Margaret Sutter

Reassurance for America

America in the 1980s was a time of anxiety. The country was confronting the political
turmoil happening around the world, such as its tension with the USSR, the war between Iran
and Iraq, and the defeat in Vietnam. The U.S. also suffered an economic decline, the American
dream wavering in the eyes of the American People. The civil rights movement, the feminist
movement and an increased awareness of the LGBT community took place during the 60s and
70s, igniting a spark in American society and fizzling into a state of cultural anxiety during the
early 80s. The country was faltering, and President Ronald Reagan became Americas hope for
stability. Though his policies were unpopular during the time, Reagan constructed his own
narrative; becoming a father figure for Americans, he was able to gain supporters through his
persona and nostalgic representation. His ideologies were greatly influenced by the 50s,
supporting the nuclear family, encouraging the American Dream, and reassuring the people that
America can be great once more. Reaganism strongly influenced media and cinema in the 80s,
and films such as E.T. the Extra Terrestrial (1982) and Blade Runner (1982) portray the
ideologies of the Reagan era in various ways. Closely examining the narratives and shot
techniques of both films, it is evident that E.T. the Extra Terrestrial reinforces Reagan ideologies,
perpetuating his narrative as a nostalgic symbol of hope, whereas Blade Runner challenges
Reagans vision of a better future, creating a malaise that discourages Reagans reassurance.
Spielbergs film, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial does not blatantly reinforce Reaganite
ideologies such as the nuclear family, the portrayal of 50s America, or a clear father figure, rather
the film consists of an overarching theme of reassurance in its narrative. Ronald Reagan upheld
his image as the father willing to smooth over tensions of the 80s, ensuring the people of

returning America safely back to its traditional values, or in other words, home. Spielberg
constructs the narrative of a boy who fights to return his alien to its home, and however
unrealistic Elliots success, the narrative implements this reassurance through Robin Woods
characteristics of childishness and imagination, as well as a parallel between E.T. and Ronald
Reagan. The story is centered on Elliot, a young boy who develops a relationship with an alien
he calls, E.T. The magical and fantasy elements of the film provoke imagination, transforming a
world different from reality. To maintain his audiences investment, Spielberg only uses
imagination to a certain degree, retaining a sense of the familiar with nostalgia and what Wood
calls the childisha desire to regress to the infantile. (Wood, 156) E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
sustains a childish imagination, a narrative that extends beyond reality but in a way that is
comforting and optimistic.
Childishness and imagination is rendered in various scenes throughout the film, one
instance being the protagonists, Elliot, first real interaction with E.T. The scene begins with a
medium shot of Elliots back to the camera in the lawn chair, his silhouette in the foreground
with E.T.s in the background. E.T. is standing in the entrance of the shed, light highlighting the
outline of his figure while his face remains shadowed. Already, the audience perceives a binary
between the two figures. The action cuts to a long shot facing Elliot, a gradual zoom to a medium
shot. The image cuts once more to the same shot of Elliot in the foreground and E.T. in the
background, and cuts back to the medium shot of Elliot. A light falls across his eyes, exposing
the curiosity and apprehension shown in his expression as he whispers for his mom and brother.
Once again cutting back to the previous image of E.T. by the shed, E.T. inches forward, the
frame quickly cutting to the shot of Elliot and then back to E.T. He moves again, this time faster,
cutting to an extreme close-up of Elliot jolting back in his chair. This shot reverse shot sequence

continues as E.T. shuffles toward him, the frame stopping on the close-up of Elliots face and
panning down to an extreme close-up of E.T.s hand. It cuts back to Elliots eyes looking down,
then back to E.T.s hand dropping Reeses Pieces onto Elliots lap. This scene displays various
themes of childishness and imagination, i.e., Elliots stake out in the lawn chair, his cries for his
mom, the dualistic images of Elliot and E.T., and the use of Reeses Pieces as a peace offering.
The interaction exemplifies a connection between a boy and an alien, and despite the mystery of
E.T., the characteristic of childishness eliminates any danger associated with him.
Though E.T. is considered the other in the film, he is not a threat; his character even
possesses Reaganistic qualities. He adapts to society while on earth, expressing emotion,
dressing in clothing, and possessing idealistic human traits such as being labeled male and
having a superior intelligence. Perhaps more significantly, E.T.s character reassures the audience
of a happy ending, a significant rhetorical approach of Reagans presidential campaigns. Even
when E.T. dies, the audience knows, or desires that he will still return home. E.T.s audience in
a sense is a twofold: the audience watching the film in the 80s wants a happy endinga solution
to the plot, while the same audience wants their own happy ending, creating a parallel of E.T. and
Ronald Reagan as fantasized characters of hope, whether intentional or not. E.T. helps Elliot
mature, settling any of the viewers concern for Elliots future. Akin to President Reagans
attempts of moving America past the loss of Vietnam, E.T. helps Elliot overcome the loss of his
father. His presence allows Elliot to be transformed and come to terms with his loss,
transitioning from the world of illogical beliefs to abstract rational thought (Buckland 68): only
by regressing back to childish tendencies could he mature, similar to Reagans campaign idea for
AmericaOnly by going backward could the nation move forward. (Marcus, 72). Elliot grows
by the end, accepting the loss of his father and E.T. In the last scene of the film, he and the films

audience look up to E.Ts ascending ship, or in a metaphorical sensethe future; however,

