The E.T. Book
New Perspectives on the Classic 1980s Blockbuster
Will be published approx. on 13. May 2027
Book
Hardback
288 pages
979-8-7651-3493-1 (ISBN)
Description
The first detailed exploration of Steven Spielberg's film E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, investigating the film's legacy and impact on contemporary culture, as well as the role it played in consolidating Spielberg's legacy and authorial identity.
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) was, until the release of Jurassic Park in 1993, Stephen Spielberg's most successful film, taking $792 million at the box office. The film was a global phenomenon and established the Spielberg "brand" going forward. As with both Jaws and Jurassic Park, its popularity was also catalyzed by an aggressive and widespread marketing and merchandising campaign.
The E.T. Book follows The Jaws Book and The Jurassic Park Book to complete the editor's trilogy dealing with Spielberg's three major blockbusters and their legacies as landmarks of popular cinema and culture. Through a logical progression, the book considers E.T. from a number of different critical, contextual, and historical perspectives, including its production history; its (trans) cultural contexts; and its (transmedial) cultural legacy and impact. It interrogatates the film's engagement with the politics of 1980s America, how E.T. has embedded itself in and across global popular culture, and how it is resonant today in a contemporary cultural moment mobilized by a nostalgia for the popular cinema and culture of the 1980s and the experience of childhood in that decade. Moreover, it incorporates wider discussions of the representation of "otherness" and the Alien across Spielberg's work, drawing on a range of UFO-centric texts, while engaging across the chapters with discourses of and cultural preoccupations with UFO-ology.
E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) was, until the release of Jurassic Park in 1993, Stephen Spielberg's most successful film, taking $792 million at the box office. The film was a global phenomenon and established the Spielberg "brand" going forward. As with both Jaws and Jurassic Park, its popularity was also catalyzed by an aggressive and widespread marketing and merchandising campaign.
The E.T. Book follows The Jaws Book and The Jurassic Park Book to complete the editor's trilogy dealing with Spielberg's three major blockbusters and their legacies as landmarks of popular cinema and culture. Through a logical progression, the book considers E.T. from a number of different critical, contextual, and historical perspectives, including its production history; its (trans) cultural contexts; and its (transmedial) cultural legacy and impact. It interrogatates the film's engagement with the politics of 1980s America, how E.T. has embedded itself in and across global popular culture, and how it is resonant today in a contemporary cultural moment mobilized by a nostalgia for the popular cinema and culture of the 1980s and the experience of childhood in that decade. Moreover, it incorporates wider discussions of the representation of "otherness" and the Alien across Spielberg's work, drawing on a range of UFO-centric texts, while engaging across the chapters with discourses of and cultural preoccupations with UFO-ology.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
36 bw illus
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
979-8-7651-3493-1 (9798765134931)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Matthew Melia is a Senior Lecturer in film and television at Kingston University, UK. His research interests include the work of Ken Russell, Stanley Kubrick, and Steven Spielberg. He is currently working on a project around Kubrick, Spielberg, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence.
Content
Introduction
Matthew Melia (Kingston University, UK)
Part 1: Production and Reception
1. Spielberg's Cinematic Evolution: E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial as a Pinnacle of Style, Tropes, and Characterization
Steve Davies (Liverpool Institute of Creative Arts, UK)
2. Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner: The Formula for Box Office Success/Failure Circa 1982
William Gombash (Valencia College, USA)
3. It's A Wonderful Light: Special Effects and the Politics of Awe in E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Judy Harris (Independent Scholar)
4. Practical Magic: The Cinematography of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Ian Freer (Freelance, Empire Magazine)
5. "Without John Williams, Bikes Don't Really Fly": Spielberg, Williams, and the Music of the Extra-Terrestrial
Matt Lawson (Oxford Brookes University, UK)
6. How E.T. Set the Gold Standard for Merchandising and Product Placement
