Film Essay: Steven Spielberg and Melodrama

Melodramas are widely regarded as films involving predictable yet exciting story-lines filled with emotion to cater to the feelings of the common audience than logic through the aid of easily identifiable characters. The literal meaning of a melodrama is that they were drama's that relied heavily on music. The silent era was the height for the genre because where a drama has the characters talking about their emotion, a melodrama focuses on capturing the emotion without relying on words through expression, extreme camera angles, unusual sets, and especially music. Most of these films tend to focus on romance, or a family struggle, however that doesn't mean they are all set in reality. Given how the films are focused on delivering emotion visually, they can indeed take place within a fantasy world. An animated Disney film, for instance, has easy to follow stories with conventional characters set in a world that focus' little on logic because they are aimed to touch our hearts. Many Christmas movies are very asinine from a logical stand-point, but people still watch them every year for the good feelings and morals the films bring in an environment that's different yet relatable. People watch and still praise Spielberg's films for the very same reasons. A director who specializes in creating melodramas that people still watch and praise is Steven Spielberg.

Take one of his crowning achievements "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial" for example. It's easy to pin-point the direction of when and where the film is going. We know Elliot and E.T. will eventually become friends, otherwise there would be no film. Obstacles get in their way from sending E.T. back to where he belongs, but in the end, we know the characters will succeed because the film would do poorly if all this action (in a film made for kids mind you) was left in vain. When trying to study E.T.'s powers, though it’s shown that he has the ability to heal and form a telepathic connection with Elliot, it's never really clear how far his powers go, why he has them (other than being an alien), and how and when he and Elliot suddenly start having a mental connection to the point where they both become ill. You can even say the film's beginning and end leaves us with questions than it does answers. What is E.T.'s race doing on earth in the first place, what becomes of Elliot and his family after E.T. leaves since they just escaped from the government with an alien that they're after? For being so predictable and at the same time confusing when you analyze it, on paper, it doesn't sound nowhere near as a masterpiece as critics and audiences have claimed it to be. If anything, it almost sounds as dumb as the infamous "E.T." knock-off "Mac and Me".

 

So why is it considered to be one of Spielberg's best films? Because the story isn't the main ingredient that Spielberg was focusing on. The sole of the film's success is fueled by emotions between E.T. and Elliot, where the story serves more as a road map, much like in a lot of melodramas. The characters themselves are not exactly very complex either, they're pretty average. E.T. himself, despite being an alien, is nothing more than a confused child. The villains themselves (with the exception of an understanding government agent) are just a bunch of scientists and government agents who want to capture E.T. for research that will most likely lead him to a lot of pain. As simplistic as they are, people still find themselves connecting to them. Elliot's curiosity and love for E.T. mirrors our own. We care about E.T. because we know he's harmless and afraid of his new surroundings that are shown effectively from his expressions and movements as opposed to dialogue. When we see the scientists and agents searching for E.T. we are intimidated by them from how Spielberg chooses to keep their faces hidden until the third act, by using darkness and an intense score to make them seem more like monsters than the actual alien. Spielberg plays more on visual storytelling and sound to get audiences emotionally invested than he does with having drawn-out scenes of conversation. It all comes from the actors and the puppetry having so much expression, close-ups of the two interacting, lighting that gives the film's its magical look, and John Williams' whimsical score to fuel our emotions than it does with wordy dialogue. If you were going to watch the film with just the score, the emotional appeal wouldn't change.

It's often in melodramas that animals and kids can play a large part in playing on emotions for their innocence, only here a pet is traded in for an alien that people found to be so unique about this film upon its release. Family (one of the elements found in a melodrama) is a theme that Spielberg likes to portray in many of his films, and it is certainly not an exception here. Most of the film takes place at Elliot's home as we watch him and his siblings interact with the alien as they try to keep him a secret from their divorced Mom. Elliot practically adopts E.T. to his family, who wishes for him to stay even though he's helping "E.T. phone home". In fact, the whole goal in the film's story is Elliot helping E.T. to go back to his planet where his family lives after being separated by them by some of earth's authorities. By the end of the film, as sad as it is to see the two part ways, E.T.'s family unity is restored, as to how melodrama films involving family usually end.

