"ET, the Extra Terrestrial" Analysis

The film, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, communicates particularly meaningful commentary on the concept of authority and social status throughout the film. Various characters, as well as some missing characters, as well as the treatment of ET bring to light reactions to social status and authority as well as how people tend to use or misuse their authority.

At the beginning of the film, the viewer can only hear ET, and it is through the sounds he makes that they understand his sense of panic, his distress as he tries to escape from potential danger. The sounds he makes though sound like a mix between a pig’s grunt and a dog’s bark. Then on meeting Elliott, ET is treated more like a pet than an equal. Elliott even makes the comment, “I found him, he belongs to me!”, asserting his ownership of his new friend. Throughout the film, ET is referred to as a goblin, a bald monkey, and and a pig. Another instance demonstrating ET’s status is when he is dressed up by Gertie. When Elliott’s older brother Michael finds him, he comments, “Let him have his dignity!” ET is repeatedly demeaned and belittled, even by the children who become his friends. Even the scenes showing the searchers looking for him are reminiscent of a slave-catcher searching for a slave, digging through the underbrush for tracks.

Another interesting absence of authority is that of Elliott’s father. This lack of authority figure has a dramatic impact on the plot of the story as well as the character development. One of the driving forces in Elliott’s ability to keep ET hidden is his mother’s relative neglect. She does enforce some rules and standards within her home, exerting some authority, but as a result of her husband leaving her and traveling to Hawaii, she seems overwhelmed by her responsibilities as a caregiver and breadwinner. It seems relatively easy for Elliott and Michael to get around and outsmart her. She, as well, as all the majority the adult figure in the film, seem oblivious to the drama unfolding, literally under her nose. Spielberg's use of this universal feeling of alienation from parental figures makes Elliott and his siblings very relatable characters.

The main authority figure present throughout the film is the shadowy government agents and scientists who are searching for ET. For most of the film, they are unsuccessful as Elliott and ET seem to continually outsmart them and his mother. Elliott also makes mockery of his teacher’s authority in the scene where he releases the frogs from death and mutilation by dissection.

If an authority figure, such as a father had been present in the family, the situation would have unfolded very differently and Elliott’s response to ET would have been different as well. Elliott is the quintessential child of divorce, dealing with his parent’s situation and feeling isolated, until ET appears and fills to emptiness that his father’s absence produced. This film is the story of an imaginary friend who has come to life to fill a void in a child’s life.

After ET is discovered and captured, a pseudo-father figure does appear, in the form of the “Keys” a government agent who bonds with Elliott in his weakened condition, by saying “Elliott, he came to me too. I've been wishing for this since I was 10 years old, I don't want him to die.” Keys is a strange character, as the viewer is not given any real background information on his intentions, but he is randomly inserted as a benevolent authority/father figure within the seemingly malevolent group of scientists and government agents. When he appears in the first half of the film, it is always in shadows, not even showing his face and making him appear to be a shady character who is after ET for some nefarious purpose. Even Elliott does not seem to trust him, hiding ET’s resurrection from him. In the end, he joins the family as ET returns to his “family”, seeming to support his escape, despite his intense tracking of the alien earlier in the film.

Questions- How would Elliott’s adventure with ET be different if his father had been present?

What is the role of the government agent “Keys”? Is he an antagonist? An ally?

What does the portrayal of suburbia in this film communicate? Is it positive and uplifting? Or dark and full of unhappy people?

"Close Encounters of a Third Kind" Analysis

One interesting aspect of the film “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” is the use of music as both within the plot and in the construction of the film. Throughout the film, both the aliens and the humans use music as a communication method. There is one scene showing the a group of Indian people humming and singing the same five notes over and over again, as communicated to them by the extraterrestrials. There is another scene, in which an elderly man tells the researchers through an interpreter, “He says the sun came out last night. He says it sang to him”, meaning the aliens had communicated with him through music. The hand signals that Claude Lacombe and aliens both use is a method used by music teachers to teach the sofege scale in the Kodaly curriculum, which is very commonly used in modern education. The notes that the scientists use to attract the alien’s attention are G, A, F, F (an octave lower), and C. This use of music in this way influences the audience of the film to feel that the aliens are more human and less threatening. Even the choice of using a tuba as the voice of the mother-ship in the climactic scene, gives the aliens a much less threatening and frightening feeling than a more harsh instrument voicing, such as a mechanical electric guitar or shrieking string instrument.

