Steven Spielberg is a master filmmaker. His movies are some of the most visually stunning in the business, and they are the biggest reason for the success that he possesses today. However, it is important to remember that, first and foremost, Spielberg is a storyteller. He has incorporated some deeply complex themes into making films that range from fantasy and science fiction to drama and war tales.
Through so much experience and attention to detail, he is able to deliver stories in a way that few in the industry have been able to do. However, it would seem that the director has also been able to trick his viewers by hiding the most interesting story in plain sight; the one about him and his family.
Steven Spielberg’s Tale of a Pursuit and Its Cost
One of the most famous questions asked when it comes to dreams is their cost. How much will one have to sacrifice to be able to get exactly what they want? For some, it can be something simple like hard work and less time for others, it can be a loss of self and what they knew to be their reflection. Frequently, however, one is forced to turn their backs on those they care about the most to follow the dreams they set for their life.
Such was the tale of Steven Spielberg, as told from the eyes of Sammy Fabelman. In 2022, the director released the autobiographical film, The Fabelmans, which followed a loosely fictionalized version of his own life, as a young boy with a dream to become a filmmaker. However, the cost of this feat would be the proximity of his family, as he was forced to put it all on the line for a possible future.
The film did an impeccable job of showcasing the trials and tribulations that Spielberg, his wife, and his children went through as he was out there, becoming the best filmmaker of all time. Although, this wasn’t the very first time that the director tried to tell his story.
A Hidden Meaning
During the acceptance speech for his Golden Globe for The Fabelmans (via NBC), Steven Spielberg talked about how he had been trying to tell the story of his life for many years now. Revealing that he had hidden details about this story in two other films, he mentioned that E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind also had details of his story hidden within them.
I’ve told this story in parts and parcels all through my career. E.T. has a lot to do with this story. Close Encounters has a lot to do with this story.
In another interview with The New Yorker, the director went into further detail about these definitions. Starting off with the 1977 film, he confessed how he cleverly put himself in the shoes of the protagonist of the film. A father who forfeited his family and their needs that relied on him to follow through with his dream, Spielberg showcased his story through his own eyes in the film.
However, it would seem that his approach to the 1982 film was a lot different, putting his son in the driver’s seat of the story and letting the story flow through his eyes. A young boy who felt a gaping hole within himself, left by someone he cared about. Even going as far as to use mythical possibilities to fill the emptiness he felt.
“Close Encounters” was about a father’s voluntary separation from the family to pursue a dream at the expense of losing his family. “E.T.” was a story of a kid who needed to fill the hole that a separation had dug out of his life, and he just happened to fill it metaphorically with this little squishy guy from outer space.
Although both these motives were hidden within the fabric of the subtext of the project, there is no denying that Spielberg’s master storytelling is to blame for their even more emotional impact.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and The Fabelmans are available for streaming on AppleTV.