 

During the scene when E.T. is demonstrating his healing powers to Elliot, Elliot's Mom is reading to his little sister the story of "Peter Pan" when Peter heals Tinkerbelle. Undoubtedly it’s a magically sweet scene showing both the power of friendship and the comfort of family with the story that's being read serving as a metaphor for E.T.'s ability to heal. However much like the sound of T-rex's roar used during the monsters death in "Duel" and "JAWS" that would foreshadow one of his groundbreaking film projects "Jurassic Park", the use of "Peter Pan" would foreshadow another one of his films "Hook"."Hook" did not reach the same popularity as Spielberg’s other works. It wasn't hailed by critics and Spielberg fans at the time as one of his good movies.  The idea of Peter growing up have split audiences apart as half found it weird, as others found it fascinating. As fascinating as the idea was to the audiences who were looking for a different take of Peter Pan, it was still predictable. Many have found the tone to be very uneven, as it constantly seems to switch back and forth from a family film with the same dark edge as "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to an innocent kids film with the same kind of forced cheese and corny acting from the "Kick the Can" segment in "The Twilight Zone: The Movie". The film was nominated for 5 Academy Awards for its effects, but critics felt that "Neverland" looked more like a theme park than a magical world filled with danger and wonder for how limited it was. And the film is filled with so many plot holes and unanswered questions that without the proper emotional support they will stand-out as painfully distracting. However, despite the film not being a huge hit, it has gained a cult following over the years from people who grew up with the movie, finding more things to appreciate from it as they get older. It became one of Spielberg's films that got better with age for being able to touch the heartstrings of audiences new and old after its release.

"Hook" has the qualifications for a melodrama as "E.T." does. The characters contain easily identifiable traits such as Peter as the daring carefree hero, Captain Hook as the mustache-twirling villain, Tinkerbelle as the strong charming heroine, Peter's children as the innocence, and the Lost Boys as rebels. However, before Peter remembers who he is, he himself carries an antagonistic trait that can be found within the melodrama genre. Most antagonists in melodramas are people who are intelligent and well-financed who turn out to be manipulative phonies with a loss of emotion. Peter starts out that way, selfishly putting his job before his own family. For having a deep loss of childhood memories since they all come from a magical world, he has forgotten his sense of fun and imagination, yelling at his kids who want to play with him as he works, and shattering their dreams by stating reality.

Based on Peter's motives and relationship with his kids, family plays as one of the main themes in the movie, just like in "E.T.". Peter may not be the best father, but he still cares about his kids. When Hook threatens his family unity by kidnapping Peter's children, he must remember his past in order to restore that unity. It's not just about Peter fighting his foe to rescue his kids, he has to restore himself to gain back his values since he himself is already failing as a fun supportive loving Father. Hook himself does more than threaten the family's unity by holding them captive, he tries to brainwash them into loving him like a Father by using their Father's neglectful habits and how they used to be happier without children against them. Peter's daughter Maggie doesn't give in, but his son Jack who always finds himself disappointed by his Father's broken promises does. But like in any melodrama, the unity is restored after Peter regains his memories, saves his children, wins Jack back, and puts his work aside to spend more time with the family.

The two places where the film is set are also fitting for a melodrama. Most of the first act is set in the very same home where Wendy met Peter, and when Peter met his wife Moira, both are environments where Wendy and Peter have chosen to grow-up yet still keep being a child at heart. Peter doesn't learn that lesson until the end of the film, where he fully embraces this lesson when he returns to the nursery playing with his kids and hugging the people he loves. Wendy's home is the domestic setting where family unity is held, "Neverland" is the world of emotional phenomenon and moral. The emotional phenomenon is delivered from its wild inhabitants who live a life of no rules, where the morals come from Peter's experience after his long absence. To visually display emotion Spielberg uses these environments to establish the characters feeling through its imaginative sets, fantasy-like lighting, and enchanting score conducted once again by John Williams. Whether it involves a Lost Boy touching Peter's old face to find his young face, or Peter re-visiting the nursery where his memories are creeping back only for him to repress them, emotion is displayed visually without the need for dialogue. A strength of an important film method, "show, don't tell", is also one of the key rules in melodramas.

For incorporating the elements of melodrama through the use of family, conventional characters, telling a story visually, and focusing on emotion instead of logic has helped make Spielberg a director that people still study and praise. Most of Spielberg's films (including the ones mentioned) are filled with plot holes, and scenes that completely defy logic. Yet audiences still tend to overlook these flaws. The key to that success is based on how Spielberg knows the amount of suspension of disbelief an audience will lend if he succeeds in entertaining them and touching their feelings. If both of these elements are done well, along with giving audiences something inventive and unique to make the story and environment captivating, then a director has fully succeeded with his/her job.