Look, I Fucking Love E.T. the Extra-terrestrial, generally, passionately, wholly, but there’s this one particular scene that makes me– I mean I’m not a crier unless it’s 3 a.m. so any movie scene that can get me to that lump-swallowing-lower-lid-moistening threshold is important to me! And that scene?! It’s the last hug between Elliot and E.T. before the sweet little alien goes home and I just–
If it was possible to punch my own heart, let the knuckle bones knead into the wet muscle until it squishes and that sweet pain is overwhelmed by actual fantastical horror that I’m touching my own fucking heart– well actually I wouldn’t do that but the point is that the Last Hug hurts so . . . exquisitely . . . ! They’re just babies!!
Have you watched this movie recently? Or do you remember the ending well? When the kids descend from their magical bike ride in the sky and screech to a halt in an incredibly impressive line? The soft light of a perfect 70s California dusk, that gorgeous forest, the bright glow of the spaceship come back for E.T., and Michael and Gerdy’s goodbyes?
E.T. knew goodbye– I don’t think Michael ever underestimated him because he was an alien, but rather because he seemed to sense that E.T. was very much like his little brother Elliot, and maybe he thought kids so young couldn’t fully understand permanence.
“Be good.” E.T. didn’t speak much, but when he did, it meant volumes. Sweet little thing. Oh, but . . . when Elliot stepped forward. E.T. knew goodbye, and he understood that these would be the last words he’d ever speak to Elliot. Like Elliot once tried to do in the forest on Halloween night, E.T. tried to hold on.
“Come.” I mean, it’s the way that E.T. kind of speaks like how a calf lows at you, sweet and low and insistent. This is when my heart starts to break, every single fucking time. Because E.T. is so very smart, and he knows very well that Elliot could no more survive being away from his family than E.T. did– he did die after all. E.T. would never let Elliot get hurt. But E.T. is practically a baby still, much like Elliot, and E.T. knows this goodbye will always be with him. It’s pure instinct to want to avoid pain, isn’t it?
“Stay.” That hoarse little acknowledgement, those tears dazzling in sad, big eyes– I’m getting emotional writing this! Elliot can’t leave, and E.T. can’t stay, and I always had this idea that when E.T., I guess, resurrected, that he and Elliot immediately synched again and hit like a new, more experienced level of their psychic connection. Because if that’s the case, then the sorrow and love they felt may very well have sent anyone else to their knees howling. That’s my theory, anyway.
And the minute that first tear slips down Elliot’s cheek my chest is already tight, right, and then they both just echo, “ouch” in those tiny voices, and now my throat is getting tight and then–
E.T.’s long fingers gently pull at the red cloth on Elliot’s shoulders, and the boy leans in and they have what must be the most comforting, gentle hug in all of cinematic history. So powerful it sends Dee Wallace to her knees. Drew Barrymore is lip-wobbling-nose-stinging sad. Man . . . my chest. And E.T. just nuzzles into Elliot because he’s going to miss him so much, but E.T. has to make sure Elliot is okay. That he knows without a shadow of a doubt that nothing can tear their bond apart. So he raises a single digit to Elliot’s face and lights it up, that healing light bathing a warm glow over Elliot like a beam of protection and love.
“I’ll be right here.” So carefully enunciated, gentle spoken and factually told. E.T. will never leave Elliot, and Elliot will never leave E.T., and they’re going to be the best of friends and love each other forever, because you don’t need sight or sound or touch to truly love. You just need to know. And that’s such a powerful lesson! It hits me over and over again, no matter how many times I watch this. Those two didn’t need to know how their societies worked, how space travel operated, how governments worked . . . they knew each other, and that meant more than anything in the universe to them, to know they’d be loved by someone out there even if they would never see each other again. Thinking about learning that lesson so deeply so young, is– it’s staggering. Awe inspiring. Fuck. I’ve got to go watch E.T. again.
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