In case we haven’t annoyed Star Wars fans enough with our previous crazy theories about the Saga, here’s another one to chew on and hopefully not spit out in disgust!
A lot of people simply assume that E.T. has all of his powers naturally, and are things any other member of his race could do. However, take a step back for a moment and examine those powers. Also, think about the fact that ET may have been magical and mystical, even among members of his own race. If you look at it in that only slightly-meta regard, then ET may have a lot more in common with a certain force-wielding order than he does with simply being an alien.
10. Why Did The Aliens Come Back For ET?
Once ET’s location was known, a rescue party was immediately dispatched. This is kind of a non-typical response, as far as governments go. People are already talking about flying crews to Mars and leaving them there. Hostages in hostile situations sometimes literally stay in the control of the hostage takers for years. One alien lost on a dirtball planet might not be inconsequential, but it isn’t exactly an emergency either.
However, if ET had real value to the society (as a possible Jedi knight or master certainly would,) then the importance of locating and retrieving him at all costs seems just a little more plausible. After all, it is entirely possible that ET was special, even within his own race.
9. The Halloween Scene Is Essentially A Jedi Mind Trick
People may not give kids a whole lot of credit, but are you seriously going to think that you can put a sheet on an alien, and no one will notice that something seems just a little bit out of the ordinary? Really? There was no sound, stance or odor that just happened to give him away? There was no dark outline in there at any point and time? At no point when candy was being delivered, no one checked out the wrinkled, seemingly thousand-year-old hand? How did this all never manage to come up? Is it at all possible that ET’s free hand was actually waving during the scene? If you can convince people that “These are not the droids you’re looking for,” then you might be able to get away with “I am just a snot-nosed kid like everyone else on this block.”
8. The Robe
As any one coming out of a bathroom will tell you, there are a number of different ways in which to wear a bath towel. Very few of these fashion statements will actually make you look like a Jedi, unless of course you already are one.
Look at the way that ET manipulates the wearing of the towel around him. This is a being who is clearly used to wearing a robe. Honestly, ET in the towel does not look much different from a Jedi in ceremonial dress. In addition, ET does not seem nearly as comfortable naked as he does when wrapped in the towel robe. That may very well be because that is the dress which he is used to wearing.
7. The Midichlorians May Have Physical Manifestations
It is entirely possible that The Force could have entirely different effects on different alien physiologies. More to the point, what if ET wielding the Force caused midichlorians to become visible? We already know that Jedi not only pay attention to midichlorian counts, but can also measure them. Is it such a huge jump in logic that midichlorians would become visible in some races when in effect? Specifically, ET’s finger and stomach both glow. These are not properties immediately visible in other members of his race. There might simply be a physically visible manifestation when ET is using of the Force.
6. ET Phone Home
Not even an interstellar McGyver could take a Texas Instruments toy and a few household items, and reach a star ship light years away. We are dealing with aliens, but what was ET doing with that “phone” again exactly? Consider the following for just a moment: Luke can call out to Leia through space. Jedi can feel other Jedi (or other force-sensitive people) across far distances. What if we are not dealing with advanced communication at all? What if ET was phoning home by merely creating an object or totem to enhance his natural Force abilities of long-range communication? The signal that ET sent out may have simply needed amplification, and ET had to create a device to do it.
5. ET’s Lifeforce Is Tied To Eliot’s
This is going to seem a bit radical to some people, but why are the Jedi essentially not allowed to love? Think about it. Everything that the JEDI do has a reason. Isn’t it possible that, through the Force tying luminous beings together, that the life force actually becomes intertwined? Think about the following scenario: at the end of Revenge of the Sith, Anakin is dying. He reaches out his hand to make a connection. As a direct result, Padme starts to die after giving birth to Luke and Leia. Why does she die?
Afterwards, Palpatine informs Vader that he himself has killed Padme. Vader screams “No!” and is in despair. Have you ever noticed that, when it comes right down to it, the Sith do not actually lie? Vader knows he killed Padme. How did he do it? Vader used her lifeforce to survive long enough to get to the surgery, leaving her with nothing. ET does the same thing with Elliot. When the connection is broken, Elliot gets better, and ET has to take it the rest of the way.
4. ET Uses The Force On The Flower
Think about the scene where ET revives a flower back to life. Now, remember what Yoda says in The Empire Strikes Back: “My ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you; here, between you, me, the tree, the rock, everywhere, yes.”
Think about that for just a moment. All we have really seen the Force used for (in most cases) in combat. Pay attention to what Yoda says about it though. There are many more applications than simply karate gymnastics. Through the Force, ET connects to the flower and makes it re-grow. ET makes a connection between himself and the flower as equally luminous beings. Sharing the Force, they both grow. It actually seems to be a beautiful application of the non-combat part of the Jedi job description.
