This movie PERMANENTLY traumatized me

I think I saw this movie when I was as young as three. I was fine.

However, movies like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wizard of Oz, The Witches etc used to scare me a lot. The same way in which in you described above.

Kids react differently to different things I guess. I can totally get why those things would freak you out.


There's No Such Thing as Free Cable

This was also my childhood horror film! I actually have never seen the whole movie because ET was so freaking scary looking. And I've had many nightmares of him when I was little!

I totally get it OP. For me it was basically the first 40 minutes or so that freaked me out. Once the creature is established as benevolent, I didnt have a problem with the rest of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEl-59jHqHA

ET gets a shock courtesy of the US government!

And even that changes as they begin to study ET. They realize that he and Elliot are linked, so when he starts to code, they're trying to figure out how to save both of them, before ET makes the decision and severs the connection himself.

Speaking of, the moment that always kills me? When they use the defibrillator on ET and it cuts to little Drew Barrymore watching his lifeless body get zapped. God, that's terrible.

This is always the epitome of "there are no small stories, only small directors." I mean, really, this could have been a nothing of a film. Cute, engaging, for kids. Probably get remembered a few times when talking about 80s kids movies. But nope, Spielberg and company took it and made it universal, unwilling to play to a demographic or genre.

It is also one of the best movies about coping with a divorce ever filmed. A lot of people try to write in this whole "ET = Jesus" religious iconography, and while I see where they get it, the heart of the story is about Elliot coming to terms with his parents no longer being together. His father left and broke the family, and Elliot hasn't been able to fully process it. So he latches on to ET and claims possession of him; this is his way of filling in the hole, he belongs to me and he'll stay forever. The scene in the forest crystallizes this: No, you don't have to go home, you can stay and this'll be your home and it'll be perfect again. That's why those final moments of the film hit: it's Elliot realizing that ET has to go, and he doesn't know when, or if ever, he'll see him again. And it's OK. He's accepted it.

E.T. is one of those rare science-fiction films that puts the emotional response before the visual aspects, both of which are perfect and spellbinding. During the iconic flying bike scene, we are swept up in the wonder and freedom Elliot feels and the beautiful score by John Williams only amplifies this. Then the shot in front of the moon sends our hearts soaring, but it would not have done so on its own. Later, when E.T. is in peril at the hands of adults, we see the tearful reactions of the kids. The defibrillator scene seems especially traumatizing for little Gertie, and we can’t help but feel heartbroken for these kids. And no matter how many times I see this movie, I always get so excited and happy when E.T.’s heart starts glowing while Elliot is saying goodbye.

The film was shot in continuity, the child actors took it as though the events were happening to them. The acting could no longer be seen as acting, it was reacting, and the emotions were real. As such, in the scene involving E.T.’s death and attempted revival Drew Barrymore’s character, Gertie, has a very strong reaction. When E.T.’s body is being defibrillated Gertie is screaming and crying to stop hurting him, this is discussed in the special features on the DVD. Drew goes on to say how she felt as though everything was against E.T. and feeling as though something perfect was being made imperfect. Peter Schumann said “Puppets are not made to order or script. What's in them is hidden in their faces and becomes clear only through their functioning.”[2] This is especially true with E.T., only through his functioning did he come to life and by doing so he connected with the actors on set.

im glad SOMEONE said it. this movie has killed many of childhoods!

Hehe, I remember being scared by the same scenes as you as a kid (also an 80's baby yeah!)....but being 27 now, I love all the scenes so much. Even the freaky ones. Spielberg's directing was just so amazing. The film's truly a work of art.

I was actually never afraid of E.T. himself. I wanted him for my own! The bathroom scene when he screams after they took Elliot away is still pretty disturbing though. I think the scariest scenes are the beginning when he's left behind and when the scientists invade the house. Which was silly how scary they made that! They're just scientists but they were acting like monsters!

I have to admit, I'm amused you found the closet scene scary. I thought it was so funny. XD It was like "Where's Waldo? HAH, THERE HE IS!"

"But it's a ROCK!"
"I KNOW IT'S A ROCK!"

I've never seen this movie, but a question occurs: after you got traumatized the first time, why did you keep watching? Why did your parent let you keep watching?

+1

I blame this movie for the fear of the dark that I suffered the subsequent years. I was about 7 years old and nobody told my mother that not everything in the movie was cute.

I remember that I couldn't stand all that franchise that launched after the movie. Those toys and pictures always freaked me out. My cousin had a 1:1 poster of him in his bedroom, and I couldn't get anywhere near it.

On the other hand, the guns that were later replaced by communicators didn't inspired me to grow as a murder!

I also watched Poltergeist about the same year (which was not for kids, I know) and yet it didn't have such big impact in my mind as ET did. In fact, I was fairly pleased with it, because I was actually expecting to see scary things, and it was so overdone that turned to be hilarious.

Now I'm almost 40 and I guess I still hesitate a little bit when I see that face. This is why I overprotect my kid about anything he might watch.