In conjunction with the use of music within the plot, the scoring of this film is different than most. Most films are edited and then the score is produced to match that edited film. In this film’s case, the score was written first by John Williams and then the film was edited by Steven Spielberg to match the music. This makes the music much more of a driving force in the pacing of the film, and gives it a more lyrical feeling. Throughout the film, the tune of “When You Wish Upon a Star” is incorporated into John William’s score, being played by toys, and when Roy is about to board the mothership. This familiar tune once again, gives the aliens a very magical, and benevolent feeling, at least partially because of it’s association with the Disney Corporation and the many good feelings that many Americans associate with it’s films, parks and merchandise.

Throughout “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, music is important both within the plot and in the construction of the film, effecting the viewer’s comfort level with the aliens, as well as the pacing of the film.

"War of the Worlds" Analysis

This summer, I am taking a film critique class, focusing on Alien Invasion Films. (I am so unbelievable excited about this. It's the perfect class for me, watching movies and ranting about them- is my favorite!) So here is my first response post, for the film War of the Worlds, 1953.

The film “War of the Worlds” (1953) demonstrates the fears of the United States about the Cold War, threats from the Soviet Union and nuclear war as well as their moral belief that God would be on the side of America in any future conflict. In this depiction, Orson Wells' novel and radio show have been updated to an early 1950s southern California setting, complete with square dancing and Coca-Cola in a glass jar. Dr. Clayton Forrester, the main protagonist, is a scientist with the Manhattan Project, another reference to the Cold War with it’s focus and fears about the atomic bomb.

The film demonstrates the Cold War theme more than the novel or radio show adaptations, with its use of the Atomic Bomb against the Martians and the potential mass-destruction that such a global war would inflict on mankind. In the film, there is a scene where the military commander comments that they had tried to avoid using the atomic bomb, but they are simply out of other options to defeat the Martians.

Despite this comment, it is interesting to note the results of the dropping of the atom bomb in the film. The war machines, manned by the Martians are totally unaffected, because of their protective force fields, and there is no mention of any type of nuclear fallout on the human residents of southern California. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed in 1945, the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission was established in 1948 by President Truman to conduct investigations of the late effects of radiation among the survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. So the makers of this film, in 1953, should have been more aware of the post-attack casualties and dangers that would occur to Americans if California was bombed. The audience doesn't see any of those effects in this film, perhaps purposefully not showing the potential injuries and deaths of Americans that would be caused, in order to again emphasis the underlying reassurance of the film in the face of the Cold War.

Another interesting theme or dimension of this film is the recurring mention of God and religion as the ultimate protection against this other-worldly attack. The character Sylvia’s uncle, Dr. Matthew Collins, is a minister, and in a dramatic moment, he approaches the alien machines, holding his Bible and reciting Psalm 23, “The Lord is my shepherd….”, before being obliterated by the alien lasers. And again at the climactic moment, when all hope is lost, Forrester finds Sylvia in a church and they cling to each other as the alien machines destroy the city and building around them. But suddenly, the barrage ceases, and they come to realize that the aliens have been exterminated by Earth's viruses and bacteria that humanity has long since become immune to. The narrator ends with the solemn statement, “After all that men could do had failed, the Martians were destroyed and humanity was saved by the littlest things, which God, in His wisdom, had put upon this Earth.”

This substantiated reliance on God, is very indicative of the American mindset during the Cold War. Throughout history, from the American Revolution to World War II, Americans have maintained that they had the religious and moral high ground, that the God of the Earth supported their cause, over that of their enemy. In the terror and unknowable distress of the Cold War the assurance that even if human means were unsuccessful, that their God would save innocent humanity (or in this case, America) from being dominated by their enemies would be emotionally and mentally important to the American people. This film demonstrates that assurance, reminding Americans that “In God We Trust”, even in the event of an attack from Mars.