Great Character: Marty McFly (“Back to the Future”)
Today’s Great Character post is a guest column from longtime GITS follower Jason Cuthbert and is part of a month-long series on notable teenage characters.
In 1985, while NBC’s hit comedy sitcom Family Ties was already making Michael J. Fox the most famous Canadian actor on American television, Back to the Future — a completely original science fiction comedy written by screenwriters Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis (also the director) — put Fox in the most lucrative movie in theaters that year. With Steven Spielberg on board, playing his part as super producer, Back to the Future benefited from Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment blockbuster magic that seemed to turn every PG sci-fi/fantasy film of the 1980’s into a worldwide industry (E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial, Gremlins). After playing Marty McFly, Michael J. Fox would never be able to travel back in time to a normal life again.
Back to the Future plot summary from IMDB:
In 1985, Doc Brown invents time travel; in 1955, Marty McFly accidentally prevents his parents from meeting, putting his own existence at stake.
Something about Marty McFly made me beg and plead to see that film 7 times in theaters that summer as a really young child — a feat I have never since matched or beaten. McFly was capable of doing everything a boy wants to do when he grows up: play music, skateboard really well, wear jeans everyday, have a hot girlfriend that craves you, stand up to bullies, hang out with an insanely great inventor, drive a Delorean sports car, and go to high school with your parents via a time machine.
But it wasn’t all fun and calendar hopping for Marty McFly. After coming from a family of “slackers” as his high school principal takes pride in telling him, Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) might have been the only accomplished role model in Marty’s life. His father is crippled with insecurity, his mother is a Tuesday morning alcoholic, his older sister is date-repellant, his older brother isn’t looking much past his big gig at Burger King and Marty’s uncle has the none too flattering nickname of “Jail-bird” Joey.
Let’s not forget that Marty is constantly late for school and didn’t quite set the world on fire with his band’s music audition. The opening sequence to Back to the Future lets you know everything that you need to know about McFly instantly — he’s not the most responsible cat in Hill Valley, but he won’t settle for anything less than making history:
What makes Marty McFly such a great protagonist is that he is well aware of his flaws, but once he puts his mind to something, he forgets that they exist — until they rear their ugly heads again:
Marty has a contagious Charlie Sheen passion for winning, which is quite the admirable trait when your family tree is being uprooted after doing Delorean “drive-bys” on Father Time:
MARTY MCFLY: Look, Marvin, you gotta play. See, that’s where they kiss for the first time on the dance floor. And if there’s no music, they can’t dance. If they can’t dance, they can’t kiss. If they can’t kiss they can’t fall in love, and I’m history.
Marty and the “Pinheads” may not have been ready for a record deal during the beginning of Back to the Future, but when the heat is on towards the end, the soul of rock ‘n roll forefather Chuck Berry takes over:
[Addressing the shocked expressions at the dance after playing a wild heavy metal guitar solo]
MARTY MCFLY: I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.
After working so hard to break his teen-aged father George McFly out of his anti-social shell, Marty emerges with more than enough confidence for the both of them:
GEORGE MCFLY: You really think I ought to swear?
MARTY MCFLY: Yes, definitely. Goddamn it, George, swear.
Back to the Future has the most relatable time-traveling tour guide in Marty McFly. He is not some unappreciative spoiled brat that was born with every advantage in life, he is not a world-renown mathematical formula-spouting scientist, nor a cool under pressure tough guy. Marty is just what most of us would be in his incredible situation — just a spunky kid figuring it all out as he goes along.
As the dark movie theater became a sun-lit lobby each of those 7 times in the summer of 1985 after re-experiencing Back to the Future, I managed to achieve the exact same feeling each time — the reminder that Marty McFly is a damn fun pair of white and red Nike’s to imagine myself standing in. For his cool-without-trying attitude, witty spontaneous responses and desire to not let history repeat itself — Marty McFly is one of the most GREAT CHARACTERS that is still in high school.
Okay, that’s it. I’m reading this and realizing once again how much I totally enjoy this movie, so I am officially moving Back to the Future into my top 5 most favorite movies. And in large part, that’s due to Marty McFly. He is a classic Protagonist figure: an ordinary person who finds himself in an extraordinary circumstance. The issues he is dealing with — his dreams [music], family, school, girlfriend, parents — are all things we know. Tie those into two really weird dynamics, the awkward realization that his father was a Peeping Tom and his mother was sexually provocative, and how the heck to get back to the present, and you have a great character in a great situation making a great movie.
Thanks to Jason for this guest post. See you in comments to talk about Back to the Future.
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