Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Three clumsy words that carry the whole film: a creature far from home, with almost no language, reaching for the one thing it wants. The broken grammar is what makes it land, and it became the most imitated line of 1982, a rasped catchphrase for anyone wanting a phone, a lift or a way back. It still appears in jokes about missing a phone signal, and it is shorthand for homesickness.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for E.T.: The Extra-TerrestrialShow the scene
In Steven Spielberg's 1982 film, the small alien botanist is stranded in suburban California and hidden in the Taylor family house by ten-year-old Elliott. As E.T. picks up English, partly from the children and the television, he works out how to call his people. Inspired by a Buck Rogers comic strip he sees, he declares his plan with this three-word line and builds a makeshift transmitter from household junk, including a toy Speak & Spell. On Halloween night Elliott and he carry the device into the forest to send the signal. Melissa Mathison wrote the screenplay, and Pat Welsh supplied E.T.'s rasping voice.
Sources (1)
- Wikipedia: E.T. the Extra-TerrestrialPlot summary; Cast; ProductionReference checked
Context reviewed