3. Does Every Member Of ET’s Race Levitate Objects?
Can we review for a moment one of the most iconic scenes in film history? ET levitates and flies a bicycle across the sky. Lets assume for a moment that the aliens are not naturally super-powered, just like we are not naturally super-powered. Levitation of objects is a pretty common practice among the Jedi order, since the Force exists everywhere and all. Yoda could apparently pick up and fly an X-Wing over a low level. If ET was a Jedi master, then why would it be hard to fathom that he could actually sit in a bike and levitate it across the sky for a period of time as well?
2. Steven Spielberg Allowed It To Be So
ET: The Extra-Terrestrial was a smash success, and actually sold more tickets than Avatar. However, there was no sequel. As popular as the film was, the character was barely licensed or used for marketing. Why? Well, ET is a deeply personal movie to Steven Spielberg, which focuses on his feelings about growing up with an essentially absentee father. Do you really think that Spielberg would allow ET to be used as a joke or a simple sight gag? No; if ET was going to appear anywhere, there needed to be a fantastic reason. Establishing ET as part of the Star Wars universe might well be just such a reason. And speaking of …
1. ET Is In The Phantom Menace
It’s just a brief Easter Egg in the Senate scene, but this does establish ET’s race is very much in the Star Wars Universe. On these alien Senators, you do not see any kind of glowing fingers or glowing bellies, do you? How do we know that such traits are even common among that race? If you acknowledge them as being in the Star Wars Universe, and accept that glowing appendages are not a normal occurrence among them, then you acknowledge them as being possibly Force-sensitive, and that one of their own could definitely rise to the level of Jedi Master.
If that’s not enough of a mind-screw, ET visiting Eliot on our planet, a mere 30 years ago, establishes that we are in the Star Wars Universe, and there might well be creatures among us with force-sensitivity. So the next time you see some little tyke walking around wielding a toy lightsaber, they might not be playing after all. They might be practicing.
20 Comments
Also, when he sees Eliot for the first time in the backyard, ET kind of freezes him so he can’t scream for help, maybe it was the force or maybe not.. I think et is definitely a force wielder but he is no jedi for sure, he gets easily frightened by everything, something a true jedi would be ashamed of. Nevertheless he is very proficient at using the force without any training, he would become a jedi master in no time
Oh and I think the part when E.T recognise Yoda and says desperatly “Home… Home…” Is really important, that means that he knows people from Yoda’s race… And while I’m writting this I realise that Yoda and Yoddle’s race is almost extinct in Star Wars, soooo that would mean that E.T was in the SW galaxy when there were still creatures like Yoda, which means that he has lived for a reeeeeaaaaaally long time, and we also know that Yoda has lived over 900 years due to the Force, so a reason of E.T’s potential long life is that he is a Jedi Master (or Knight)
I’ve just seen E.T, and in the beginning we see that every creatures of his race have a glowing belly, it looks like they’re communicating with it. All your other arguments are good tho 🙂
Now I totally want to go back and watch E.T. and pretend he’s a Jedi!!!
E.T also acted like he recognized yoda during the halloween scenes. They both acknowledge each other’s presence
The theory that E.T. (Or Zrek, whichever you prefer to call him,) may have been a Jedi is an interesting one. But there are some issues with this. You mentioned that midichorians may have manifested themselves in Zrek’s alien physiology in many different ways, such as the heart light, and that was exclusive to him. But if that’s the case, why was the lead alien on the ship clearly trying to call out to any other members of the species during the escape who may have still been on the ground using the very same heart light? Go back and watch the movie “E.T.” again, this ability is clearly demonstrated by at least this one other member of Zrek’s species. If the people of Brodo Asogi, though not necessarily being Jedi, were not force-sensitive to some degree as a whole then how was the alien on the ship able to do this? And why was Zrek not able to send a telepathic message that said “I’m still here, wait for me!”. Perhaps there was no time left lest they risk capture and had to get out of there quickly…but why wouldn’t they come back within a few hours to pick up the comrade they had to know wasn’t there then? Even the Brodo Asogians must be familiar with the basic concept of roll call. Or, barring that, they would have felt a “depression” in the force indicative of one of their crew going missing.
My theory on this? Yes, people from the planet Brodo Asogi were definitely naturally force-sensitive, but not to the level that a full-blown Jedi Knight would be. In that regard I believe their abilities were somewhat limited in scope. Which would certainly explain your theory as to why Zrek would need to create an “amplification” device for his telepathic communications. If it wasn’t even powerful enough to for him and his people to call each other across a cornfield half a mile away it certainly couldn’t have had the range to call across lightyears and lightyears of space.
ET was a Jedi.
Ok.
And you are a virgin level 9000000.
I guess my two kids were fathered by midi-chlorians then. Admittedly, they are going to be tough to get child support from 🙂
Yes. Because us womenfolk don’t like Star Wars. Or E.T. 🙂
You missed: Someone in a Yoda costume walks by ET during Halloween, and ET tries to walk after him!
