E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial — Family Discussion Guide
A guided conversation resource to help families explore the themes of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial through a biblical lens.
Key Takeaways
The vulnerable should be protected rather than exploited.
Love often involves sacrifice, courage, and faithful presence.
The story can encourage secrecy and deception toward parents and authorities when fear takes over.
Its sense of wonder and healing is spiritually undefined, so parents may want to contrast that with Christian hope in Christ.
Discussion Questions
Why do you think Elliott wants to protect someone others might fear or use?
When is it right to tell a parent or trusted adult something scary, even if you are afraid of what will happen next?
How does the father's absence affect the way the family talks and reacts to each other?
What does the movie make you feel about healing, life, and saying goodbye? How is Christian hope different?
Guidance Notes
This is a warm, memorable family sci-fi story with strong themes of compassion and loyalty, but it also includes some crude kid language, scary moments, family tension, and a few fantasy-game references. For many Christian families, the larger need is conversation about truth, fear, authority, and where hope and healing ultimately come from.
The film celebrates mercy, loyalty, and the dignity of a vulnerable outsider, which fits well with biblical concern for the weak and lonely. It also portrays children as more trustworthy than adults for much of the story, and it places wonder, healing, and emotional rescue in a supernatural friendship outside any reference to God. Christian parents may want to discuss how compassion is good, but ultimate hope, healing, and resurrection belong to Jesus Christ, not to a creature with unusual powers.
Scary creature suspense
Crude kid insults
Scripture References
Family Discussion Guide — E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
Use this guide after watching E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial together to explore its themes through a biblical lens.
Key Takeaways
- The vulnerable should be protected rather than exploited.
- Love often involves sacrifice, courage, and faithful presence.
- The story can encourage secrecy and deception toward parents and authorities when fear takes over.
- Its sense of wonder and healing is spiritually undefined, so parents may want to contrast that with Christian hope in Christ.
Discussion Questions
- Why do you think Elliott wants to protect someone others might fear or use?
- When is it right to tell a parent or trusted adult something scary, even if you are afraid of what will happen next?
- How does the father’s absence affect the way the family talks and reacts to each other?
- What does the movie make you feel about healing, life, and saying goodbye? How is Christian hope different?
Guidance Notes
- This is a warm, memorable family sci-fi story with strong themes of compassion and loyalty, but it also includes some crude kid language, scary moments, family tension, and a few fantasy-game references. For many Christian families, the larger need is conversation about truth, fear, authority, and where hope and healing ultimately come from.
- The film celebrates mercy, loyalty, and the dignity of a vulnerable outsider, which fits well with biblical concern for the weak and lonely. It also portrays children as more trustworthy than adults for much of the story, and it places wonder, healing, and emotional rescue in a supernatural friendship outside any reference to God. Christian parents may want to discuss how compassion is good, but ultimate hope, healing, and resurrection belong to Jesus Christ, not to a creature with unusual powers.
- Scary creature suspense
- Crude kid insults
Scripture to Explore Together
- Micah 6:8
- Proverbs 31:8-9
- Luke 10:33-37
- Ephesians 6:1-4
- Colossians 3:20
- Proverbs 12:22
- Psalm 34:18
- Psalm 68:5