E.T. phone Homeland Security
Movie matchup no. 12
This was a really interesting one. And even though I tried to kind of keep it in my usual light tone, the nature of them—especially Zero Dark Thirty—made that pretty difficult.
They’re both really great, with E.T. being pretty much perfect.
A couple of really gripping stories from opposite sides of the spectrum, with one bursting with magic and wonder and the other shrouded in darkness and secrecy.
Summaries
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
Left behind by his group of secret visitors, a harmless extraterrestrial entity gets stranded on Earth, surrounded by an intimidatingly strange and unknown environment. Alone and fearful, the marooned being is fortunate to be discovered by the lonely ten-year-old boy, Elliott, who, after the initial shock, decides to take him in, and gives him a name — E.T. Little by little, a bond will form — and as our hospitable blue planet becomes a prison brimming with dangers and government agents — Elliott and his team of rescuers must work fast to find a way to reunite the extraordinary intergalactic guest with his otherworldly family. Even if this means Elliott will lose an unexpected but dear friend. — Nick Riganas
Zero Dark Thirty
Maya is a CIA operative whose first experience is in the interrogation of prisoners following the Al Qaeda attacks against the U.S. on the 11th September 2001. She is a reluctant participant in extreme duress applied to the detainees, but believes that the truth may only be obtained through such tactics. For several years, she is single-minded in her pursuit of leads to uncover the whereabouts of Al Qaeda’s leader, Osama Bin Laden. Finally, in 2011, it appears that her work will pay off, and a U.S. Navy SEAL team is sent to kill or capture Bin Laden. But only Maya is confident Bin Laden is where she says he is. — Jim Beaver
Scary movies
We’ll start with an easy one. Both of these films live in the land of tension and surprise, though E.T. has a much lighter tone compared to Zero Dark Thirty’s heavy subject matter. They also both feature a few pretty frightening scenes.
So, naturally, I decided to pick a scene from each movie and decide which one is scarier!
In the spirit of brevity, I’ll keep the criteria to just three, even though I’m sure there are plenty of things that make a great scary moment. But the three I’ll use for this are setting, tension, and payoff.
Alien in the corn
Why are cornfields so scary? Is it the quiet rustling leaves as the dry stalks sway in the breeze? Is it because the cornstalks are so tall and we’re never sure what could be hiding within them? Is it because cornstalks are full of toxins and defense mechanisms that are terrifying to people like me who deal with bad allergies?
Whatever the case, from Signs to Children of the Corn, cornfields often take center stage in horror films or movies that need a spooky setting. And it’s no different in E.T., as the first time we meet the beloved alien is in a dark, moonlit cornfield.
And it all amps up the tension, because we watch as this innocent child creeps through the field armed with nothing but a flashlight. We know something is in there (probably the namesake of the movie), but we don’t know when they’re going to collide.
But when they do, it’s a really fun little payoff that is terrifying to children and honestly a little jumpy for adults. E.T. is a freaky-looking creature, and he makes weird noises. So when he screams in response to Elliott’s scream, we get an eerie cacophony that sets our senses on edge.
So E.T.’s scary moment gets a solid 3/3 score.
The dark side of humanity
Meanwhile, Zero Dark Thirty is full of tension. Honestly, it’s one of Kathryn Bigelow’s strengths as a director. And key to that tension are some incredibly frightening scenes throughout.
A major plot point that comes early on in the movie is that of torture. It’s set a dark, dirty cell in a US “black site” somewhere in (I think) Pakistan, as Maya watches Ammar Al-Baluchi be the subject of cruel but “approved” torture interrogation techniques, performed by US soldiers. He eventually breaks and provides some information, most of which is unreliable.
The tension here I think stems from the conflict we as the audience have coming to terms with the fact that the United States tortures other people for information. I know that this film has been criticized for glamorizing torture, and I can’t say that claim is wholly without merit—but I personally watched this as the opposite. I saw the torture scenes as absolutely sickening, holding up a mirror to us and asking, “You’re okay with this?”
Finally, though I hesitate to call this moment the “payoff” just because it implies indirectly that it was all worth it, the moment of release is honestly a relief. Because it’s finally over. It’s not a long scene, but it’s agonizing to watch, which in turn makes it feel like an eternity.
So Zero Dark Thirty also gets a strong 3/3 score.
But here’s the thing. One of this is easily a lot more terrifying than the other. One is a freaky but ultimately fictional moment, while the other is an unfortunately all-too-real situation full of inhumane brutality. So Zero Dark Thirty walks away with the scariest moment prize, due mostly to the fact that it makes us all question how and why humans are capable of committing such horrors.
It’s all about control
I’m trying to get the heavier stuff out of the way first, so we’ll move away from torture and on to the motivation behind that torture: the need for control.
Maybe it’s because I recently finished the Remedy Entertainment’s video game Control, but this is a topic that’s been on my mind a bit. And it shows in both of these films: that the US wants to control the narrative.
It’s really interesting to see how in both instances, the US is trying to maintain control as a response to their fear.
