Steven Spielberg has said more recently that he regrets having Richard Dreyfuss's character leave his kids in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.
This is my answer.
After the way Richard Dreyfuss's character was treated by his wife, the marriage was going to break up.
Only one of them can get the kids.
So the kids are gonna lose a parent- at least as a presence every day in the house- either way.
Or worse. For holding on to the marriage would have been far worse for the kids.
Richard Dreyfuss might as well leave with the aliens.
Better for the kids for them to lose their dad to space aliens than for them to lose their dad to their mom's temper.
I know having a father as a presence, even if not every day, is important.
But believing that you lost your dad to outer space is far better than knowing your mom is to blame.
It's all for the best. Richard Dreyfuss might as well leave with the aliens.
That's my answer.
God loves you!
Sincerely,
David S. Annderson
P.S. I am not an expert, but given the wife's reaction to a little excitement coming into Richard Dreyfuss's character's life, the marriage was probably doomed anyway, even if the aliens had not come calling. But I'm hardly an expert. Things like that happen sometimes. They happened to Steven Spielberg's parents. They happened to my parents. And there's nothing wrong with representing that, especially when you show something wonderful happening at the same time to show kids (and adults!) that life can still be beautiful! My life was still beautiful!