E.T., the only alien in America?

by María Sabrina Vergara & Carolina Perez Cibez

“He is afraid. He is alone. He is three million light years from home”. This is the phrase that was in every promoting poster of Spielberg´s new film in the early ´80s.  It seemed to be another science fiction movie but it became more than the simple adventure of an interplanetary creature and his human friend. E.T. was the biggest box office success in its gender in 1982.

In spite of being a blockbuster movie, that shows the difficulties that E.T. has to go through during his experience on the U.S., to be an Alien doesn´t necessarily mean that you come from another planet. Saying this, for the English speaking language ALIEN is a general purpose term normally used to refer to foreigners. Not any foreigner but those that live in America. You can also be an American Alien if you don´t share the same culture or religion which is established in society. This means that you can be an outsider in your own country with your pairs. E.T. feels this way when he´s left behind by his own mates. His stay on earth can easily be related to the real experience of a foreigner in the U.S.  The Americans may see E.T. as a funny and lovable character with a few comical gags, but we can understand his loneliness in a strange land.

Luckily for him, E.T. is found by a kind child, who teaches him about friendship and trust. Even though all of this happens E.T represents the U.S intolerance to foreigners.

The film´s director felt this way during his childhood. When he was at school, Spielberg suffered of extreme violence from his school mates and of many acts of anti-Semitic prejudice because he is Jewish.  To this day he remembers that painful time with great sorrow. But he didn´t let the pain to consume him. Spielberg used the personal experience and based the movie on it. In many interviews he said that E.T. is based on an imaginary friend he had during his childhood, and that he waited a long time to bring to him to life. With this idea in his mind he wrote the movie years later.

Besides E.T. another character taken from the director´s life is Elliot. He felt lonely and misunderstood until he found E.T. From the moment they met, Elliot had the instinct to protect E.T first from his family and then from the government. To do it, Elliot hid him in his bedroom. He was afraid of showing E.T. due to the many differences they had, such as physical features and language. By not being able to communicate with Elliot, to ask for help, E.T. tries to learn really quickly the language. Because he realizes that Elliot (who represents the American people), will not try to communicate in other way. Even though the foreigner knows the language they are still rejected because the misuse of it.

Another thing to have in mind, concerning what aliens have to go through, has to do when they are caught by the government. After being chased for several days, E.T. was finally captured and taken to a scientific facility, where he was locked and tortured with medical exams.  After that he managed to escape with the help of Elliot and his friends. Not every alien has the same luck that E.T. has. If a foreigner is also caught, he is imprisoned and interrogated. He is also confined in solitary and many times he is starved until he surrenders to his capturers and accept the punishment. Most of them end up in deportation and the prohibition to go back to America.

ET, the great adventure of a friendly alien, shows us the reality of a foreigner in the U.S. They have to live and deal with intolerance every day. Many times this intolerance is transformed in episodes of great violence, installing a grand sense of fear. Fear to persecution, fear to jail and fear to be forced to go back to their country. E.T. portrays a situation that hasn´t change in thirty years and goes on. After all, nowadays, foreigners still go to America to pursue a better way of living.