WEBVTT - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:04.040 On the Bechdel Cast. The questions asked if movies have. 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.560 Women and them, are all their discussions just boyfriends and 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:11.520 husbands or do they have individualism? It's the patriarchy, z 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:15.280 efphin best start changing it with the Bechdel Cast. 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:24.800 Ja me phone ho, okay, yeah, call me please, Jesus 0:00:25.239 --> 0:00:29.280 call me now. I like how the whole pot of 0:00:29.280 --> 0:00:32.120 the movie is like Et just like trying to text 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:33.639 his friends to come pick him up. 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:36.920 He's just trying to text his mom. He literally is 0:00:37.000 --> 0:00:40.559 just like, I need to text my mommy. And it 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:43.639 was the eighties. You couldn't just text your mommy. Back then. 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:45.040 It was the whole thing. 0:00:45.240 --> 0:00:47.960 You had to build a whole machine and set it 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:48.839 up in the woods. 0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:52.640 Today, E t would have just texted his mommy and 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:57.160 it would have been fine. Welcome to the Bechdel Cast. 0:00:57.720 --> 0:00:59.480 My name is Jamie Loftus. 0:01:00.800 --> 0:01:05.080 Okay, my name is Caitlin Dorante. Is that okay? 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:09.400 M that's okay, that's okay. And this is our podcast 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:12.760 where we talk about your favorite movies using an intersectional 0:01:12.840 --> 0:01:18.039 feminist lens. And today we're talking about Et the Extraterrestrial 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:19.760 nineteen eighty two. Ever heard of it? 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:20.960 Yeah, I have. 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:23.959 But what is the Bechdel Test, Caitlin, Have you ever 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:24.399 heard of that? 0:01:25.080 --> 0:01:25.200 Uh? 0:01:25.360 --> 0:01:26.440 No, oh, but. 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:28.520 I'll do my best to explain it. It is a 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:32.440 media metric created by queer cartoonist Alison Bechdel, sometimes called 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.680 the Bechdel Wallace Test. It has many versions. Ours is 0:01:36.720 --> 0:01:41.000 this two characters of a marginalized gender must have names, 0:01:41.200 --> 0:01:43.800 they must speak to each other, and their conversation has 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:48.400 to be about something other than a man, and ideally 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:51.560 it's a narratively meaningful conversation. 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:54.720 If this is your first episode, the Bechdel test is 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.160 not the point of the show. It's a jumping off 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.520 point for discussion, as we've said for many years. But 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:03.840 this one, I feel like you could make an argument 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:11.120 based on I think that Elliott projects gender onto et yes, 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:14.119 which I think is intentional because I watched A Hole 0:02:14.160 --> 0:02:17.840 behind the Scenes documentary. I went deep Bonnie Tea and 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:21.000 every time, and obviously, you know, it's like, I think 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:23.120 that documentary was made in the nineties, so it was 0:02:23.120 --> 0:02:27.160 still like Spielberg was using binary gendered language, but he 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:30.320 was always saying like with E T when they find 0:02:30.440 --> 0:02:35.600 him or her like He's always basically acknowledging that Elliott 0:02:36.280 --> 0:02:38.920 is just pretty I mean, which makes I mean not 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:43.280 canceling Elliott. I'm not canceling Elliott. It's just like he's 0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:47.240 projecting himself onto his friend. And so I feel like 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:51.600 conversations about ET do pass the bechdeltas basically in which 0:02:51.600 --> 0:02:52.880 case the movie does pass. 0:02:53.120 --> 0:02:55.200 I was gonna make a similar argument. 0:02:55.280 --> 0:02:59.320 Yeah, and I get it Elliott, but like he's wrong, Like, 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.880 you know, T has no conception of gender. ET is 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:05.480 literally just trying to text mother. 0:03:07.240 --> 0:03:07.799 Or father. 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:12.680 No, I'm kiddings the genderless parent from the Graape Beyond. 