The Midlife

Greetings this Labor Day Sunday! The irony is not lost on me that on the holiday that celebrates workers and their accomplishments, I’m over here celebrating my laziest weekend accomplishments ever. (Cheers to all the couch potatoes.) We are entering what I like to affectionately call pumpkin spice weather. It’s cooler, the sky is brighter, and I’m here for it and all the pumpkin spice offerings at my favorite coffee places. Soon there will be leaves crunching underfoot, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Yay! That’s my exact “looking forward” timeline, by the way.

Last night, my husband and I introduced our 6 year old to E.T. (not Entertainment Tonight, although that sounds like a fun night for me) the Extra-Terrestrial. Released in 1982, E.T. is featured in one of my favorite decades of all time: the 80s. I had not seen this movie in many years, so it was a bit new to me, again. Did it have the same nostalgic and childhood appeal as it did back then? Yes. Did I cry toward the end? Another yes. My daughter did, too. However, I do have some observations/takeaways.

With the exception of Drew Barrymore, there were very few well-known stars in this film. After consulting IMDB to review the cast and their follow-up work, I can’t help but wonder why Henry Thomas wasn’t more well received and talked about as an actor. I mean, those were not crocodile tears when E.T. was on the verge of death (Spoiler Alert for the lone folks out there who haven’t seen this classic.). He’s had pretty consistent work over the years and wasn’t really talked about as much as Drew Barrymore.

And Dee Wallace. You may be like, Who is Dee Wallace? She was the mom in E.T. I had no idea this badass was in Cujo and other scary 80s flicks, and is still bossing it up as an actress well into her 70s. Dee Wallace, shout out to you for continuing to reinvent yourself. However, I’ll never quite understand why your character left little Gertie at home alone, while you stepped out of the house. But I guess that’s Hollywood for you. Yes, I’m talking to you Catherine O’Hara/Macaulay Culkin.

I can’t say if faced with the same situation that I would want E.T. in my home. While he had huge beautiful eyes, his skin was slimy-looking and reptilian. Even after Gertie had him dressed up like a RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant, he would have scared me a little bit. I guess that was the point of the film, too – accepting people/aliens as they are. I can remember being obsessed with the tons of plush toys and movie swag associated with this movie – stuff my parents refused to buy for me. Stuff like this:

In closing, I’m quite content a sequel to E.T. never came to pass. I mean, why mess up a classic with a sequel, which overall tends to never live up to the OG. Of course, exceptions exist. I would love to hear about your favorite sequels. Leave a comment below or drop a line to me at themidlife2021@gmail.com.