Netflix update: Marty is a schmuck
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As you may or may not recall, a host of delightful TV episodes and movies are leaving Netflix this month. This led my mother to binge on West Wing, which she’d never seen before. On my part I’ve been rewatching old classics like Airplane! and WarGames, and new classics like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
https://opposite-lock.com/topic/3138/wargames-don-t-miss-it
It’s been really hard, however, to rewatch the Back to the Future series. I’d forgotten what an unsympathetic protagonist Marty McFly is (and really the whole family).
He’s easily manipulated (“nobody calls me chicken”), careless, generally clueless.
Still, Michael J. Fox obviously charms the socks off you, so there’s that. I finally finished BttF II, so III awaits.
Anyway, just a reminder that the end is nigh. Especially West Wing, which leaves this Thursday. Just enough time to watch the Aaron Sorkin years if you hurry. And don’t do anything else.
Jeeps
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Airplane was amazing and only gets better with time.
Back to the Future has aged poorly. There -- I said it.
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@just-jeepin MJF is a great person but his wife and daughter are entitled Bs
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@just-jeepin You really need to get through the trilogy of BTTF to see Marty grow into a man, so to speak.
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Are you really watching BTTF for the first time?
Makes me feel old, I've seen it so many times I can recite the lines as I watch it.
He’s easily manipulated (“nobody calls me chicken”), careless, generally clueless - yep, typical teen - realistic!
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@just-jeepin I think they really missed the opportunity to remake it, if they were ever going to remake it (and I actually hope they don't, but it seems like everything inevitably gets remade whether we want it to or not) in the 2010s. It would have had the far-off future of the second film as the present day, allowed a 30-year time travel to the past to the present day of the original movies, with an idealized, rose-tinted view of the 1980s, similar to what they did in the '50s. It would have been a nice, symmetrical mirror to the original. Also, if they had done it between 2017-2019, they could have even reused the Reagan joke "Donald Trump? The real estate developer? And I suppose his Vice President is William Levitt?".
Now, its too late, so any future remake, and one will most likely come, isn't going to fit into that neat 30-30-30 year timeline tying back to the original. And also "Joe Biden? That 3 term Senator who really wants to be President?" doesn't work as well as a joke.
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@fintail no, I’ve seen it, but it’s been 20 years at least.
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Just finished off Dexter as it’s leaving and I started it this year. Everyone says not to watch the last season and while the story felt rushed, my feeling is just don’t watch the last 20 minutes of the least episode. YMMV
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@ranwhenparked said in Netflix update: Marty is a schmuck:
It would have had the far-off future of the second film as the present day, allowed a 30-year time travel to the past to the present day of the original movies, with an idealized, rose-tinted view of the 1980s, similar to what they did in the '50s.
Something like that with those elements already exists... it's called "Star Trek"
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@manwich I'm not that big a fan of George Lucas though
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@ranwhenparked Pssst that's Star WARS
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@dr-zoidberg Isn't that the name of one of the movies?
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@ranwhenparked said in Netflix update: Marty is a schmuck:
I think they really missed the opportunity to remake it, if they were ever going to remake it
You made a time machine out of an Alpine?
That is if it takes place anywhere but the US. I suppose a 4C could work too.
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@ranwhenparked said in Netflix update: Marty is a schmuck:
@manwich I'm not that big a fan of George Lucas though
10/10 trolling, would LOL again
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@ranwhenparked said in Netflix update: Marty is a schmuck:
@manwich I'm not that big a fan of George Lucas though
The Cylons always scared me when I was a kid.
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@Manwich @haveacarortwoorthree @dead_elvis
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BTTF is the near perfect movie. 2 & 3 are highly enjoyable, but his character flaw (chicken!) does seem a bit contrived. Still love watching them all, though!
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Oh man, don't even get me started on BTTF 2 Marty and how his character was changed to fit a sequel that no one was expecting.
Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale are on record saying that they had to change Marty's character for the sequel to make him work and create an achille's heel for the character that would allow situations to happen. Basically, they admit they changed Marty from a viewing vessel type character, to a traditional movie protagonist (thus losing some charm along the way).
Think about Marty in BTTF 1, he's an average teenage kid in the 80's. He wants to be a rock star, but lacks confidence due to an unsupportive family and friends. He's in love with his highschool sweetheart but can't ever seem to catch a big break (car is wrecked before their big date). We see Marty's family as he sees them, losers that he doesn't want to become. Then we meet Doc, and we see him as Marty sees him. An eccentric scientist that Marty looks up to and wants to learn from. In the span of the first act, we've seen everything from Marty's eyes and we understand the character.