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.799 For all we know, ET comes from a planet that 0:03:16.080 --> 0:03:19.480 has no concept of gender. He might come from a plant, 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:21.080 or they might come from a planet. 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.840 We're going to use he him pronouns, but we know 0:03:23.960 --> 0:03:27.320 that ET has not spoken out on this issue. 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:30.160 This is true. ET might come from a planet that 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:34.440 has one hundred genders, none of which are you know, 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:35.760 man or woman. 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:38.960 I just found that very like because as we were 0:03:39.320 --> 0:03:42.760 turning this movie on last night, I was like, is 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:46.280 Spielberg gonna do the weird minion thing where he's like 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:50.680 ET is a boy? Like like when Pierre Coffin famously 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:55.760 insisted that the genderless minions had to be boys. They're 0:03:55.800 --> 0:04:01.560 all boys, and thankfully to criticize about Spielberg, but at 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:06.520 least he is not a freak about projecting gender onto Et, 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:10.920 an alien, Et and just characters in general. But yeah, 0:04:11.080 --> 0:04:13.760 I am glad we both thought of that. But I'd 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:17.480 never really noticed that until this viewing that, like Gertie 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:20.160 asks is he a girl or a boy? And Elio 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:21.800 just is he's a boy, and You're like, well, he 0:04:21.839 --> 0:04:23.719 doesn't know that, but he wants his friend to be 0:04:23.880 --> 0:04:26.920 like him, and they just sort of roll with it. 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:29.360 Well, then there's that scene later on. We can talk 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:33.960 about this further, but where Gertie dresses Et in a 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:38.680 dress and like a woman's long wig presumably. 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:39.200 And ET's vibing. 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:43.040 Yeah, Et loves it. Et is a drag performer. 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.000 It is awesome that Et is a drag performer. Did 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:50.440 you see? I just love I mean, again, we'll talk 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:55.240 about it, but I do really admire and appreciate a 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:59.440 director who because I have all these complicated feelings around 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:05.440 child actors, all three kids in this movie are incredible. Yes, 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:07.920 And I really like, you know, in a world where 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:10.279 it's like, well, child actor. It's not just gonna stop 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:12.760 because Jamie has complicated feelings about it. But I really 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:19.359 admire watching like directors who are really thoughtful about like 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:22.039 directing children, and like, I just I don't know, I 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:26.200 really enjoy watching This sounds creepy, I don't mean it creepy. 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:31.440 I enjoy watching footage of Spielberg and Shymelan directing kids 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:33.479 because I feel like they're so uniquely good at it 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:37.240 and they're just talking to kids like their people. It's 0:05:37.400 --> 0:05:41.040 very gentle and thoughtful, and you can always like the 0:05:41.120 --> 0:05:44.800 kids parents is always like within sight, and they get 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.560 great performances out of kids, I think because they kind 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.280 of like feel safe and like it's a natural environment. 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:54.640 And yeah, I just really admire that skill. And like 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:59.560 the Henry Thomas performance and this is like, holy shit, that. 0:05:59.760 --> 0:06:02.200 Damn I'm kidd Have you ever seen the video of 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:06.320 his like audition tape where he's crying on cute it's 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:08.920 so fucked up and then they tell him he got 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:10.719 the part at the end of the video. 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:13.360 Yeah, Yeah, I feel like that's like the kind of 0:06:13.400 --> 0:06:16.920 clip that goes viral every so often again, but it 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:22.839 always hits. It's so beautiful. Also, Hayley's Forest Gump audition 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:24.919 goes viral every so often. 