by Barry Germansky

 

The adult world is polymorphously corrupt and lacks the imagination to recognize that “The Way Things Are” is merely a byproduct of a deteriorating sense of possibility, an epistemological rejection of “Can Such Things Be?” and “Let Us Dwell in the Realm of New Thought Forever.” For adopting the properties of a space-age parable in order to remind us that childlike wonder is the key to perpetually remembering the union between the elemental and the intellectually complex, Steven Spielberg’s E.T the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) is one of the most original, subversive, and transcendent films ever made. In a series of moves that would make Goethe proud, the child heroes of the film expose the superficialities of adulthood and put themselves in charge of all terrestrial and extraterrestrial affairs, from education to law enforcement to intergalactic communication.