With Continual Reference to Justin Kahn.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

In Which Having a New Lease on Life Justin Watches E.T.

After nearly being killed, I watched Spielberg's E.T. As I put it in the DVD player I thought how interesting it was that on Federico Fellini's Death Bed, the last letter he read was from Steven Spielberg. And how strange it is that shortly after getting a letter from Spielberg, Fellini died and then I borrow Spielberg's movie and I almost died. Still, a mere death curse wasn't going to stop me from watching E.T.

I'm sure I saw it as a kid (there is no other explanation as to how I could become addicted to Reese's Pieces.) But it was as if for all practical purposes I had never seen it.

I really picked up on a lot of things that I didn't see when I was a kid. For example, the parallels between E.T. who is left behind by his space ship and Elliot who is excluded by his family and friends are both extremely short.

My critical insight that this was a movie which tried hard to set up these parallels of what it is like to be short as an alien and short as a human would have given me enough intellectual fodor any other day. But right after almost being killed I was interested in gaining some deeper insight into life.

And I finally found it: A chase scene.

You have to admire a movie which posits that there is intelligent life in the universe and still manges to ask the central question: if kids were chased by police cars would they be able to outbike them maybe by using the new found intelligent being's powers to levitate over the cars?

That such depth could be found is not entirely suprising given the philosophical problems, especially moral problems, that are dealt with by Mr. Spielberg, (Cf. Raider’s of the Lost Ark,in which the hero, a Mr. Jones makes the rather bold and unqualified statement: “Nazi’s—I hate those guys.”)

I only hope that I will find a short Extra Terrestial before I have to cross the street again.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow... That was insightful. You are way better than that dead guy and that fat guy and that guy nobody cares about at analyzing movies. My thumb up. Which only sounds wrong in Italian.

Jenn said...

Glad about the new lease of life. Hope Wilbard enjoyed the movie too. As for insights...they are appropriately Justinian.

And now for the all-important question: What would DFW think?

Charlene Amsden said...

Justin, I told you you should have been on a bike, but will you listen? No. Pft.

Nessa said...

SS has a gift for subtle insight. If I didn't know better, I'd say you wrote his movie scripts.

Justin said...

maleah, I can beat the dead guy at chess too. J.

Justin said...

Jenn, can you believe that Infinite Jest is being rereleased in a special ten year anniversary edition?! This is the best news I have heard in a long time. J.

Justin said...

Quilly, but you gave me that advice after the fact. What I need is advice about the future. So what about tomorrow. J.

Justin said...

goldennib, I wouldn't sell my artistic integrity for a lousy few million.

High Power Rocketry said...

: )

Charlene Amsden said...

Justin, tomorrow never comes, it is always one day away. So, even as I assure you that tomorrow will be better, I am also strongly cautioning you not to hold your breath.

Jenn said...

Wow. A special anniversary edition. He did mention ET in that book somewhere if I remember. I know he mentioned M*A*S*H.

Yasmin Waring said...

"intellectual fodor"?

or did you mean "fodder"?

(or perhaps fodor, as in Fodor, is applicable as in a reasonably priced but over-generalized travel guide for the intellect?)

Me said...

Steven Spielberg is death?! But he looks so innocent.

:o