0:06:25.440 --> 0:06:26.440 I've never seen that one. 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:32.000 He's quite small in it, but the Henry Thomas audition 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:35.360 is terrific. It's so like you're just like, who, how 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:39.320 does how he do that? And he didn't really act 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:41.720 very much after that? Right, I don't really know what. 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:44.160 His No, he he like went on to have a 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:46.960 pretty illustrious career, like. 0:06:46.880 --> 0:06:50.919 He whoa, oh my god, no, wait, he's chilling. Never mind. 0:06:51.160 --> 0:06:54.159 He isn't in any like huge thing really like not 0:06:54.360 --> 0:06:56.320 much in the way of like starring rolls after this. 0:06:56.520 --> 0:06:59.680 But he's like a Mike Flanagan guy now right, Like 0:06:59.720 --> 0:07:01.360 he's a all of Mike Flannagan's. 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:06.200 Yes, I need to look up who that is exactly, 0:07:06.279 --> 0:07:07.679 but I'm sure you're correct. 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:12.840 It's a younger Mike Flanagan directs like or it usually 0:07:12.840 --> 0:07:15.880 directs like another horror series for Netflix every year. So 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.640 he did like a Hillhouse Haunting a blind manner and 0:07:18.720 --> 0:07:21.640 got it. Yeah, Henry Thomas is in all of them. 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:25.200 You're like, hey, I know that guy my friend. 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:31.040 Anyway, Well, Jamie, what is your relationship with E T. 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:36.200 That's a little weird. I did not have any attachment 0:07:36.240 --> 0:07:39.240 to this when I was a kid. I know I 0:07:39.440 --> 0:07:42.480 saw it, but I just like I associated this movie 0:07:42.520 --> 0:07:45.880 with like my older cousins and I was like, that's 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:48.920 kind of a them thing and let them have it. 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:52.119 And I wasn't scared of ET, but I did think 0:07:52.200 --> 0:07:55.240 that he was a bit ugly and not cute. 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:57.560 Okay, thank you so much. 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:01.640 ET unfortunately is busted. Looks he looks bad. 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:06.000 Not to like shame, but like he looks bad. Let's 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:10.040 be honest, He's not pretty to look at. And I'll 0:08:10.040 --> 0:08:12.280 get into this, but that's a large part of why 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:16.480 I think I was like not the biggest consumer of 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:18.600 this movie as a child. But anyway, go. 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:21.120 On, Yeah, I mean I think I was like kind 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.240 of too young for this movie to be any sort 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.400 of touchstone for me. I don't remember us having it. 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:29.320 I do remember watching it, but it just like didn't 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:32.600 really resonate with me when I was a kid, and 0:08:32.679 --> 0:08:35.760 so I never really revisited it. There's a great Lindsay 0:08:35.760 --> 0:08:39.800 Ellis video on Nebula about like how this is like 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:43.040 ET is like uniquely kind of one of the biggest 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.240 movies ever to never get a sequel and not have 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:48.960 like kind of all the stuff that we associate with 0:08:49.000 --> 0:08:51.560 all of these eighties movies that we can't stop getting 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:53.959 like bashed over the fucking head with where it's like 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:59.040 Ghostbusters forty five, Jurassic Park, Hell or whatever, like Eten 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:01.439 they never really did and it's like a beautiful kind 0:09:01.440 --> 0:09:02.160 of standalone thing. 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:05.480 Anyways, Well, I have a whole story about the ET 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:07.320 sequel that never got made. 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.679 About that, Okay, she talks about it a little bit. 