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Mark Shermin: "Have people from your world been here before?" |
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John Carpenter's Starman is a kind of E.T. for adults, played as a Road Movie of all things. Fans will argue that it's a beautiful love story between a man from the stars (Jeff Bridges) and an Earthling woman (Karen Allen), dissenters will argue that it's a mediocre Cliché Storm, and others decide it's cliché but charming.
The aforementioned Starman is an Energy Being from space who arrives on Earth in The Eighties (later retconned to The Seventies), as a result of Earth having transmitted welcome messages to any alien life. After crashing his spaceship in Wisconsin due to an attack of the US Army, who seemingly mistook his ship for a Soviet plane, he clones himself an environment suit — the naked form of Scott Hayden, a lumberjack who died few ago and left behind a widow, the beautiful though skittish Jenny. She is very freaked out by this, to no one's surprise, and at first only wants to get away from the freaky dead ringer for her dead husband. But after he explains himself a bit more, gets dressed in Scott's clothes and notifies his kin thast Earth is pretty hostile and he needs them to retrieve him, she eventually agrees to take him to Arizona, where he has his only chance to meet up with his people and go home - otherwise, his newly created body will decay and die. Naturally, this leads to a long road trip involving a lot of learning about life on Earth, bonding and ultimately romance.
As usual, the military has it in for friendly aliens. They are led by the hard-as-nails George Fox (Richard Jaeckel) who wants to dissect or kill Starman. The scientist Mark Shermin (Charles Martin Smith) tries to be his Morality Pet and attempts to convince him to do otherwise. In the end, Starman has sex with Jenny, reveals he gave her a baby (she couldn't have children before he came along) and then he catches his ride home.
The movie was followed by a 1988 Walking the Earth television series starring Robert Hays of Airplane! fame rather than Bridges. Starman gets a more stable body based on the dead photographer Paul Forrester, meets up with his son Scott Jr. after receiving a call for help the boy unconsciously made for him, and they go searching for a missing Jenny - with Director Fox still chasing after them.
- Alien Among Us
- Animal Motifs: Meta example. Bridges says that he based himself on birds and their behavior to rectreate the Starman's extremely odd and stilted movements and speech patterns.
- But I Can't Be Pregnant: After he and Jenny made love on the train, Starman proclaims "I gave you a baby tonight." Jenny says that this is impossible because she is incapable of having a child, according to the doctors. Starman explains that he used his powers to alleviate this, and assures her that the baby will be both his and her late husband Scott's. He also gives her the option to "stop it" (read: abort the baby), but Jenny hugs him and accepts
- The Eighties: Retconned to The Seventies in the TV show so that Scott Jr. could be a teen in the contemporary 1980s.
- Fish Out of Water: Starman, obviously.
- Friend to All Living Things: Starman doesn't approve of deer hunting.
- Full-Name Basis: "Jenny Hayden! Jennyhayden!"
- Good Smoking, Evil Smoking: Shermin blows smoke in Fox's face after arranging for Jenny and Starman to get away.
- Has Two Mommies: In a roundabout way. Jenny's child is fathered by both Starman and Scott, he says. He's right: Starman may have put the baby in Jenny's womb, but his human body was created from Scott's DNA coming from a lock of hair that Jenny kept as a Tragic Keepsake.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: The Dude arives on Earth and falls in love with Marion Ravenwood.
- Humanity Is Infectious
- Human Aliens: Starman takes on human form while on Earth, his natural form being a floating blob of light.
- Humans Are Bastards - Humans Are Special: As usual.
- It's Not You, It's My Enemies: After Jenny is severely inbjured by a policeman and almost dies, Starman heals her with one of the silver spheres and decides to continue to Arizona on his own. She catches up to him.
- Klingons Love Shakespeare: Starman can't get enough of Dutch apple pie, to the point that eating it is nearly a sexual experience for him.
- MacGuffin: The seven silver spheres that Starman carries with him.
- Morality Pet: Dr. Shermin attempts to knock reason on Director Fox and become this to him. He fails every single time.
- Naked on Arrival: Starman, logically.
- Quizzical Tilt: Starman spends most of the movie this way given he is learning the human experience as he goes, and everything is therefore bewildering and confusing to him.
- Recycled: the Series: The aforementioned short-lived TV show.
- Second Face Smoke: Shermin does this to Fox after allowing Starman to escape.
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Fox: Shermin, you are finished. I will have you eviscerated for this. |
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- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Jenny was at first terrified of the Starman (and why wouldn't she, after seeing him form his human body?), is sympathetic to his cause but still wary of helping him out, and withj a little time ends up falling hard for him. Especially after the deer incident.
- Spheroid Dropship: The ship that comes to pick up Starman at the end.
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Jenny and Starman, doubling as Fantastic Romance.
- Super Human Trafficking: DAMN IT, Director Fox!
- They Would Cut You Up: Jenny and Shermin's concerns of what awaits Starman if Fox catches him. They're right, and learning about Fox's intentions is what psuhes Shermin to ditch his boss.
- We Come in Peace, Shoot to Kill: Played rather Anviliciously.
- What Is This Thing You Call Love?: What Jenny teaches Starman
- Your Days Are Numbered: Starman's sort-of body wil only last few days.