E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial is a masterpiece, and one of the highest-grossing films of all
time.
It's a simple story, an alien gets lost in a generic suburb, a lonely little boy named
Elliot takes him in, and they establish a profound psychic and emotional bond.
Elliot and his siblings help E.T. "phone home" to his planet of origin for a rescue:
"Home.
Phone."
"E.T. phone home.”
...but first they have to make sure E.T. gets off of Earth without being obliterated by
creepy government agents.
Young E.T. fans who grew up into adults may notice that the movie is a little… different
than they might remember.
There are all kinds of details, great and small, that flew right over kids' heads like
they were a mob of alien-protecting tweens on bikes.
These are the things you only notice in E.T. as an adult.
No grown-ups allowed!
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial is a kids' movie.
This isn't to say that it's a movie for kids, but more that it is literally a movie full
of kids.
It's a look into Kid World: how kids react to divorce, how kids have their own secret
suburban societies, how kids conceal and help a friendly alien visitor, and how kids fight
a bunch of government spooks.
A kid might not be totally aware that it's a big deal they're seeing themselves up on
that screen, because it reflects their everyday life, which is kids-only with the occasional
adult interruption.
In fact, for most of the movie, the only adult face you'll see is that of Elliot's mother.
“Oh My God!"
Despite a lengthy classroom scene, audiences don't see Elliot's teacher's face, and then
when adults do show up, they're mostly bad guys.
To enhance the movie's childlike point of view, Steven Spielberg, the boy wonder of
the movies, shot a lot of the film at a kid's eye level.
What’s your name?
Audiences learn a lot about Elliot over the course of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.
He's about 11 years old, loves red-hooded sweatshirts, lives in the suburbs, has two
siblings, and he can connect telepathically with an alien.
As for that alien, he has a glowing finger and a light-up heart, can bring plants back
to life, he likes beer and candy, and is just trying to get home.
And that's about all we know about Elliot and E.T.
One thing that becomes clear upon viewing with jaded, nitpicky, adult eyes: neither
Elliot's last name, nor E.T.'s real name, are ever given.
“Can you, say E-T?
E.T."
"E.T."
Elliot and all the other kids just call their magical alien visitor "E.T.," short for "extra-terrestrial".
They can live in each other's minds, but a simple name exchange never occurs.
Obvious product placement
One of the most endearing scenes in E.T. occurs when Elliot fully befriends his little alien
roommate by enticing him with a trail of well-placed Reese's Pieces.
The gentle, telekinetic alien at the heart of E.T. just can't get enough of those candy-coated
sweetened peanut butter gems.
Yep, to a kid's eye, this seems like a cute and organic moment.
To a savvy or cynical adult, however, E.T.'s love of Reese's Pieces is a glaring, less-than-magical
example of Hershey-approved product placement.
It's a wonder E.T. didn't tell Elliott he needed to "phone home with AT&T."
The candy company’s million-dollar promotional gambit worked: in the immediate wake of the
film's success, sales of Reese's Pieces tripled.
Even decades later, the advertising blitz has proven to be profitable.
We believe you can fly
It's one of the most spectacular and satisfying moments in movie history.
As Elliot, his brother, and his brother's friends race their bikes to get a weakened
E.T. back to his spaceship, they come across a roadblock of government agents that want
to take E.T. away and do who knows what to him.
“Tell me when it’s over!”
It looks like our heroes are sunk…until E.T. uses his special powers to launch the
whole bicycle contingent up into the sky and they fly away.
The silhouette of E.T. and Elliot on a bike is such an iconic image that director Steven
Spielberg used it as the logo for his film production company, Amblin Entertainment.
It Drew you in
Revisiting beloved childhood movies has more appeal than just the nostalgia factor.
We want to see if the movies we loved as kids "hold up."
Are they legitimately good, or did we just like them because we were dumb kids?
Watching as an adult, you're aware of the people behind the roles.
For example, only an adult will realize upon adult-aged viewing that adorable little Gertie
is actually America's Sweetheart, Drew Barrymore, star of Charlie's Angels and The Wedding Singer.
What's a ‘cintus supremus’?
Some of the insults in E.T. levied by kids make no sense at all, but only an adult's
ears realize that some of these words have never been seriously used outside of E.T..
Notably, when Michael's friend Greg calls Elliot a "cintus supremus."
“Cintus supremus.”
“Zero charisma.”
“Cintus supremus.”
"Zero charisma!"
"Cintus supremus!"
"Shut up, Greg!"
While the movie’s subtitles spell out this strange tween put-down, the words don’t
actually mean anything.
Perhaps it's a bit of fake Latin, an enduring insult-slang phenomenon best embodied by the
old chestnut "dorkus malorkus."
E.T. is kinda terrifying
Kids have fewer preconceived notions than adults about the world around them, which
makes them often much more accepting and open-hearted to those that are different.
At least, that's one theme of E.T., the kids love the little guy straightaway, and most
of the adults want to capture him, run tests on him, or kill him.
“Hoooome.”
Here's the deal, though: Adults have every reason to be suspicious and terrified of E.T.
He's a shriveled, waddling mass with huge, glassy eyes, not to mention he's got a long,
bony light-finger and a glowing, possibly radioactive heart.
If the average adult came across something in the woods that looked like an E.T., they
wouldn't give it hugs and Reese's Pieces, they'd run away screaming.