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.320 I want to know more about it. And also I 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:16.800 just did oh cross promo alert. I didn't write the series, 0:09:16.840 --> 0:09:20.439 but I hosted a series on iHeartRadio, the network you're 0:09:20.480 --> 0:09:24.160 listening to right now, called The Legend of sword Quest 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:29.920 that's about Atari, who famously made that bad ET game 0:09:29.960 --> 0:09:35.199 that they like buried literally right. Yeah, yeah, I love 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:37.000 that story. I mean I know it like people love 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.720 that story because it's like a folk legend that ended 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:43.520 up being true. It's like so awesome. Anyways, focus Et. 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:49.760 I thought he was ugly. I wasn't interested. I had 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:52.520 no I said, that's none of my business. And then 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:55.440 a couple of years ago, a group of friends and 0:09:55.480 --> 0:10:00.560 I went to see Et in Imax. It was re 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:05.640 released very quietly for whatever reason for its fortieth anniversary, 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:10.319 and I hadn't seen it in like decades. I didn't 0:10:10.320 --> 0:10:13.760 really remember even the story. I just remembered like Reese's 0:10:13.760 --> 0:10:16.960 Pieces Pez Phone Home, you know, just kind of the 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:20.160 cultural osmosis stuff. And Yeah, when I saw it two 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:24.720 years ago, it like wrecked me. It was like sobbing. 0:10:25.520 --> 0:10:28.680 I didn't see it coming that it was going to 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:33.160 like hit so hard, and I was like, holy shit, 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:36.720 this is like one of the greatest movies I've ever seen. 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:40.400 It was. Yeah, I came all the way around on et. 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:43.800 I loved watching it as an adult. I think it's 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:47.000 also partially a response to like the level of complexity 0:10:47.040 --> 0:10:49.520 that happens in children's films now, which I think is 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:54.000 like less in many cases. Yeah, but this movie is 0:10:54.080 --> 0:11:01.480 so sincere and so like just the biggest feelings possib Yeah. 0:11:01.559 --> 0:11:04.200 I just it absolutely wrecked me. And then watching it again, 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:06.560 I was like thinking about my dad a lot, and 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:10.520 I just I don't know, I really I've come completely 0:11:10.720 --> 0:11:12.760 around on this movie. It made no sense to me 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:15.440 as a kid, I didn't get the appeal, And as 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.839 an adult, I'm like, this is like a masterpiece. I 0:11:18.880 --> 0:11:22.960 think It's my favorite Steven Spielberg movie because there is like, 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:25.040 I mean, you have the action sequences, you have the 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:27.520 sci fi, but it like it is just like such 0:11:27.520 --> 0:11:33.760 a feelings story and I just love everything about it 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:37.000 is so great. The relationship between the siblings where they're 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:40.679 like assholes, but they don't hate each other. There's no 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:43.640 like I get why people are like, well, this is 0:11:43.720 --> 0:11:46.600 like overly sincere, but it's like, I just I don't 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.640 know right now. I love it and it was making 0:11:49.679 --> 0:11:53.720 me feel gigantic feelings and I was crying, crying, crying, 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:57.480 and I love it. What's your history with Et? 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:01.440 Well? I was thinking about parallels between this movie and 0:12:01.640 --> 0:12:06.760 the first Paddington movie, where Paddington is basically e t 0:12:07.480 --> 0:12:11.920 if Et stays with the family and they adopt him 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:14.920 and really she did, but. 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:18.040 He has to go in to go it's the saddest 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:22.960 thing to ever happen. And the score, I mean, the score, 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.440 come on, come on. Anyways, I feel very lucky I 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.079 get to see it in IMAX because it was like unbelievable. 