Ridley Scotts Blade Runner quickly denies this optimistic vision.
The film, Blade Runner is a sci-fi story set in 2019 that contests President Reagans
reassuring vision of ideal America. The narrative lacks characteristics of childishness,
implementing ominous imagination that disturbs rather than amuses viewers, and alludes to a
hopelessness contradictory to E.T. The setting of the narrative is a bleak, dark, and uncanny
representation of futuristic Los Angeles, an overpopulated and corrupt metropolis. Even from the
opening and closing of the film, there is a vast difference in tone compared to E.T. the Extra
Terrestrial. The movie opens with a preface explaining the history of the replicants, a human
invention of human-like machines. The scene cuts to an extreme long shot establishing the
setting of scattered fires erupting in a city at night, a flying car cuts across the screen facing the
camera and the frame zooms into a closer shot of the city, another car flies across but this time
away from the camera. The image cuts to an extreme close-up of an eye, the citys fire reflecting
in the iris, and then cuts back to the shot of the city. Despite the flying cars, the use of
imagination doesnt acquire the same childish desire as E.T. the Extra Terrestrial. The film
establishes a similar opening shot of E.T. looking down at the lighted suburbia, enjoying the
sight of the neighborhood at night. In the beginning of E.T., the clear binary of alien and human
life is clearly constructed without the tension or ambiguity displayed in Blade Runners opening.
In the first scene, Blade Runner links darkness and malaise to the human production of
industrialization and the human perspective of the world (the eye), already denying the possible
narrative of reassurance. Though the film is critically acclaimed and became a cult film later in
time, Blade Runner plummeted at the box office, a possible reason being the contesting
Reaganite ideologies the film presented.

The movie follows the story of a retired blade runner, a person hired to terminate any
replicants on Earth. Perhaps what is most uncertain is the hero in the story. Harrison Fords
character, Rick Deckard never gives the viewers any reassurance or any belief that he will save
the day. He strays away from a character of hope, causing the audience to question his morals
and humanity in the narrative. Though Deckard is the good guy and the leader of the
replicants, Roy is bad, the disconnection between the audience and Deckard enables a
confusion of who the true villain is in the story. Roy facilitates Deckards ambiguity as the hero
by demonstrating human emotion and a fear of death that invites sympathy toward Roy,
especially when replicants supposedly have no emotion. In the fight scene toward the end of the
film, there is a close-up shot of Roy telling Deckard he is going to give him a few seconds to run
away. The scene then cuts to a three quarter shot of Deckard opening a door in the abandoned
building, walking backwards toward the camera. The image cuts to a medium shot of Roy on top
of Priss dead body, his fingers touching her chin as the camera zooms in on his hand, panning
down as his hand lightly touches her shot wounds. The shot pans from the close-up of his bloody
hand to his face as he sits up against the wall, the image a close-up of Roys grieving face while
he wipes Priss blood on his lips. The action cuts back to Deckards shadowed figure in another
location in the building, and then back to the close-up of Roy, his face in focus. Cutting back to
medium shot of Deckard, the camera motion is jagged and his face is blurry and shadowed. In
the scene, the audience empathizes for Roy and his loss of Pris, Roys emotion is clearly visible
on his expression, evoking sympathy while Deckard runs away in a seemingly cowardly manner.
The scene creates a juxtaposition of hero vs. villain, causing the audience to desire an ending
rather than a solution. The audience is unsure whether Deckard will kill Roy, and because Roy
dies before any real fight, there is no certainty of whether Deckard even succeeds.

Unlike E.T., the audience doesnt feel the same desire for Deckard to save the day. Their
lack of connection to Deckard disputes the ideological need for a hero and reassurance. The
binaries of good/evil, human/machine, and hero/villain are distorted and unclear throughout the
storys narrative. Nowhere in the film is there any sense of stability or hope, lacking
characteristics of childishness and nostalgia, depicting a horrific image of a future American
capitalistic society. Reagans rhetoric for a better America dissolves in the film, transformed by
Ridley Scotts imagination that uses Reagans principled values and unravels them into a darker
outcome.
Although both films take Reagans ideologies in different directions, both respond to the
influence of Reagan and the issues America was confronting during the time. The need for
escape and the opportunity present by Spielbergs film not only made E.T. the Extra Terrestrial
culturally significant, but historically significant as well. The movie, like Reagan, provided a
dependable narrative that promoted hope, promise, and a happy ending. Through imagination
and nostalgia, E.T. did more than make Americans feel good, it allowed them to fall back to a
simplistic outlook on conflict; it encouraged them to believe that however far away, they can
return home. Blade Runner avoided any feeling of nostalgia. Ridley Scott uses the fantasy of
ideal America to shape it into a contradictory structure, defying Reaganism. Scott gave viewers a
different story that contested Reagan beliefs in the 80s, possibly resulting in the poor reviews at
the time. However, like E.T., the film is one of the many cinematic depictions of 80s America
that holds historical significance by providing a different interpretation of Reagans ideologies.

Works Cited

Buckland, Warren. Movies and Other Worlds. American Cinema of the 1980s: Themes and
Variations. Ed. Stephen Prince, New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2007, 63-81.
Marcus, Daniel. Happy Days and Wonder Years: The Fifties and Sixties in Contemporary
Cultural Politics. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2004.

Wood, Robin. Hollywood from Vietnam to Reaganand Beyond. 1986. New York: Routledge,
2003.