where Elliot's little sister had
put E.T. in a dress.
E.T. embodies the otherness on multiple levels: as an alien, as a commercial product, and as an ambiguous gendered figure.
Action figures reflect the values of the creator and times of creation. Alexandratos (2017), in his book, argues that action figures inherently seem genderless. But clothing choices such as pink and dresses for women, blue and combat boots for men confirm traditional gender roles. In this way, it is argued that the concept of gender still holds up (Alexandrator, 2017).
Applying this idea to E.T. is a little more difficult. E.T. seems to be addressed as a ‘him’ in the movie, yet is also seen being dressed up in female clothing (Donelly, 2017). This led to speculation online about E.T. being a queer icon. Although he shows no romantic interest, this debate may be related to the rise of queer move
ments in the 1980s (NCS, 2024). Even though many aspects of the queer community were still illegal at the time, attention was rising, and groups such as The Black Lesbian and Gay Centre were founded (NCS, 2024). Perhaps this societal attention to queer people influenced Spielberg in the writing of E.T. as a character who is addressed as male yet dressed up in female clothing. However, this is just speculation. Maybe it was just a humorous detail in the script.