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:29.800 Is so good? 0:12:29.960 --> 0:12:34.760 Yeah, so my history, we had it on VHS and 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.880 my home growing up, and according to my mom, I 0:12:37.960 --> 0:12:41.920 watched it all the time. Interesting, I do not remember this. 0:12:42.160 --> 0:12:46.080 I remember it being on sometimes, but I think it 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:49.160 was probably my older brother who's five years older than me, 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:53.400 watching it, okay, and I was in the room and 0:12:53.440 --> 0:12:55.679 you were there as well, and it was kind of 0:12:55.760 --> 0:12:59.520 like before I was really storing memories the plight of 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:03.080 the young sibling. So I was consuming it, but I 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:07.120 think I wasn't as interested in it, partly because I 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.040 thought et was creepy and ugly, and I thought that 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:12.560 was gonna be such a controversial take and for you 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:15.240 to share that opinion, but also like Spielberg was like, 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:18.040 he's got a face that only a mother could love. 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:19.920 They like acknowledge how ugly he is. 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:22.559 So I mean I also think, like, again, that's another 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:26.439 choice as an adult. I was like, what a weird, 0:13:26.679 --> 0:13:29.720 wild choice. I feel like that is such a like 0:13:29.760 --> 0:13:32.360 Spielberg flex that he was even able to get away 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.880 with it, because unless you were super successful, no studio 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:40.079 would let you make something that ugly, like they would 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.559 be like, no, it has to be cute, Like it 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:43.719 can't look like that. 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:46.560 If this was a Disney movie, they'd be like, make 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:51.120 this thing have big, beautiful eyes and little eyelashes and 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:53.360 this cute little button nose and all this stuff. 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:55.679 Because Spielberg was like involved in Gremlins to hear like 0:13:55.720 --> 0:13:58.040 he made Gizmo, like he knows how to make something cute. 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.400 But he's like, but I just don't want. I wanted 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:04.400 to look like shit. I love it. Et looks bad, 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.320 he looks like shit, but he's like, he's beautiful. 0:14:07.480 --> 0:14:09.800 I saw a clip of I want to say it 0:14:09.840 --> 0:14:14.280 was Matt Rogers, not Bowen on Lust Culture, just where 0:14:14.800 --> 0:14:17.920 he's saying like, if I ever encountered Et, like in 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:20.040 the forest, I would have like, No. 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:24.800 It's Colin Crawford, my coworker on Star Trek. Colin Crawford, 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.520 one of the best comedy writers ever, had a tweet 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:30.760 that said, me and my friends would have killed Et 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:33.440 with hammers. I can tell you that much. That's the 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:39.160 sweet It's it's just so true. Most kids would have 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:41.040 killed Et with hammer. 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:44.800 One of the hosts of Lust Cultures has said something 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:48.200 very similar recently. So it's a common thing that I 0:14:48.200 --> 0:14:50.640 didn't realize how common because this movie is so beloved 0:14:51.000 --> 0:14:53.440 and Et is so beloved the character, so I just 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.680 assumed everyone thought he was cute. But m hmm, it's 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.760 coming out that people think he's ugly. 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.440 I'm trying to think. I'm like, what are other I mean, 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:07.120 I know that kids always were scared of him, but 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:09.200 it also kind of reminds me like the Chuck E 0:15:09.320 --> 0:15:12.320 Cheese animatronics, where like kids were always scared of them, 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:16.040 but they were just very ugly and popular. And you're like, well, 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:17.960 why was it I don't know, I don't. 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:19.800 Know, I don't know, because they could make. 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.760 A cute animatronic. We had Gizmo. Well, I guess it 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.040 was Gizmo after when did Gremlins come out? 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:28.280 That was a couple of years after. Yeah, they're just. 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:31.280 Like et looked too horrible, But it didn't matter because 0:15:31.280 --> 0:15:35.320 this movie made eight hundred million dollars off of a 0:15:35.440 --> 0:15:36.520 ten million dollar budget. 