Twitter ponders a crucial question about E.T.’s gender. After Elizabeth Banks ripped into Steven Spielberg for lack of women leads in his movies, social media began to ask what E.T.’s gender was in the 1982 film.
Banks trashed Spielberg, stating that he never made a film with a female protagonist. As you can imagine, it didn’t go over well. She was quickly reminded of the movie The Color Purple . Elizabeth apologized on Thursday for her remarks about the talented filmmaker.
The comments on social media inspired possibly the most interesting Twitter debate in a couple of months. The fans questioned whether some of Steven’s characters were male or female.
One character created a huge debate. Was E.T. male or female? Opinions varied, and no one was quite sure about the alien’s gender.
While it’s true that The Color Purple had a great female lead cast, so did E.T. Drew Barrymore appeared in the film almost as much as E.T.
The movie enthusiasts have debated E.T.’s gender for years. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler joked by stating that Daniel Day Lewis played the alien. Other fans suggested that E.T. was gay or possibly a “gay icon.”
According to The Wrap , the E.T. scripts refers to the alien as both “he” and “the creature.” So it appears that Spielberg wrote E.T. as male, after all.
#ET ‘s Gender Debated After @ElizabethBanks ‘ Steven Spielberg Criticism https://t.co/j2vWApapnA pic.twitter.com/0RcRHDmn9F
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) June 15, 2017
Twitter blasted Banks for gender-shaming E.T., stating it was rude to “assume gender.” Of course, Elizabeth apologized for her harsh comments, but Twitter wasn’t ready to forgive her.
According to Mental Floss , there was supposed to be an E.T. sequel titled E.T. II: Nocturnal Fears , but Spielberg decided to abandon the idea . Melissa Mathison and Steven wrote the outline for the sequel. It was an idea that Spielberg wasn’t sure would work. And he was probably right because the concept of the movie was a tad strange.
Our first bike-in movie is happening tonight at 8pm! We’re watching ET at the shop. Come join us and bring some … https://t.co/HiKi7mSesH pic.twitter.com/CHEpH9ONyz
— Provo Bicycle Collective (@ProvoBicycle) May 3, 2017
As for if E.T. was male or female, Twitter users are still divided. Many felt that the alien may have been female, but others remained convinced the creature was male.
So Elizabeth Banks is terrestrially gender shaming Steven Spielbergs best leading lady of all time. #ET #ouch pic.twitter.com/yK2IgHUilw
— Mike Holt (@HoltsEyeView) June 15, 2017
Do you think E.T. was male or female? Share your opinion in the comments section below.
[Featured Image by Matt Cardy/Getty Images]
