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# Evidently E.T. was horny for Elliott's mom
- URL: https://it-can-only-get-stranger.ghost.io/evidently-e-t-was-horny-for-elliotts-mom/
- Published: 2026-09-11T17:40:36.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-11T18:17:20.000Z
- Author: Alex Steed

I'm watching *E.T.* right now, probably for the second time this year. The last time was when we covered it for an episode of [*You Are Good: A Feelings Podcast About Movies*](https://www.podpage.com/you-are-good/?ref=it-can-only-get-stranger.ghost.io).

You know about how E.T. is horny for Elliott’s mom, right? 

In the novelization of *E.T.*, [we learn a lot about the their interiority](https://www.fandom.com/articles/maddest-moments-in-the-novelization-of-e-t?ref=it-can-only-get-stranger.ghost.io). And we confirm that they’re a space botanist. And I think it's also where we learn that they are, ultimately, a mushroom. I say "they" because the gender is assumed in the novelization and by Elliott in the movie, but it's hard to watch *E.T.* now and assert a gender for this creature, even by old-school classification standards. Oh, and I think that mushroom detail was recently confirmed by director Steven Spielberg himself, [who offered some clarity on whether E.T. is slimy or dry](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/jun/18/steven-spielberg-et-was-moist-but-never-slimy?ref=it-can-only-get-stranger.ghost.io). 

But yeah, E.T. is extraordinarily horny for Elliott's mom. Which is understandable. There is no character in an eighties movie, I think perhaps unintentionally (or maybe intentionally?), hotter than Elliott's mom. 

So if E.T. is horny for the mom and has, apparently, a whole interior monologues about her, I wonder if that's extrapolated from the scene where he's dressed as a ghost for Halloween and looks at her through the eye holes. Longingly, maybe. I don't know. Mom’s costume, by the way, played by Dee Wallace, is a genuinely great idea for anyone looking for a sexy-but-not-revealing Halloween look this year. See above. Really solid work. 

In an overview of the book, [Chris Tilly repots](https://www.fandom.com/articles/maddest-moments-in-the-novelization-of-e-t?ref=it-can-only-get-stranger.ghost.io):

> In the movie, E.T. is a pretty asexual presence… In the book, he’s a bit more lustful. When he first lays eyes on Mary, E.T. thinks to himself: “A kindred soul, after all, was she now? Loving vegetables as he himself did? Was this not the basis for a more extended, more intimate… relationship? Dare he show his eggplantish profile to her?” 

> As the story progresses, his feelings for “the willow-creature” become more pronounced, E.T.’s heart becoming heavy whenever she leaves the room. But then it starts getting creepy. E.T. watches Mary sleep, stating: “She was a goddess, the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen… her closed eyes like the sleeping butterflies upon the night-blooming narcissus, her lips the petals of columbine.” 

> E.T. endeavors to proclaim his love for Mary, but Harvey the dog stops him. Then she goes for a shower, and proceedings turn seriously pervy. “Would she want an extra-terrestrial in the shower with her,” E.T. ponders. “Standing ankle-deep on duck feet and staring up at her with bulging and beseeching eyes?” 

> Mercifully E.T. never actually acts on his impulses to consummate, which is probably a good thing, both for the reader, and Mary.

I haven't read the book outside of seeing coverage of it in posts like these, but it makes me curious what this implies for Elliott, given his and E.T.’s empathic/telepathic bond. Remember, when E.T. gets sleepy, Elliott gets sleepy. When E.T. gets housed on a bunch of beers from the fridge, Elliott gets housed and kisses Erika Eleniak (who is credited as PRETTY GIRL?) after liberating frogs in Biology. 

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/f9/84/f984f580-9ef3-40f2-b295-4c6cf3f5af50/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-11-at-11.14.38---AM.png)

So is that feeling coming from E.T., who is inexplicably attracted to a member of this species? Or is it a vibe being received by Elliott somehow and amplified? Or is E.T. just longing for home, missing his own mom, and confusing the feelings for horny? 

Anyway. Back to *E.T.*