Within Secrecy
One of the most effective ways E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial creates fear is by refusing to show the faces of the people pursuing E.T. and Elliott. For much of the film, government agents appear only as jangling keys, flashlights, silhouettes, boots and legs.
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Legs, Keys and Flashlights as Partial Authority
Spielberg’s most famous visual choice in E.T. is the way he fragments adult authority. During the early pursuit of the alien, agents are rarely presented as complete human beings. The camera often stays at a child’s eye level, showing trouser legs, keys hanging from belts, torches cutting through darkness and vehicles approaching with harsh lights. The audience experiences the search exactly as Elliott does: not as a rational government operation but as an intrusion by mysterious powers. [SlashFilm]slashfilm.comSlash Film E.TEnding Explained: Spielberg Bids His Childhood…January 4, 2022 — 4 Jan 2022 — All the while, the duo are pursued by U.S. government ag…
The recurring image of the key ring is especially important. Peter Coyote’s character is never identified by a conventional name in the film; he becomes “Keys” because the audience first recognises him through the keys hanging at his side. Film-study materials have long noted that the keys function as a symbol of authority and access—literally suggesting someone who possesses the means to unlock secrets and enter restricted spaces. [WJEC Resource Download]resource.download.wjec.co.ukWJEC Resource DownloadET, The Extra TerrestrialMay 23, 2017 — Close ups of Keys' keys indicate that this is an authority figure with know…
The flashlights work in a similar way. Rather than illuminating the truth, they often signal surveillance and pursuit. Beams of light sweep through forests and suburban spaces that had previously belonged to children. The effect is not merely visual suspense. It conveys a shift in ownership. Once the agents arrive, the children’s private world is no longer private.
This technique also reflects Spielberg’s broader interest in point of view. Because the film largely follows Elliott’s perspective, adults become partial figures. Children often recognise authority through signs—uniforms, keys, cars, voices and rules—before they understand the people behind those symbols. Spielberg turns that childhood experience into cinematic language. [SlashFilm]slashfilm.comSlash Film E.TEnding Explained: Spielberg Bids His Childhood…January 4, 2022 — 4 Jan 2022 — All the while, the duo are pursued by U.S. government ag…
How Anonymity Turns Adults into a System
The faceless presentation of the agents does more than create suspense. It changes the nature of the threat.
A conventional villain has a face, personality and motive. Spielberg withholds all three. As a result, the audience does not fear an individual agent; it fears the institution represented by the agents. The government becomes a collective presence that can appear anywhere, listen to conversations, track movements and ultimately enter the family home.
This distinction is important because Spielberg’s films rarely argue that individual officials are malicious. Instead, they often show ordinary people being absorbed into large bureaucratic structures. In E.T., anonymity strips away personal identity and leaves only institutional power. The agents seem interchangeable, making them feel larger than any single person. [dokumen.pub]dokumen.pubDarkness in the Bliss-Out: A Reconsideration of the FilmsSpielberg would later use to dehumanize the government agents in E.T. (1982). The viewer doesn't actually see Indiana's face until severa…
The choice connects directly to a recurring Spielberg concern. Throughout his UFO stories, extraordinary encounters begin as intensely personal experiences. Contact with the unknown belongs to witnesses, families and children. Government agencies arrive later, bringing procedures, containment and control. The conflict is therefore not simply humans versus aliens. It is private wonder versus institutional management.
The result is a nuanced form of distrust. Spielberg does not portray authority as a conspiracy bent on destruction. Rather, he portrays institutions as entities that naturally convert mysteries into problems to be solved, monitored or contained. From a child’s perspective, that process feels threatening even when it is motivated by caution or curiosity.
Why the Reveal of Keys Changes the Threat
The most revealing moment comes when Spielberg finally allows the audience to see Keys’ face.
For much of the film, Keys functions almost like a monster in a horror film. His presence is announced before he is fully shown. The audience knows him through movement, symbols and pursuit. When his face is finally revealed, however, the film fundamentally changes its message. [Indie Film Hustle®]indiefilmhustle.comIndie Film Hustle®Ultimate Guide To Steven Spielberg And His Directing…December 21, 2022 — Keys is ultimately revealed as a benevolent…
Keys turns out not to be a villain at all. He speaks gently to Elliott and reveals that he too had hoped for an encounter with extraterrestrials when he was young. Rather than representing hatred of the unknown, he represents someone who has spent a lifetime chasing it. [Indie Film Hustle®]indiefilmhustle.comIndie Film Hustle®Ultimate Guide To Steven Spielberg And His Directing…December 21, 2022 — Keys is ultimately revealed as a benevolent…
This revelation accomplishes two things simultaneously:
- It humanises the institution by restoring an individual face.
- It exposes the gap between personal intentions and institutional consequences.
Keys may be sympathetic, but the machinery that arrives with him still overwhelms the household. Scientists flood the home, quarantine procedures are imposed and E.T.’s relationship with Elliott is subjected to official control. The damage is not caused by personal cruelty. It is caused by the sheer scale of the system. [Crittical Analysis]crittical-analysis.comCrittical Analysis E.Tand the Light in the Darkness: Spielberg Summer 2…10 Aug 2025 —… (Keys himself was once a young boy who believed in aliens). Howeve…
That distinction is central to Spielberg’s worldview. The frightening element is not necessarily the people inside institutions. It is the way institutions operate once activated.
A Fear of Systems, Not Individuals
The faceless-agent imagery in E.T. remains powerful because it avoids a simple good-versus-evil framework. Spielberg first encourages viewers to see the agents as threatening shadows, then reveals that at least one of them is compassionate and deeply human. The fear never completely disappears, however, because the true source of anxiety was never Keys himself.
