MovieChat Forums > E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Discussion > Plot hole... of logic

Plot hole... of logic

posted 10 years ago by jimmyjameson8
8 replies | jump to latest

Ok, I know this isn't really a legitimate plot hole, as it is kind of irrelevant to the plot. BUT, I have to point this out.

Let's look at ET. Short, slow, clumsy, long, spindly arms with long, unweidly fingers. How did a race like that survive? Why is he so clumsy? Do they not have objects, walls, and floors where he comes from. Why can he barely hold a can of beer or put food into his own mouth? How do they eat on their planet? Different gravity could account for some of this, but you think he'd be used to it after awhile.

I suppose they also have the power of telekinesis. But the time it would take to evolve to this point is staggering. Are there no predators on their planet? How could something so slow and physically useless survive so long?

And why doesn't he just use telekinesis for everything then? Running away, eating, etc. He seems to use his powers more as a party trick than something he relies on day to day.

[–] virgiltx 10 years ago

This isn't really the legitimate answer that you're looking for, but what you're talking (writing) about is a similar thing to what we're doing when we breed dogs and cats for weird looks and configurations, just to make a cute, or conveniently small and docile pet. And a lot of it is downright cruel, like with Persian cats, which have many health problems and discomforts from their distorted features.

E.T. is like the pug dog he's modeled after, a contrivance of pet-breeding.

As for back on E.T.'s planet, it is possible that ungainly animals can survive in some environments, like sloths in South America, because there were no predators until carnivores invaded from North America several million years ago.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Interchange

Most alien designs aren't too practical anyway. It's all just for show, not well thought out functionality.

Spielberg has said that E.T. was a plant, but I don't buy that, even if it is all fiction. E.T. was structurally an animal, with a heart, and he ate and drank Earth consumables. "Plants" don't walk around, they stay "planted".

An animal is basically a tube that moves around and passes food through itself. Eyes, ears, brains and limbs are additional things those tubes evolved to help them move around and find and secure food to pass through themselves. And that's basically what E.T. was. You can't just up and say he's a plant.
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[–] jimmyjameson8 10 years ago

I agree it is mostly for show, Spielberg just wanted a cute, clumsy, non-threatening alien. So non-threatening that apparently he decided to call it a plant (have never heard that anecdote before).

But I guess it's quite possible they evolved without predators. Thanks for the response.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] mrtron81 10 years ago

A simple answer is that ET's species evolved to became physically slow and clumsy after they became technologically advanced. Their weapons protected them from any predators.

[–] psbowlay 10 years ago

Short, slow, clumsy, long, spindly arms with long, unweidly fingers. How did a race like that survive?

Because they're not from Earth, and their shape is perfectly adapted for where they're from. Simple.

[–] jpowell180 8 years ago

Also, they are able to use the "Force" - the exact "Force" as seen in the Star Wars films; ET's race comes from the Star Wars galaxy (the one that is "far, far away").

They can be seen in the Senate of the Old Republic - https://ohilodude.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/image.jpeg?w=584 .

How is it that ET visits a planet which has films of his galaxy's history?

The best explanation is that George Lucas was force-sensitive and was able to see it in his imagination.

[–] mkohary 9 years ago

This is what we call "over thinking it". ;-)

[–] ebright99 8 years ago

FYI, ET is not slow. We see him run fast at the beginning.