0:15:36.560 --> 0:15:41.120 It was some highest grossing movie basically from like nineteen 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:42.880 eighty three to ninety three. 0:15:43.240 --> 0:15:46.800 Yeah, and then yeah, he like outdid himself with Jurassic Park. 0:15:48.040 --> 0:15:51.160 And then Jimmy Cameron came around and said he's. 0:15:51.000 --> 0:15:52.840 Just like ever heard of Titanic? 0:15:53.920 --> 0:16:00.560 And furthermore, Avatar and Spielberg hasn't been seen in public since. Unfortunately, Sorry, 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:02.480 we keep cutting off the experience with Et. 0:16:03.320 --> 0:16:06.160 Now this is just gonna be a chaos episode. It's fine. Yeah, 0:16:06.240 --> 0:16:09.480 I watched it as a kid, although it was before 0:16:09.520 --> 0:16:12.280 I was like fully storing memories, and so I only 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:17.240 had very vague recollections of watching this movie as a kid. 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:22.360 And then I watched it once as probably like a teenager, 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:26.920 maybe in my early twenties or something, and then not 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:31.640 again until I started prepping for this episode. So it 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:35.960 was something from like my very early childhood, but not really. 0:16:36.280 --> 0:16:39.720 That's like it's just stored in your brain before you 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:41.440 could store things in your brain. 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:44.920 Right, So I only remembered I very distinctly remembered the 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:48.000 scene where Michael finds Et when he's like lying in 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:51.240 the river and he's like discolored and like looks very ill, 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:55.200 and I remember being like haunted by that. But most 0:16:55.280 --> 0:16:56.640 of the other stuff I didn't remember. 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.960 I forgot when I saw it in IMAX. I forgot 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:03.560 that they literally are like Et died. You're like, what 0:17:03.600 --> 0:17:07.480 the fuck are you talking about? Like, yeah, I really could. 0:17:07.640 --> 0:17:10.840 I mean I really couldn't handle Et being dead last 0:17:10.960 --> 0:17:14.600 in the body bag like they and then he said, 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.560 I love you Et. It was if I had been 0:17:17.600 --> 0:17:19.479 thinking I would have been like, maybe let's cover this 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:24.840 movie next year instead, but it's so like again, it's 0:17:24.880 --> 0:17:27.639 just like that's something that would not be allowed really 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:29.960 in a children's movie. Now, for the most part, I 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:32.280 think you can like handle the themes of death, but 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:35.679 it's more of like a Moana like my Grandma's a 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:39.680 beautiful ghost now instead of like you're not seeing Grandma 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:44.800 in a body bag like looking bad. That's like would 0:17:44.840 --> 0:17:47.480 not have and it's wild. I don't even know if 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:49.720 I like it, but I think it's really bold that 0:17:49.760 --> 0:17:51.960 they did it. Did you see also that ET's voice 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:52.600 by a woman? 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:56.560 Yes, I did. I have a couple thoughts on that 0:17:56.560 --> 0:17:57.639 that we can get to. 0:17:58.440 --> 0:18:00.000 Okay, so you didn't like when you're a kid, but 0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:00.879 what about later? 0:18:01.080 --> 0:18:03.000 It's not even that. I mean, I did find him 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:06.280 scary looking, but I was like in the room while 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:09.199 it was on, according to my mom, didn't leave. I 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:09.959 wasn't leaving. 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:11.000 Yeah. 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.199 And then I watched it as an adult ish like 0:18:14.400 --> 0:18:18.040 you know whatever, probably nineteen years old or something, and 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.280 I was like, oh, wow, yeah, I remember this, And 0:18:20.280 --> 0:18:22.879 then I didn't give it much thought until again prepping 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:26.199 for this episode, and then I was like, oh, I 0:18:26.200 --> 0:18:29.440 see why this is such a beloved It's so earnest 0:18:29.520 --> 0:18:33.399 and it's so like, yeah, the kids developed this bond 0:18:33.480 --> 0:18:36.160 with this little guy, and I love a little movie 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:38.120 where they find a little guy and they be friend. 