By presenting authority through fragments—legs, keys, flashlights and unseen faces—Spielberg shows how institutions appear from below. To a child, government power is not experienced as policy or expertise. It arrives as an anonymous force that enters spaces, takes control and claims knowledge. When Keys finally steps out of the shadows, the audience learns that the people inside the system may be decent. Yet the system itself remains capable of overwhelming the fragile, personal connection at the centre of the story. [SlashFilm]slashfilm.comSlash Film E.TEnding Explained: Spielberg Bids His Childhood…January 4, 2022 — 4 Jan 2022 — All the while, the duo are pursued by U.S. government ag… [2Indie Film Hustle®]indiefilmhustle.comIndie Film Hustle®Ultimate Guide To Steven Spielberg And His Directing…December 21, 2022 — Keys is ultimately revealed as a benevolent…
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The UFO Experience
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Endnotes
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Source: slashfilm.com
Title: Slash Film E.T
Link: https://www.slashfilm.com/724080/[e-tSource snippet
Ending Explained: Spielberg Bids His Childhood...January 4, 2022 — 4 Jan 2022 — All the while, the duo are pursued by U.S. government ag...
Published: January 4, 2022
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Source: dokumen.pub
Title: Darkness in the Bliss-Out: A Reconsideration of the Films
Link: https://dokumen.pub/darkness-in-the-bliss-out-a-reconsideration-of-the-films-of-steven-spielberg-9781441188953-9781441146045-9781501300080-9781441193070.htmlSource snippet
Spielberg would later use to dehumanize the government agents in E.T. (1982). The viewer doesn't actually see Indiana's face until severa...
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Source: crittical-analysis.com
Title: Crittical Analysis E.T
Link: https://www.crittical-analysis.com/articles/et-light-in-darknessSource snippet
and the Light in the Darkness: Spielberg Summer 2...10 Aug 2025 —... (Keys himself was once a young boy who believed in aliens). Howeve...
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Source: resource.download.wjec.co.uk
Link: https://resource.download.wjec.co.uk/vtc/2016-17/16-17_1-23/_eng/et.pdfSource snippet
WJEC Resource DownloadET, The Extra TerrestrialMay 23, 2017 — Close ups of Keys' keys indicate that this is an authority figure with know...
Published: May 23, 2017
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Source: indiefilmhustle.com
Link: https://indiefilmhustle.com/steven-spielberg-complete-guide-to-his-films-and-techniques/Source snippet
Indie Film Hustle®Ultimate Guide To Steven Spielberg And His Directing...December 21, 2022 — Keys is ultimately revealed as a benevolent...
Published: December 21, 2022
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Source: tumblr.com
Title: Steven Spielberg: E.T
Link: https://www.tumblr.com/directorsseries/58268246176/steven-spielberg-et-the-extra-terrestrialSource snippet
THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIALKeys is ultimately revealed as a benevolent character who is trying to help them after encountering these aliens him...
Additional References
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Source: researchgate.net
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280662626_Keys_Under_Doormats_Mandating_insecurity_by_requiring_government_access_to_all_data_and_communicationsSource snippet
(PDF) Keys Under Doormats: Mandating insecurity by...PDF | Twenty years ago, law enforcement organizations lobbied to require data and c...
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Source: ovic.vic.gov.au
Link: https://ovic.vic.gov.au/privacy/resources-for-organisations/information-sharing-and-privacy/Source snippet
Guidance for Sharing Personal InformationThis resource provides practical guidance to Victorian public sector organisations (organisation...
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Source: amnesty.nl
Link: https://www.amnesty.nl/content/uploads/2015/06/two_years_after_snowden_final_report_en_a4.pdf?x32866= -
Source: csis.org
Link: https://www.csis.org/analysis/eroding-trust-government-what-games-surveys-and-scenarios-reveal-about-alternative-cyberSource snippet
Eroding Trust in Government: What Games, Surveys, and...8 Apr 2024 — In place of costly offensive cyber campaigns, malign actors will se...
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Source: GOV.UK
Title: understanding and dealing with issues relating to parental responsibility
Link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dealing-with-issues-relating-to-parental-responsibility/understanding-and-dealing-with-issues-relating-to-parental-responsibilitySource snippet
and dealing with issues relating to parental...24 Aug 2023 — We've produced this guidance to help schools understand their obligations a...
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Source: youtube.com
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1EhzJwagjUSource snippet
The Skinny on Cuban Intelligence with Ean Forsyth | SpyCastJoin host Andrew Hammond as he sits down with Ean Forsythe, Chair of the Count...
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Source: youtube.com
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQpdfCCT_ZcSource snippet
Why the Government in E.T. is RightToday we return to philosophy with a break down of why the government agents in E.T. the Extra-Terrest...
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Source: facebook.com
Title: A seven-year-old actress believed the alien was real
Link: https://www.facebook.com/61570647981103/posts/a-seven-year-old-actress-believed-the-alien-was-real-a-child-born-without-legs-h/122174779454688266/Source snippet
However, as E.T.'s health begins to deteriorate, government agents led by "Keys" (Peter Coyote) discover him. In a heartbreaking moment...
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Source: youtube.com
Title: Government takes over the house | E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial | CLIP
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tuRBUkugfkSource snippet
"Steven Spielberg" "E.T." camera angle cinematography children J.J. Abrams, Steven Spielberg, and the Multi-Beat Shot What I See - Filmma...
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Source: facebook.com
Link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/StevenSpielbergOfficial/posts/10162644682325086/Source snippet
lect a child's sense of fear and mistrust of authority.Read more...
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