• Semiotics
• Text/Sign
• Prior Knowledge

• Intertextuality
• Truth
• Denotation/
  Connotation

• Change
• Myth
• Alien

• Two Things
• Two More

• Barthes
• Baudrillard

• Research Qs
• Heuristic Qs
• Method

  

Let's look at an interpretation of E.T. On a denotative level, it is simply entertainment—a movie about and alien and a boy that is in no way political (i.e., in no way exhibits values or a shift in values). Taking E.T. through a semiotic method helps find the connotative level.

1) Similarity:

a) Examine things that are similar to E.T. (of the same category), namely other sci-fi stories, in an attempt to think about that larger context.

War of the Worlds, for example, especially creates the typical scenario we have come to know: Earth is invaded by technologically superior beings.

b) Ask, what else does this sound like (different category)? Many stories/myths throughout recorded history that center around angels and devils. Angels and Devils are not humans and not gods, but they live in the stars/heaven and visit humans.

c) Then ask, what other alien stories take on the devil or angel interpretation of aliens? War of the Worlds, for example, clearly works out of the Devil scenario. To determine why, look at historical context:

1898 -- when WW was written (H.G. Wells), England was worried about Germany, which culminated in WWI


1930s -- when WW was broadcast (Orson Welles), America worried about Germany, which culminated in WWII

A concluding claim: "sci-fi" functions as a substitute for real world anxieties.

1950s -- further example is the Cold War. In Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the police, army, gov't are good; they protect people from alien devils. (Body Snatchers are often seen as Communists; can never really know who might be an alien/commie.)

2) Difference

Returning to E.T., it seems clear that it does not follow this pattern. The alien is completely non-threatening, he is not an invader, and the authorities are cast as evil, trying to capture E.T. Why? Again look to historical context:

One possible historical event that changes the myth from devils to angels is Roswell. In this (his)story (from the late forties?), the gov't is trying to cover up the existence of aliens. Combine that with the general distrust of the gov't in the 60s and 70s from JFK and MLK to Vietnam and Watergate, and the change seems inevitable (all the way to today, X-files, Jesse Venture, Militias etc.) Close Encounters of the Third Kind also operates on this angel scenario.

3) Argument/Interpretation

One could leave the analysis there: we have an historical basis for arguing why the shift in representations has taken place. But we can also push the argument further. In addition to a distrust of the gov't, what else makes E.T. or The X-files a compelling story/mythology?

These stories combine science and religion. Both value systems have a lot of cultural clout in America, and even though they seem to be at odds, the success of these myths lie in their ability to appeal to both value systems. They combine technology with the need (and desire) to believe.

In the end, the appeal to core audience values of the times.

(SOL, 3rd 8-14)