melissa Mathison, directed by Steven Spielberg,
and produced by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment in 1982, E.T is on
the surface a movie about an alien who is accidentally left on Earth and found
by a young boy, Elliott, who initially wants to keep and care for him, and
eventually wants to return him to his alien family. However, E.T.’s arrival on Earth has also
been noted by the American Government who are searching for E.T. As the alien’s health deteriorates, and the government
agents close in on Elliott and E.T., the latter find themselves in a race
against time to return E.T. to the place where he can be collected.
This simple story remains popular even today, regarded as the
tale of a loving bond formed between two socially outcast characters, Elliott
(the middle child, lost in the family unit) and E.T. (the child-like alien,
lost from his own race). By the end of
the movie both characters have found their place among their own people – E.T.’s
family returns to Earth to collect him and Elliott’s sibling bonds are
strengthened through their united efforts to help him in his mission to save
E.T.
This blockbuster science-fiction movie can be read as both a
representation of eighties American culture, and also as a comment upon its
ideology when examined in a critical context.
For example, a key focus of Reagan’s political ideology was the
promotion of ‘the family’, interpreted by the political right as the nuclear
family. Certainly this movie furthers
such a promotion by focussing a large part of the story on the importance of
family (it makes much of the relationships between members of Elliott’s family
and of course, the key plotline is the return of E.T to his family). Despite some abrasive dynamics such as
sibling rivalry and isolation (depicted in the movie as a ‘normal’ experience
of the family unit) Elliott’s brother, sister and mother are able to come together
in times of difficulty to support each other (also depicted as a ‘normal’
family experience). However, Mathison’s ‘family
unit’ is not the one promoted by Reagan’s administration, instead Elliott’s
mother is a working, single parent, who, whilst she is effectively ‘managing’
the house-hold is ultimately able to put aside her own misgivings that the
Elliott/E.T. relationship brings about, and to take the lead from her
children. This very much turns Reagan’s
notion of the family upside down, here the single parent is celebrated for
being able to allow her children to take their own course of action and ‘do the
right thing’.
To some degree, the governments of 1980s America faced a loss
of confidence by the American people as a result of political issues and scandals
during the 1970s, for example, the resignation of Nixon in ’74 following the
Watergate scandal and of course the long, expensive and destructive Vietnam War,
which had generated a huge amount of political animosity. In this context, E.T. can also be read as a ‘people
versus power’ movie, for the enemy is the government, whom Elliott believes
will kill E.T. if they manage to capture him.
That is, the government will ultimately destroy the family unit. However, in spite of their dysfunction,
Elliott’s family come together to fight the government and ultimately, this
non-nuclear family succeeds in reuniting E.T. with his non-typical family.
Amblin Entertainment was founded by E.T.’s director Steven
Spielberg in 1981, and E.T. was the company’s second production, as well as
being the highest earning movie at the box office in history, an accolade which
it maintained for over a decade. The enduring popularity of the film is evidenced by the continuing
sale of E.T. merchandise including cuddly toys, talking toys, action figures,
keyrings, t-shirts and bedding to name but a few. In addition, the continued adoration can be
seen in the opening in of the theme park ride, E.T. Adventure at Universal
Studios, Florida in 1990, followed in 1991 by the opening of an additional ride
of the same name in Universal Studios, Hollywood, and another in 2001 at Universal
Studios, Japan. Although the latter two rides
were subsequently replaced by rides relating to more recently released
pictures, the original E.T. Adventure remains open today, thirty-four years
after the film was originally released.
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