I’m going to use your rules to respond. ET is in the Star Wars universe. The ETs we see on the senate floor were there “A long time ago.” They had to have evolved quite a bit in that time.
Being a highly evolved race that can travel to distant planets to pick local flora! They are not going to have quite the hassle to retrieve their colleague and they are going to be more inclined than we would be to do so.
If ET were a JEDI, he wouldn’t have been caught completely off guard when the ship left!. He wouldn’t have allowed the ship to leave without force-calling the pilot to tell him to cool his jets long enough to get there. He wouldn’t have been wailing helplessly as the ship flew away. Also, if he had to be very important for the shipt to return so suddenly, then they would not have left without him!
ET was clearly a scientist from an incredibly advanced, probably hyper-intelligent race that can travel faster than the speed of light. That makes it somewhat plausible that he could use our electronics to send a simple beacon that his ship would have the power to read from a couple of days of travel time distance away.
I’m pretty sure some other ET bellies are glowing during the exploration scene in the beginning of the movie.
ET drew many stares while they were walking on the streets trick or treating. That said, it’s most likely that plenty of people thought he was kind of weird looking, wrote it off because weird makes people uncomfortable, and forgot about it five minutes later.
This list did forget that while the trick or treating scene was going on, ET recognized and tried to talk to someone dressed as Yoda.
I’m not entirely sure, but doesn’t Elliot’s older brother quote Yoda at one point? And I’m pretty sure Elliot plays with Star Wars toys at one point. How would they have made a movie based on something that happened in a galaxy far far away?
It also says a long time ago. The Force is supposed to be universal. If ET was in a universe in which the Force was real and midichlorians live in people, is it also not possible that I legend or story from a bygone age could be used to inspire even subconsciously someone to make it into a movie. Lets put it another way. Lets say that there are alien races. Lets also assume that the only way to salvation is through Christ. If that is a universal principle, then would there not have to be some sort of delivery method for the story of the crucifixion to other planet or even stories passed down from person to person to reach the deepest recesses of the world. Put another way, Yoda would have had to be an important figure in the universe no matter where or when he lived. He would have been part of Jedi lore long after the nine centuries in which he lived and his is a story that would have resonated in the Force itself. Centuries later, the Force could have given this story to our planet through whatever method and ET would have recognized a figure like Yoda… no matter how long dead he was. There is an apocryphal comic in which Indiana Jones finds the Millenium Falcon having crashed a couple centuries before and Han Solo was killed by native Americans while Chewie became a Bigfoot legend. If the Falcon had crashed and contained some sort of historical records, then those records could have been extracted and passed on as a legend as well. Of course, a lot seems plausible to me but I do not see that as a killing point.
Very cool list. I agree with Marc that there are some serious liberties taken with regard to assumptions, there are a lot of “Maybe”, “What if”, “If this, then why not that?”, not much of a correlation for causation so to speak. That said, this is a toptenz.net list so its meant to be interesting and thought provoking, not a scientific abstract to an essay so I can dig it. Also, like Marc said about “A galaxy far far away” it also says “A long, long, time ago”, so it is safe to assume the timelines do not overlap.
I totally forgot the ET species were shown in Star Wars, so that was a cool reminder.
Am i a bad person seeing how i have never seen the movie?
Is it too much to imagine that the other ETs would return for a lost crew member? Modern day soldiers go to great lengths to save their comrades and will even do so just to return a man’s remains to his family. A race capable of intergalactic flight should have no problem turning the ship around to come back. And who said they even went that far? What if they hid on the far side of the moon What if they stayed in high orbit and used some stealth technology? What if simply flying around at the speed of light made them invisible to us? If they never went all that far all ET would have had to do was make a shortwave radio capable of sending some sort of SOS to the moon, which really isn’t that hard. Given some reading and the will to build it almost anyone reading this could build just such a radio.
We have no idea of how many ETs there are, so losing even one of their race may have been catastrophic. It may have been vital to their survival to rescue him.
Ffinally, in the crawl at the start of ANH, it clearly says the story takes place “in a galaxy far away”. ET (the movie) may have taken place on Earth but Star Wars clearly does not take place in the Milky Way. This further demonstrates the ET’s far superior technology and understanding of science and that signalling the mothership may not have really been that hard. They had to bide their time and strike at the correct moment, the same way modern search and rescue commando teams operate.
I don’t disagree with the possibility that ET was a Jedi, but you make too many assumptions about their race. Once a race is capable of intergalactic travel, all bets are off.
okaaayyyy? This list is dipping and “reaching” into the nerd-well of anything is possible fantasy. The Easter egg senate thingy is purely in homage to the character Since George and Steven have made movies together… but I guess if you wanted to get technical.. they do exist now in the SW universe.. or being that look oddly like the Alien from ET 😉
I’ll buy that…..
Man seeing that movie, when I was 11, made me want a Kuwahara BMX soooo baaad.
Wow, I never noticed #1. That’s pretty wild.