Themes and Defining Qualities
While Spielberg's films are not that dense thematically, they are often surprisingly personal. This has helped to reveal his distinctive style and a number of themes running throughout his works. Spielberg's protagonists are often either an ordinary person (Chief Brody in Jaws, Roy Neary in Close Encounters, John Miller in Saving Private Ryan, and to some extent Indiana Jones and Oskar Schindler) or children (Elliot in E.T, Jim in Empire of the Sun, David in A.I.). His characters are frequently outsiders, loners or underdogs (Celie in the Color Purple, Cinquè in Amistad), reflecting Spielberg's self-described lonely childhood. Another theme that runs through Spielberg's works is that of a broken home and/or turbulent relationships between parents and children. Prominent examples include E.T, Close Encounters, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Empire of the Sun, and many others. Two other themes that define his films are friendship (Indiana Jones, E.T, Saving Private Ryan) and WWII (1941, Empire of the Sun, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan). Spielberg generally goes for happy endings in his films, in keeping with his status as the world's most popular filmmaker. One result of this is his being labeled as a sentimental filmmaker, a criticism that has followed him around since the early 1980's because of his penchant for making tear-jerkers. One external characteristic to the films of Steven Spielberg is the constant presence of legendary composer John Williams. Spielberg and Williams rose to fame together and collaborated on nearly all of Spielberg's films, contributing to their succes with iconic scores for films such as Jaws, Close Encounters, Indiana Jones, Schindler's List, and Saving Private Ryan.