The role of heroes in American Science Fiction movies in the 1970’s and 1980’s. E.T. and Alien in comparison

Seminar Paper , 2010 , 25 Pages , Grade: 2,0

Communications - Movies and Television

This paper concers the role of heroes in American Science Fiction movies from the 1970's and 1980's, namely E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) by Steven Spielberg and Alien (1979) by Ridley Scott. It is a comparing review that analyzes the novelty of women and children as heroes in American Film. A selection of scenes from the original movies are analyzed in detail to figure out the innovation that is the new kind of heroes.

Outline (with page references)

A An Introduction to the modern ‘Blockbuster’ and what is special about this new genre (p. 4)

B The question of how a hero is defined, whether the new heroes in the‘Blockbuster’ are real heroes or anti-heroes and the adoption of other charactersthan men in a leading role (p. 5)
I. Adoption of a woman as actor in a leading role in the movie ‘Alien’ by Ridley Scott (p. 5)
1. Sigourney Weaver as the first action heroine in film history (p. 6)
2. The women’s role in Hollywood from the 1970’s on (p. 8)
II. Adoption of children as actors in the leading roles in the movie ‘E.T. – The Extraterrestrial’ by Steven Spielberg (p. 8)
1. How fun and sympathy are created for E.T. and Elliott (p. 9)
2. The children’s empathetic and amicable acting as a role model for the whole mankind (p. 10)
III. Novel usage of extraterrestrials as main characters (p. 12)
1. The alien as an enemy and antagonist (p. 13)
2. The alien as a friend and protagonist (p. 14)
3. Popular aliens? The coming of new merchandise articles and sales strategies based on the popularity of the extraterrestrials (p. 16)
4. The symbolic, religious meaning of ‘Alien’ and ‘E.T. – The Extraterrestrial’ (p.17)
IV. New kind of producing films (p. 20)
1. The creature design (p. 21)
2. Critical praise for the movies ‘Alien’ and ‘E.T. – The Extraterrestrial’ (p.22)

C Science fiction needs heroes but heroes are not only needed by Science Fiction (p.24)

D List of literature (p. 25)
I. Filmography
II. Bibliography and quotations
III. Images

• College: LMU Munich
• Grade: 2,0
• Author: Jakob-Benjamin Hafner (Author)
• Year: 2010
• Pages: 25
• Catalog Number: V277351
• ISBN (eBook): 9783656701804
• ISBN (Book): 9783656702238
• Language: English
• Tags: Alien, E.T., Steven Spielberg, movie, american history, american, hollywood, science fiction, Ridley Scott, america, hero, heroes, comparison, work, film, film history, history, 20th, 20th century