The Absent Father

One of Spielberg's favorite subjects, which he repeatedly returns to during his family film period of the 1980's, is that of an absent father. Spielberg, who was himself a product of a broken home, often depicts the modern family in many of his films, as being a single parent home. E.T. is the first of his films that touches on the idea of using a family that has been torn apart by a father that has abandoned them. One of the most emotional scenes in the film centers around the absence of Elliott's father and the effect it has on his family. Early in the film Elliott is trying to get the rest of his family to believe that what he has encountered in the shed the night before was something more than just a coyote.

To add weight to his point that he was...