Evidently E.T. was horny for Elliott's mom

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.

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. 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. 

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:

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.

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.