Directed by Spielberg from a screenplay by Melissa Mathison and produced by Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial is the thrilling and deeply moving story of the special friendship that develops between Elliott, a very accepting and open-minded lonely young boy living in a suburban California community, and a wise visitor from another planet who becomes lost on Earth. As Elliott attempts to help his extra-terrestrial companion contact his home planet so that he might be rescued, they must elude scientists and government agents narrow-minded and determined to apprehend the alien for their own judgmental purposes. This film clearly criticizes society's narrow-mindedness and shows how it can cause harm and destruction, while emphasizing, through the children, acceptance. .
The first example that the filmmaker uses to deliver his point happens slowly through out the first few scenes of the movie. In the first scene, E.T. has been stranded in a new world, knowing no one. In his first contact with the human species, E.T. was chased, frightened, and scared into hiding. This paints for the viewers a portrait of the life E.T. now faces. He is caught up in this world where scientists and government agents will try to capture him for their experiments regardless of the consequences. This can be seen again in the scene where E.T. has been detained by the scientist and is dying due to Earth's atmosphere. Even though the scientist knew he was dying, they refused to let him escape and return home. This scene was done to illustrate just how close-minded the scientist where and the extremes they were willing to go.
Another scene that the filmmaker uses to illustrate close-mindedness is when Elliot tries to tell his mother of something scary outside. The family is playing a card game with two of Michael's friends. Elliot fetches a pizza from the deliverer and hears some noises coming from the shed.
