Analytic essay about three ads(mcdonalds, wendy\'s,burger king) PDF

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An essay comparing and contrasting three different burger chain ads, and evaluating which one was most engaging with the audience...

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ET the extra-terrestrial

Natan Getachew Mr. Gawedzinski ENGL-1302.406 11/28/2021

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The 1982 film E.T. The extra-terrestrial was a big hit when it was released. The story follows a young boy named Elliott who discovers an alien, later referred to as E.T., whom he finds hiding near his home. E.T. has been separated from his spaceship and fellow aliens. The movie won many box office awards and was even recounted as the Fourth highest-grossing film in history as of 2020. Filmmaker Steven Spielberg attempts to look at childhood struggles and conflicts in his film, as well as the ways to cope with them, by making use of a mystical, but realistic capturing environment. The film's appeal to a large audience of children by addressing real life issues and using outstanding effects resulted in its enormous popularity because it tackled childhood conflict in a fantasy way. Isolation and abandonment are frequent themes in the majority of films that Spielberg has directed. Spielberg's films may not appear to be explicitly about abandonment, but their themes of abandonment or redemption are rooted in the themes he deals with throughout his career. The film is Spielberg's own personal theme, as his parents divorced when he was a child, which in turn had led to his father to become less and less involved in his life and that of his younger siblings. Despite the absence of their actual father as one of their primary caregivers, he adopted a more paternal role. The childhood lack of a father and a big brother led Spielberg to make up an imaginary friend in his mind as a way of dealing with his childhood and dealing with the present, which were things he had been deprived of while growing up. In terms of Spielberg's most personal movie, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial takes the one of the top spots. Our human nature is to turn to imaginative and surreal thinking as a coping mechanism at times when things aren't going well. To mirror this, the story expands on Elliott's real-world problems as he deals with them in his personal life. There are certain voids in Elliott's life that are filled by the presence of E.T, a being involved with the other side. The aliens' involvement in the real world is the source

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of the supernatural on the other side. Even though these two characters in the film have a psychological connection between them, they are also the ones who link the two different perspectives in this film. For E.T. to accomplish his goal, he requires normal skills and understanding of what is happening in real life. Elliott is connected to the supernatural; his issues are mostly gaps in his life that E.T. fills. There have been many instances in the movie where the character of E.T. has been compared to the Christian religious figure of Jesus Christ. This being due to the fact that they are both “extra-terrestrials” come to earth in some sense. EMT can stop bleeding by touching a glowing finger to the cut. Similarly, Christ's healed the severed ear of the High Priest's servant with his work-roughened hands. He performed many, diverse other miracles in terms of healing. The film ends with E.T. leaving the boy and returning to his home ''out there.'' A reference to the Ascension of Christ. The Savior must leave behind his followers to return to his heavenly home, ''up there.'' In this regard, we can say that the character of E.T. possesses a sort of “savior sent from above complex” in the movie. The visuals used in the movie are not the most advanced relative to today’s cinematography as the film happens to be a bit dated, nonetheless, we can say that it does do well for its era. The colors and sceneries used in the movie seem very realistic although it is at its core a science fiction movie. It is set in a setting that is quite mundane, in the suburbs of 1980’s America. The visuals of the extraterrestrial itself have a resemblance to that of the aliens found in George Lucas’s Star Wars saga. He does not have a threatening appearance, as he is meant to be perceived as one of the protagonists with no malicious intent. Wide-angle shots are used in the movie as a visual aid to convey that it is a setting that anyone can encounter in their everyday lives. Whereas the close-up shots such as when E.T., Elliott and his friends are escaping from the

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authorities on their bicycles, when they start to fly up to the sky with the help of the alien’s abilities, we see the excitement and surprise on the children’s faces. In part, the film was filmed from children's perspectives to manipulate viewers, encouraging them to identify with the characters, which helps simulate how intimidating and threatening adults look to young viewers. Meaning that a wide array of low-angle shots was used. As a movie that is meant to touch people's hearts in order to make them more empathetic towards foreigners, this film attempts to create a human-like bond between the children and the extraterrestrials. The adults of this movie are represented as the main antagonists, notably the government, who are wary of an unwanted visitor. Similar to how immigrants who come to the United States are initially treated with disdain. And so, what Spielberg does in this movie is show how innocent minded individuals like children are able to establish genuine connections despite the negative interference of cynical adults. We see a scene in the beginning of the movie that opens in darkness before the title slowly reveals itself on the screen in lilac lettering that looks handwritten. While the cast and crew's names are presented on the soundtrack, the notes are not the melodic notes that will lift Elliott and E.T. into the sky during their bike ride at the end of the movie. Something more nefarious, dark, and bizarre is going on here. Spielberg introduces the main theme and takes us into a lighter mood, but it quickly turns dark again when the scene cuts to an alien spaceship that is lurking among the trees. We see birds squawk and foliage rustles. From a distance, Spielberg's lens slowly circles the ship as the aliens emerge, creating an atmosphere of dread that seems to signal us not to approach or get too close. This is the tonality that we can detect in horror films. Spielberg frames the alien against the forest in a wide-angle shot; tall trees dwarfing the relatively small being as there is a melancholy tune that blurs in the background. Hence, just as

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we were lost in an unfamiliar world a few moments ago, so is this alien now. We fear for him and his safety, rather fear of him. The main theme of the story is empathy, it’s about putting ourselves in another’s shoes and feel the emotions they are bound to feel. While it is a warm and hopeful message, very consistent with the movie's and Spielberg's image, it can't succeed without the scary elements. We understand that we need to be scared at the beginning of the film, so we comprehend E.T.’s own fear and start deconstructing and re-evaluating our initial reaction to the scene. With E.T. on the verge of death, the government agents who’ve been pursuing him descend on Elliott’s home. They are dressed fully in hazmat suits, and they seem to have more in common with monsters than with humans, because they see E.T. as new finding or a specimen to be analyzed and experimented on. We observe that the horror movie element has returned because empathy has faded since the assailants invade the house in a brash and brutal fashion. In the last scenes of the film, we see E.T. reunited with his fellow aliens, and whilst it is heartbreaking to see them say their final goodbyes, E.T. would remain in or share Elliott's thoughts, which suggests that they would communicate telepathically. We find ourselves at a similar scene form where we began, but now the darkness is gone, and a beautiful orange sunset has taken its place. It is apparent that E.T. has given the characters new life, just as their experiences with it have, and the sense of uncertainty that marked the film's opening is gone. As a way of capturing its audience, the film puts a foreign creature in a very mundane setting in America, with a predominantly young cast that accentuates the notion of innocence while pitting them against adults with seemingly malicious intent. It's meant to provide hope and show that empathy toward those who differ from us is the key to creating meaningful bonds and connections.

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Works cited -

McCarthy, Todd “E.T. – The Extra-Terrestrial”, Variey.com, May 26 1982 , https://variety.com/1982/film/reviews/e-t-the-extra-terrestrial-1200425287/

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Antos, Lukasz “RETROSPECTIVE:E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL”, Tomantosfilms.com, January 8 2016, https://tomantosfilms.com/9569/retrospective-e-t-film/

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Gordon, Andrew. "E.T. as Fairy Tale." Science Fiction Studies. 1983, Vol. 10, p.298-305, http://exhibits.usu.edu/exhibits/show/ettheextraterrestrial/theresultisamasterpiece...