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The Pitch
About 39 years ago, E.T. the Extraterrestrial hit the big screen. I am weary of sequels, but I think there is a fun way to do this. Henry Thomas, who played Elliott as a kid, is 49 years old. He could reprise his role? Listening to Neil Diamond’s Heartlight got me thinking, what would the fallout of encountering aliens have on a family? Pretending E.T. was real, would our present world be any different? Would the family have been silenced by threats, mind wiped by Men in Black, or simply paid off? Could they ever go back to being a normal family?
In the 1980s, you are most likely not going to find a family therapist to help you sort aliens. Even now, I don’t know many therapists who are opened to processing aliens. And I am a therapist. You might imagine I’d have a corner niche on this market.
Your family’s crazy
Gertie’s daughter, Evelyn, and her husband Tom, seven year old daughter, Leah, and two year old son, Preston, in the back seat. They’re driving to Gertie’s for thanksgiving. The road is a single lane, country setting. The kids are asleep. Tom is driving and quiet. Evelyn tries to draw him out.
“Everything will be fine,” said Evelyn.
“That’s what you said last time. Your uncle hit me.”