That trope is held onto as he travels back in time and works to correct the future for his sake. The tension and conflict isn't from his own actions, rather everything is a byproduct of his actions (lone pine mall, confident George, etc.) and his ultimate goal to get his parents together so he can stay as a living being. The conflict is racing against the clock [tower] to make it all happen by next Saturday night. It's a perfect device that works with Marty's character.
Then we get into BTTF 2. Marty takes off with a new Jennifer and we find he's going "to the future". Robert Zemeckis has said "If I wanted a sequel, I would have left Jennifer behind." They didn't know what to do for a new movie. Jennifer is knocked out in the first 5 minutes, dumped at her future home, knocks out again and then is dumped at her home in the wrong 1985. You can see the shoe horning in the sequel to make things work with the first movie.
The "nobody calls me chicken" trope can be argued as a trait always common in Marty, but not relevant in the first film. If that's true, then Marty should be a downtrotten loser who is beat up way more than we see in the first film. Marty so quick to flip a switch over a name calling doesn't fit the character of the first film, a smart but unconfident teenager who has good guitar skills. Nothing indicates he's a man of short temper or decision making due to other's influence.
Hell, if Marty did get into an accident after racing Needles (by Needles calling him Chicken) then why would he listen to him as an old man? It doesn't make any sense but to push the plot along, it's a contrived idea that rears it's head in the subsequent film as well. I understand why they couldn't make BTTF 2 like BTTF 1, it'd have to be an almost shot for shot remake but in the future for it to make sense for the original version of Marty.
BTTF 2 gets good after the 2015 stuff. The 1985A scenes are awesome, the way they made Marty work into 1955 is actually really smart and I love the ending where Marty comes running around the corner after the clock tower scene. It's a very good sequel for it's time and I think only T2 upsets it as the "best sequel". I'll get off my soapbox now.
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@rctothefuture
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@rctothefuture Yup - good analysis. I've read they pursued an idea for part 2 that would have had Marty going to the (late?) 60s to deal with his parents. It would have been interesting to see him in a different past period in the second part, but I like it nonetheless.
I don't know how they could have done it, but it would have been nice for a bit more balance between 2 & 3. They're in four times for part 2, but basically only stay in 1885 for the vast majority of 3 (other than start/end of course).
While I don't put BTTF up as the best movie(s) ever made, they're definitely my favorite.
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@foghat1981 Funny you mention the 60's aspect. That was shot down as it was too close to the 50's and most audiences wouldn't be interested. The thought was that parents liked the 50's scenes as it reminded them of their childhood, the 60's may just bring up bad memories (Vietnam, Civil Rights, etc.). They also looked into doing early 1920's to do a Doc backstory, but that was done in the BTTF game instead.
The problem with 3, is that the writing team wrote themselves into a corner with 3. Plus Zemeckis wanted to do a western, as he was big fan of Clint Eastwood type spaghetti westerns. I remember reading an interview where they said "We didn't want to make a BTTF 3, but then the idea of Doc and Marty in 1885 sort of clicked and we went with it."
You can kind of sense that they didn't really know what to do besides "2 guys from 100 years into the future are trying to live and escape 1885." The jokes and references are pretty good, but at times almost feel lazy. I appreciate that the clocktower is a central point in all the films and that we see plenty of call backs and references throughout the films that build a strong "background lore". Statler's, Tannen's, Manure Haulers and McFly's built Hill Valley!
I've always argued BTTF as a trilogy is one of the best movies because it fills almost every genre. Scifi, comedy, romance, teenage coming of age, car movie, action movie, western movie, special effects movie, musical movie, etc.
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@trivet I'm jokingly called RC McFly by some friends. My undying fandom will be my undoing.
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@rctothefuture said in Netflix update: Marty is a schmuck:
@trivet I'm jokingly called RC McFly by some friends. My undying fandom will be my undoing.
Well, @Chariotoflove has plenty of material now if/when he needs to undo you.
Jeeps
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@whoistheleader or a Fisker Karma - he needs the battery pack to power the time circuits or something.
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@rctothefuture yah, the 60s drafts that Bob Gale had would have been interesting, but I do think the cleverness of seeing two Martys in 1955 outweighs it. Not many (any?) movies have tried that. Plus, who knows if they would have even gone to 2015 at all.
Between the Wonder Years and Forrest Gump by Zemeckis himself a few years later, boomers probably would have still eaten up a version of the 60s, though