0:18:38.240 --> 0:18:41.560 I mean again Paddington. So I was like, oh, this 0:18:41.640 --> 0:18:44.560 is really sweet and it's sad and I felt some 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:49.240 feelings and so I get why it's such a beloved classic. 0:18:49.840 --> 0:18:53.480 So true. Let's take a quick break and then we'll 0:18:53.480 --> 0:18:55.159 come back for the recap, shall we. 0:18:55.560 --> 0:18:56.240 Let's do it? 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:57.720 Okay, we'll be right back. 0:19:06.480 --> 0:19:08.719 And we're freaking back. 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:10.840 We've phoned back home. 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:16.240 We're locked in. We've got our speak and spell, We've 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:18.639 got our what else. There's so much product placement in 0:19:18.640 --> 0:19:18.920 this movie. 0:19:18.960 --> 0:19:21.880 There's like a buzz saw blade. Oh yeah, there's cores light, 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:24.520 and there's Reese's pieces and. 0:19:25.119 --> 0:19:31.520 Pez Paus, various Star Wars consumer products. Yes, shall we 0:19:31.640 --> 0:19:32.720 just dive right in? 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:38.400 Let's dive in so et. The movie opens on a 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:43.160 spaceship that has landed in the wilderness not far outside 0:19:43.480 --> 0:19:48.760 Los Angeles. Ever heard of it? No. Several little aliens 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:55.080 are gathering up plant specimens and bringing them onto their ship, 0:19:55.280 --> 0:19:58.160 and one such alien has kind of wandered off from 0:19:58.200 --> 0:19:58.600 the group. 0:19:58.960 --> 0:20:00.240 He's just a little guy. 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:03.040 He's just a little guy. This is, of course, the 0:20:03.119 --> 0:20:07.080 alien we will come to know as Et, and he 0:20:07.160 --> 0:20:10.280 has to run off and hide when a bunch of 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:16.320 guys in trucks show up. Men and trucks scary. They'll 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:20.440 be revealed to be like government agents. We're not really 0:20:20.480 --> 0:20:26.200 sure from what entity, but they're these ominous like bureaucratic eight. 0:20:26.240 --> 0:20:31.040 These movies have such a wild attitude towards characters from 0:20:31.040 --> 0:20:34.359 the government, like they cannot decide. They can't decide if 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.160 they're good guys or bad guys. They're always like, well, 0:20:37.200 --> 0:20:39.160 there's a few, I feel like kind of the logic 0:20:39.200 --> 0:20:41.720 of this movie is like, well, there's a few bad apples, 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:47.200 but ultimately everyone is doing their best, and you're like, okay, okay, 0:20:47.320 --> 0:20:48.960 see whenever you say. 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:53.360 And any case, there are men and trucks and Et 0:20:53.560 --> 0:20:56.400 has to run off and hide, and the other aliens 0:20:56.680 --> 0:20:59.440 have no choice but to fly off in their spaceship 0:20:59.480 --> 0:21:04.000 and leave Et behind. We then cut to a house 0:21:04.040 --> 0:21:07.640 where a bunch of kids are hanging out. We meet 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:11.040 Elliott played by Henry Thomas. I think he's nine or ten. 0:21:12.040 --> 0:21:16.520 His older brother Michael is maybe thirteen or fourteen, played 0:21:16.520 --> 0:21:20.520 by Robert McNaughton, and a few of Michael's friends are 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:23.840 all playing D and D I think, and they make 0:21:23.880 --> 0:21:27.880 Elliott go outside to grab the pizza delivery. And while 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:30.720 he's out there, Elliott hears something in the tool shed. 0:21:31.280 --> 0:21:34.560 He thinks it might be his dog, Harvey, so he 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:38.280 tosses his baseball into the shed, and then the baseball 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:41.399 gets tossed back at him and Elliott freaks out. He's like, 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:44.480 dogs can't toss baseballs? What's that? 0:21:45.480 --> 0:21:46.560 Oh, that's so good. 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:50.159 But when the boys, as well as Elliott and Michael's 0:21:50.200 --> 0:21:54.600 mom Mary played by Dee Wallace, go to investigate, all 0:21:54.640 --> 0:21:57.960 they find are some strange tracks on the ground. They 0:21:57.960 --> 0:22:00.960 think it might be a coyote. I go back inside, 0:22:01.520 --> 0:22:06.280 but we see that it is in fact, Et, the extraterrestrial, 0:22:06.520 --> 0:22:10.680 hiding in the shed. So later that night, Elliott goes 0:22:10.720 --> 0:22:15.120 back outside to look for this creature again, and sure 0:22:15.200 --> 0:22:20.080 enough he finds him and screams because again Et looks 0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:20.440 like shit. 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:22.879 He looks, I mean like yeah. The beginning of the 0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:26.920 movie plays out like a horror movie, and then it 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:29.919 just eventually like a half hour and They're like, oh, 0:22:29.960 --> 0:22:31.359