ET was Jesus

[ruach1]

Agree or disagree: The story of ET is actually the story of Jesus.

Here's the reasoning:
1. Person comes from another world
2. Person befriends people on lower levels of society
3. Person heals without medicine or medical instruments
4. Person has power over nature
5. Person teaches about the power of love and friendship
6. Person is hunted down by people due to fear and suspicion
7. Person dies
8. Person comes back to life.
9. Person returns to the world from which he came

Excluding the getting drunk on "Coors," the story of ET is the story of Jesus.

Comments? Conclusions?
(If you were somehow moved by ET, then you're all Christians whether you like it or not? :))

[TragicMonkey]

I believe it was Terry Pratchett who once described E.T. as "looking like a friendly turd".

Even his severest critics never said the same of Jesus.

[Jon.]

ET didn't smite a fig tree.

[T'ai Chi]

ET didn't smite a fig tree.

It wasn't ET's creation.

[Jon.]

It wasn't ET's creation.

Which would be a further divergence between the ET story and the JC story.

[ruach1]

Which would be a further divergence between the ET story and the JC story.
Not really. ET resuscitated (sp) the flowers. In parallel (control over fauna), Jesus did the opposite with the fig tree to prove a point.

The point? Some say that the fig tree was symbolic of Jerusalem and that it was spiritually dead (fruitless) like the fig tree and that when Jesus 'withers' the fig tree it is foreshadowing how old will be somehow replaced by new (besides, the fig tree was probably dead or dying already).

Others say that when Jesus says "not only can you do this to the fig tree..." (Matt 21:21) he means that "we" will actually be able to accomplish miracles similar to what he did to the fig tree: spiritually speaking and literally speaking.

[MaxHardcore]

"I remember another gentle visitor from the heavens, he came in peace and then died, only to come back to life, and his name was E.T., the extra terrestrial. I loved that little guy." - Rev. Timothy Lovejoy

[JamesDillon]

The point? Some say that the fig tree was symbolic of Jerusalem and that it was spiritually dead (fruitless) like the fig tree and that when Jesus 'withers' the fig tree it is foreshadowing how old will be somehow replaced by new (besides, the fig tree was probably dead or dying already).

And some will say Jesus was just being a dick, since it wasn't even fig season.

[slingblade]

Frodo was Christ, ET was Christ, Harry Potter's Christ...

Most fantasies have some aspect of the Christ allegory in them. We beat this theme to death in lit classes.

So....yeah.

[ceo_esq]

Jorge Luis Borges wrote that "the generations of men, throughout recorded time, have always told and retold two stories - that of a lost ship which searches the Mediterranean Sea for a dearly loved island, and that of a god who is crucified on Golgotha."

If so, then E.T. must be either a Christ-figure, or a Ulysses-figure, or both. :D

[chris epic]

Frodo was Christ, ET was Christ, Harry Potter's Christ...

Most fantasies have some aspect of the Christ allegory in them. We beat this theme to death in lit classes.

So....yeah.

Then there are all the "Christ-like" figures before Christ

Gilgamesch, Vishnu, Horus, Mythras, Hercules, Moses, the Phoenix, etc....

[Marquis de Carabas]

Jesus and ET are both strangers who came to town.

[T'ai Chi]

Then there are all the "Christ-like" figures before Christ

Gilgamesch, Vishnu, Horus, Mythras, Hercules, Moses, the Phoenix, etc....

I'm not too familiar with those. Does it say that they died for your sins (like what is said about Jesus) anywhere?

[Nyarlathotep]

If one digs and twists hard enough, you can probably make any story an allegory for just about anything. Thus ET=Jesus, BattleStar Galactica (the original)=Mormon mythology, The Lord of the Rings=WWII, etc.

Give me a few days to think about it and I could probably turn Friday the 13th into some sort of allegorical tale. It doesn't mean that the parallels were intentional, though.

[Iacchus]

Then there are all the "Christ-like" figures before Christ

Gilgamesch, Vishnu, Horus, Mythras, Hercules, Moses, the Phoenix, etc....Elvis too.

