E.T. revisted
Saturday, May 16, 2009 at 09:24AM Last night, our family sat down and watched E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial together. Jake and Sam had never seen it. It came out in 1982, when John was just about the age Elliott is now. When he was little, Jake was terrified of any E.T. memorabilia (the babysitter had to remove a little E.T. from one of her planters whenever Jake came over--he would not rest until he knew for sure that E.T. was not lurking somewhere amidst the houseplants) so for all these years, we had never watched it with the kids. But we got a pay for view movie from our cable company, so we decided to give it a go.
Tom and I had watched it when it first came out and we thought we remembered it, but we were both surprised when we realized we really hadn't remembered much at all.
I had forgotten how misty it all was--indoors and out. And the play of the light sources--how could I forget how central that was to the feel of the movie? I can't believe I forgot the shared experience of Elliott and E.T.--especially that E.T. got Elliott drunk at school! I didn't remember how harried (and unware) the mother was. And I certainly didn't remember the kids cussing and swearing.
It was like watching it for the first time. I found a lot of things I didn't particularly like about the way the kids, the mother, the family, and the government were portrayed, but I admit my eyes filled with tears as E.T. declined and again when he said goodbye to Elliott and lifted away.
All in all, it was a good movie--especially since it was free!
Reader Comments (2)
Kaishon and I recently watched this movie together also. There were so many things about it that I forgot! It does have a unique story line, doesn't it? I miss you at ABC Wednesday! Did you get to know Granny Smith while you were doing that? Her husband passed away this week. I know she would appreciate your prayers. Her husand was the professor at Berkley.
Our youngest son loved this movie when he was little (he's now 23). We tried watching it with our oldest grandsons (now 8 and 6) a year or two ago, and it frightened the younger one and didn't hold the attention of the older one, so we turned it off. It is definitely more intense than I remembered it!