In E.T., this theme presents itself when some government entity full of scientists decides to swarm Elliott’s house and intervene in an effort to save E.T. (and probably learn more about the alien in the process). Although we see them as scary from Elliott’s perspective, they mostly do mean well, and they’re trying to help save Elliott.
Unfortunately, it seems to them, E.T. isn’t much more than a foreign being that may hold some scientific research value. Their priority is keeping Elliott safe, and it shows in their actions. They treat E.T. and Elliott, which results in their mental connection being broken, Elliott getting better, and E.T. ultimately dying.
So although there is an element of trying to keep the public safe, there’s also a benefit for the government—and it comes at the expense of others.
Similarly, the government in Zero Dark Thirty, based on real events, does what it does seemingly to keep the public safe. But there’s also some element of nationalism and “wounded American pride” at play here, and the US wants to hit back in a show of force, as that will somehow maintain their status as a global superpower.
In this situation, the government, symbolized by Maya, hides in the darkness and keeps everything secret. They don’t let the public know anything, and everything is strictly classified or completely off the record. (Although, how effective was all that secrecy if they made an entire movie about it, right?)
Anyway, back to the fear behind both of these cases.
For E.T., the government is kind of afraid of the unknown—or maybe more specifically, something they don’t understand. E.T. is something they’ve never seen before, and before they even take time to try and approach him with anything resembling respect, they barge in and start studying him. And yes, I understand there was an element of urgency with Elliott being sick and all, but there was still time to get at least some kind of context around him as a being.
It makes me think of Arrival, where Amy Adams’s character takes the time to try and communicate with the aliens rather than just start blowing them up. It’s still a kind of research, but rather than one that involves hooking them up to machines and studying their biology, it’s more about studying behavior and language for a mutually beneficial relationship.
For Zero Dark Thirty, I think the fear that drives the government’s action is the fear not just of terrorism, but fear that it will happen again. It’s not an unreasonable fear, by the way. People killing people just to send a message is truly terrifying. But the response may or may not be much better: spending years hunting down one person, with countless casualties along the way.
What’s most chilling is the fact that somewhere along the way, on our quest for “justice,” our motivation stopped being about keeping our people safe and started to be more about revenge. And in so doing, we compromised the fabric of what our nation was built on to get there.
Two interesting characters
One last strength and similarity between these two movies is that they both feature really interesting lead characters. And they’re both honestly the same in a lot of ways.
Elliott and Maya are both focused on a single mission. Elliott is focused on getting E.T. home, and Maya wants to find and kill Osama bin Laden.
They both learn and grow a ton on their journeys, as a result of them both having to endure a lot of conflict and moments of peril. Elliott’s story is often read as a loss of childhood innocence, and I would argue that Maya’s story can be read as a total loss of human innocence altogether.
Because in the end, while both characters succeed in their mission, Elliott is left fulfilled and accomplished, but Maya is left hollow and empty.
It’s all about E.T.
In his adventure with E.T., Elliott gains so much and kind of discovers a lot about who he is. He develops a touching, emotional connection with E.T., and he gets to experience so many magical moments.
I mean, the flying bicycle scenes are cinematic gold, not just wondrous to Elliott but spectacular for us as well. The moments where Elliott connects with E.T. are so sweet. And watching Elliott grow from being kind of weirded out by E.T. to loving him is so moving.
Their goodbye is also so full of heart and love. Elliott doesn’t want E.T. to leave, having developed a special bond with him. But he learns the lesson that we all have to at some point: sometimes our loved ones leave us—and it’s up to us to always keep them with us.
The blinders are on
On the flip side, Maya’s journey takes her down violent, shady paths. In contrast to Elliott, Maya actually loses so much of herself along the way. She loses sight of why she’s doing what she’s doing, and she becomes obsessed with accomplishing her goal, no matter the cost.
And while it’s true that she does also lose people close to her, like her friend Jessica in the Camp Chapman attack, she pours that sadness and anger into doubling her efforts to track down bin Laden.
Finally, when the US Navy SEALs raid the compound and kill him (and a few others), they bring the body back to their base so that Maya can confirm that it’s him. Against their subdued bravado at a successful mission, Maya gives a small nod.
As she leaves the tent, we see an exhausted woman who is somehow not relieved or happy to be finished. She’s empty. Hollow. And she has no idea what to do with her life now. Which is all made evident when she gets on a plane to take her anywhere, but has no answer when the pilot asks where she wants to go. Instead, she just sits in stunned, sad silence. After being so focused for so long, she finally takes a moment to reflect on her life, and she maybe doesn’t like what she sees.
Focus on the right goals
I guess if I had to pull a singular message that both these films share, it would be that goals can be powerful tools—just make sure they’re the right goals.
Maya’s goals were driven by revenge and a perhaps misguided, even selfish idea of justice. But Elliott’s goals were driven by helping his new friend. One focused inward and the other outward.
So maybe the most worthwhile goals aren’t even the ones that directly benefit us? Don’t get me wrong, self-love and self-care are incredibly important, and I’m all for making goals for self-improvement. But I think there’s incredible value in making goals to help others and focus on making the world a better place. Because doing so will inevitably benefit us anyway.
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