Alexander Ross (Oxford University, UK)
Part 2: Critical Perspectives and Interpretation
7. Ambivalence and the Alien: Patterns of Continuity and Change in Spielberg's Filmic Treatment of Extra-Terrestrial Beings
Steve Woodbridge (Kingston University, UK)
8. Spaceships and Creatures: UFO Myths and Alien Forms in Spielberg's E.T. and Close Encounters (1972-1982)
Marco-Benoit Carbone (Brunel University, UK)
9. "There's Something in the Toolshed" Fantasy and the Secret Child Life in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Jane Batkin (University of Lincoln, UK)
10. The Child and the Alien: E.T. and Screen Performance
Neil Archer (Keele University, UK)
11. Accessing the Ineffable: Going Beyond Difference in E.T. through Intuition, Empathy, and Compassion
Julie Hawkins (Independent Scholar, Australia)
12. Reading E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial as Response to Environmental Crisis
Ben Crawford (University of Alabama, USA)
13. E.T.: the "Greatest Jewish Movie Ever Made"
Nathan Abrams (Bangor University, UK)
Part 3: Beyond E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
14. Monstrous Mosaics: Bollywood's Cultural Dialogue with Spielberg's E.T. Universe
Priyanka Das (Kolkata University, India)
15. Nocturnal Fears: The 1982 E.T. Sequel Treatment, Steven Spielberg, and the UFO Controversy
Peter Kramer (De Montfort University, UK)
16. Unmade E.T: Satyajit Ray's The Alien and John Sayle's Night Skies
Brian Hoyle (Dundee University, UK) and Matt Melia (Kingston University, UK)
17. Reese's Piecing Together E.T. for the Atari: From Promotional Space, to Transmedial Space, to Outer Space
Christopher McMahon (Liverpool University, UK) and Ed Vollans (University of Leicester, UK)
18. Extraterrestrial Things: The Retro-1980s Legacy of E.T. in Netflix's Stranger Things
Sorcha Ni Fhlainn (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)
Index
Matthew Melia (Kingston University, UK)
Part 1: Production and Reception
1. Spielberg's Cinematic Evolution: E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial as a Pinnacle of Style, Tropes, and Characterization
Steve Davies (Liverpool Institute of Creative Arts, UK)
2. Steven Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Ridley Scott's Blade Runner: The Formula for Box Office Success/Failure Circa 1982
William Gombash (Valencia College, USA)
3. It's A Wonderful Light: Special Effects and the Politics of Awe in E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Judy Harris (Independent Scholar)
4. Practical Magic: The Cinematography of E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Ian Freer (Freelance, Empire Magazine)
5. "Without John Williams, Bikes Don't Really Fly": Spielberg, Williams, and the Music of the Extra-Terrestrial
Matt Lawson (Oxford Brookes University, UK)
6. How E.T. Set the Gold Standard for Merchandising and Product Placement
Alexander Ross (Oxford University, UK)
Part 2: Critical Perspectives and Interpretation
7. Ambivalence and the Alien: Patterns of Continuity and Change in Spielberg's Filmic Treatment of Extra-Terrestrial Beings
Steve Woodbridge (Kingston University, UK)
8. Spaceships and Creatures: UFO Myths and Alien Forms in Spielberg's E.T. and Close Encounters (1972-1982)
Marco-Benoit Carbone (Brunel University, UK)
9. "There's Something in the Toolshed" Fantasy and the Secret Child Life in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
Jane Batkin (University of Lincoln, UK)
10. The Child and the Alien: E.T. and Screen Performance
Neil Archer (Keele University, UK)
11. Accessing the Ineffable: Going Beyond Difference in E.T. through Intuition, Empathy, and Compassion
Julie Hawkins (Independent Scholar, Australia)
12. Reading E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial as Response to Environmental Crisis
Ben Crawford (University of Alabama, USA)
13. E.T.: the "Greatest Jewish Movie Ever Made"
Nathan Abrams (Bangor University, UK)
Part 3: Beyond E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
14. Monstrous Mosaics: Bollywood's Cultural Dialogue with Spielberg's E.T. Universe
Priyanka Das (Kolkata University, India)
15. Nocturnal Fears: The 1982 E.T. Sequel Treatment, Steven Spielberg, and the UFO Controversy
Peter Kramer (De Montfort University, UK)
16. Unmade E.T: Satyajit Ray's The Alien and John Sayle's Night Skies
Brian Hoyle (Dundee University, UK) and Matt Melia (Kingston University, UK)
17. Reese's Piecing Together E.T. for the Atari: From Promotional Space, to Transmedial Space, to Outer Space
Christopher McMahon (Liverpool University, UK) and Ed Vollans (University of Leicester, UK)
18. Extraterrestrial Things: The Retro-1980s Legacy of E.T. in Netflix's Stranger Things
Sorcha Ni Fhlainn (Manchester Metropolitan University, UK)
Index