A love letter to E.T

I saw E.T. on the “leaving soon!” section of one of the streaming apps. That worked for me, I haven’t watched E.T. In a very. long. time.

It’s fun watching old movies and seeing how they look fresh, and how they look compared to your memory. This is especially fun when the movie or TV show was one you last watched as a kid. I did just that, and my adult mind (almost) ruined it.

Watching it again, you can tell it’s a Spielberg movie. He has this style of shots. He focuses on the mundane to create tension, but 40 years later, it hits different. Who is the guy with the keys? Where is this generic mountain town?

The following are a few things that don’t make sense to the adult* eyes.

On the wide shot of the town from the mountains, it’s clear it’s some suburb in Northern Cali. I see big redwoods, lush forests. However, Elliot’s house is backed up to a cornfield. WHERE DID THE CORNFIELD GO?

Elliot’s last name is Taylor, so E.T is also Elliot’s initials. (how did I miss this?)

There’s 5 teen boys playing D&D and there appears to be smoke around the table. Who’s smoking?

Why is there a can of RAID on the dining room table?

1 pizza, 5 teen boys.

We had that wooden salad bowl. You couldn’t wash it in the dishwasher.

Drew’s character, Gertie was about 6 or 7, yet the Mom left her at home alone several times. - THIS IS GEN X BITCHES, FEND FOR YOURSELF!

The mom seems confused that beer smells like beer.

The mom didn’t notice that Gertie has a MASSIVE HEAD under the sheet and is shorter and wider than a 6yr old girl?

Why are you PEDALING IN THE AIR, ELLIOTT?

BMX CREW is Super RAD 80’s - Radical Rick would be proud.

Why did they leave E.T. and not notice he was gone until he called them? – This is more evidence E.T. was in the alien Gen X.

That’s a massive bag of Reese’s pieces.

Why do the bedroom doors have those slots?

Elliot! You don’t put the thermometer on the bulb THAT long, it’ll hit 140°, and that means hospital. (good thing they fixed this in FBDO)

Those are some wild mushrooms on the spaceship.

I love this movie still.

* I’m not sure I qualify as an adult yet.