[Complexity]

ET didn't smite a fig tree.
Makes me think that the Official Skeptics' Cookie should be...

<drumroll>

Fig Newtons

[slingblade]

Give me a few days to think about it and I could probably turn Friday the 13th into some sort of allegorical tale. It doesn't mean that the parallels were intentional, though.

No, but it might mean that humans tend to tell the same stories over and over again, and so the same patterns tend to surface.

Tai Chi, strawman.
Chris Epic's argument regards Chirst-like figures, which means such figures need only share enough aspects of the Christ-myth to seem similar, not fit the myth exactly. The examples he cites are as allegorical as ET, Harry Potter, or LOTR.

Frodo didn't die to save sins, either.

[TragicMonkey]

No, but it might mean that humans tend to tell the same stories over and over again, and so the same patterns tend to surface.

Tai Chi, strawman.
Chris Epic's argument regards Chirst-like figures, which means such figures need only share enough aspects of the Christ-myth to seem similar, not fit the myth exactly. The examples he cites are as allegorical as ET, Harry Potter, or LOTR.

Frodo didn't die to save sins, either.

He didn't die at all. He went off to live in Elf Land, with his dirty, bitten fingernails that were so disgusting. Ugh.

Gollum's the one that died for our sins. Let's start a religion around that. Just because he was a homicidal sociopath with multiple personalities is no reason not to worship him. Heck, it's a plus. Let's have a holy war between the Precious, which is what Gollum's followers will be called, and the Fat Hobbits, which is what the unbelievers will be called.

[Beerina]

Frodo was Christ, ET was Christ, Harry Potter's Christ...

Most fantasies have some aspect of the Christ allegory in them. We beat this theme to death in lit classes.

So....yeah.

You forgot Neo in The Matrix! Speaking of hitting people over the head with a club on analysis...

[Iacchus]

Ah ... Grasshopper.

[Correa Neto]

Some UFO creduloids, specially those with esoteric inclinations, do believe that Jesus was an alien...

I've seen these folks actually pray for the aliens...

[elliotfc]

Has Spielberg ever commented on Christ connotations in ET?

He also did the Last Crusade movie.

[Jon.]

Frodo didn't die to save sins, either.

I suppose the argument could be made that he was prepared to do so if necessary. That the journey to Mount Doom was an allegory of death and a descent into Hell and his return to the Shire was an allegory of resurrection.

Not quite as clear as the whole Aslan thing in Narnia, but you could work it in there nonetheless.

Which I guess was your point.;)

[elliotfc]

I suppose the argument could be made that he was prepared to do so if necessary. That the journey to Mount Doom was an allegory of death and a descent into Hell and his return to the Shire was an allegory of resurrection.

Not quite as clear as the whole Aslan thing in Narnia, but you could work it in there nonetheless.

Which I guess was your point.;)

I read in a USNews article that Lewis wasn't a big fan of Tolkien's stuff. Just throwing that out there. They were friends though.

-Elliot

[Belz...]

Frodo was Christ, ET was Christ, Harry Potter's Christ...

Most fantasies have some aspect of the Christ allegory in them. We beat this theme to death in lit classes.

Which is fine, considering the Christ story borrows so many litterary elements of earlier works.

[slingblade]

Which is fine, considering the Christ story borrows so many litterary elements of earlier works.

Yeah, which is what I think Chris Epic was trying to say, but he'll have to respond to that, himself.

psss....Belz...did you know you're in my Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 game? Chained to a pit of fire and thrasing? Sexy. [/giggle]

[Belz...]

psss....Belz...did you know you're in my Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 game? Chained to a pit of fire and thrasing? Sexy. [/giggle]

Huh ?

No one chains Belz...

Must be one of my useless underlings.

