in which E.T. is sitting
in the basket of the
bike, looking cute.
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial is more than just a technically cleverly made film. The story is an experience that evokes a deep sense of magic. This magic has to do with the way that the alien is portrayed in the film. The concept of ‘aura’ is an interesting concept for looking at E.T. because it helps explain why the film has such a deep emotional impact and how it capitalises on our experience of magic in the film.
Aura can be explained as a personal emotional response someone has to objects, people, or places, often due to awe-inspiring views, cultural heritage, or a rich past connected to the object (Cardozo & Papadopoulos, 2021; MacIntyre, Bolter, & Gandy, 2004). Examples of this can be the feelings when seeing the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Mona Lisa in the Louvre. So, what do we feel when looking at E.T.?
E.T. in the films is portrayed as a cute, kind, and gentle soul (Gibson, 2015). This is his aura. This aura greatly differs from other figures portrayed in science fiction films around the 80s. In the 1980s, aliens were often used as allegories for racial and ethnic figures. Films such as Predator and Alien Nation are examples of where aliens, often played by black actors in distinctive costumes, served as veiled explorations of race relations (Cornea, 2007). Another major theme of 1980s science fiction was the rise of the cyborg film. Although cyborgs are not technically aliens in the traditional sense, they do represent a form of non-human figures, and their representation of masculinity (Cornea, 2007). Yet E.T. is anything but this threat that seemed to be so popular during the 80s.
This difference might be explainable by the reason why Spielberg wrote E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial. The film was written as a reflection on how the divorce of parents influences children, in this case especially Elliott (McBride, 2012). The story is a representation of being lost and feeling helpless as a child, and E.T. is a character that is supposed to help enhance this feeling. This might be the reason why E.T.’s aura differs greatly from other aliens and figures in his time.