[Tricky]

Olaf was Christ (http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/eecummings/11930)

i sing of Olaf glad and big
whose warmest heart recoiled at war:
a conscientious object-or

his wellbelov'd colonel (trig
westpointer most succinctly bred)
took erring Olaf soon in hand;
but--though an host of overjoyed
noncoms (first knocking on the head
him) do through icy waters roll
that helplessness which others stroke
with brushes recently employed
anent this muddy toiletbowl,
while kindred intellects evoke
allegiance per blunt instruments--
Olaf (being to all intents
a corpse and wanting any rag
upon what God unto him gave)
responds,without getting annoyed
"I will not kiss your f--king flag"

straightway the silver bird looked grave
(departing hurriedly to shave)

but--though all kinds of officers
(a yearning nation's blueeyed pride)
their passive prey did kick and curse
until for wear their clarion
voices and boots were much the worse,
and egged the firstclassprivates on
his rectum wickedly to tease
by means of skilfully applied
bayonets roasted hot with heat--
Olaf (upon what were once knees)
does almost ceaselessly repeat
"there is some s--- I will not eat"

our president, being of which
assertions duly notified
threw the yellowsonofabitch
into a dungeon,where he died

Christ(of His mercy infinite)
i pray to see; and Olaf,too

preponderatingly because
unless statistics lie he was
more brave than me: more blond than you.

[Ryokan]

I thought Gandalf was the christ-figure in LotR, not Frodo.

[drkitten]

I thought Gandalf was the christ-figure in LotR, not Frodo.

You could hardly throw a rock in Middle Earth without hitting a Christ figure. Gandalf, Frodo, Gollum, and Aragorn are all arguably Christ figures.

... which just goes to show how overused the Christ-figure is in literature, and how eager lit-crit types are to identify Christ-figures.

[Humphreys]

No.

ET didn't have a beard, did he.

[ChristineR]

Friday the 13th is stock allegory. The victims represent aspects of the unperfected soul--the slutty aspect, the stupid aspect, the vain aspect. Each victim is destroyed in a manner fitting to his or her sin. The last victim is a naive virgin who combines the self-will of a boy and the kindness of a girl and finds her strength to fight and overcome the evil.

[slingblade]

No.

ET didn't have a beard, did he.

My ex has a beard, and he thinks he's god.

[Jorghnassen]

Gandalf has the most Christ-like characteristics of all the LOTR characters, while the Witch-King of Angmar has the most Macbeth-like characteristics...

[Humphreys]

My ex has a beard, and he thinks he's god.

Well, if he has a beard, maybe you should consider the possibility that he is.

[slingblade]

Well, if he has a beard, maybe you should consider the possibility that he is.

Hmm...maybe I should.

I won't, but maybe I should.

Maybe I should consider the possibility that he's Elvis, too.

I won't, but maybe I should.

:sehuh:

[Beerina]

Oh, wait, I forgot Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood Still.


Brought a message of peace.
Cared not for wealth.
"You'd all better live peacefully or an unstoppable force will destroy you...with fire."
Died and was resurrected by the unstoppable force and gave a final message to the faithful.





Oh, wait, and Captain Kangaroo!



Rabbit "birthed" from the hutch
Fought over carrots like the money changers
"Colgate Flouride MFP, helps prevent your cavity" - message of health and long life if only you'd believe, i.e. buy
Mr. Green Jeans, a gay follower
Showed cartoons sometimes

[elliotfc]

No.

ET didn't have a beard, did he.

ET did have a beard, his name was Elliott.

-Elliot

[Humphreys]

ET did have a beard, his name was Elliott.

-Elliot

Ha ha!

Ba boom!

Ker-ching!!

[elliotfc]

My lasting grammar school memory will be, oh I don't know, EVERYBODY walking up to me with a pointed finger telling me (or it was a declaratory sentence I suppose) to *phone home*. This basically went on continually for 3 years. It didn't help that I was bony and had a very large head.

It still doesn't help that I'm bony and have a very large head, but at least I have a cell phone so it's easier to phone home.

-Elliot

[Humphreys]

My lasting grammar school memory will be, oh I don't know, EVERYBODY walking up to me with a pointed finger telling me (or it was a declaratory sentence I suppose) to *phone home*. This basically went on continually for 3 years. It didn't help that I was bony and had a very large head.

It still doesn't help that I'm bony and have a very large head, but at least I have a cell phone so it's easier to phone home.

-Elliot

Why don't you phone home and tell your mummy, Elliot.

[Almo]

ET is definitely a Jesus figure. No doubt about it.