Back to the Future is constantly dogging my thoughts, nearly a year since I first saw it. When I heard that it had been a household movie in the houses of my friends, I felt robbed of a classic family movie. Yes, I had Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc and Shrek and Ice Age and Harry Potter but none of them have Doc Brown, or Marty McFly. I plan on a 'marathon' this weekend with my friends, though it's slightly more like a five thousand metres, since there are only three movies. My obsession could be based on many things : Michael J. Fox playing guitar, quotes like "Great Scott", or maybe even the surreal plot of a boy's mother falling in love with him. No, my reasons are far more meaningful than that. What did you expect from a nerdfighter?
You may have noticed the onslaught of sexual exploits in entertainment today. Seriously, you don't want to get me started on 'Fifty Shades of Grey'. I shudder at the name. I read a line of it in a shop once and nearly threw up. But I digress. BTTF was originally turned down by many studios for being too clean, with next to no direct references to sex. Ironically, Disney turned them down for their salaciousness in the idea of a mother coming onto her son. However it is the lack of pandering intent that makes it so appealing to me. The plot is highly entertaining in itself. I mean, a boy stuck in his home town, thirty years before he is born? That's pretty damn funny. It is stuffed with vibrant characters and situations so ridiculous that you wouldn't accept them did you not know the plot-line.
For those of you who don't, though I can't imagine why not, here's the plot. A seventeen-year-old Californian boy is friends with a stereotypical mad scientist - though frankly he couldn't be more unique - who unveils to him his latest invention. A time machine. It turns out that he bargained with Libyans to get his hands on some Plutonium to fuel the time circuitry in exchange for building them a bomb. He, of course, fools them and when the Libyans find out they hunt him down, killing him on the same night that he unveils his invention to Marty. To escape the Libyans, Marty jumps into the car and accidentally travels in time.
He is transported to 1955 where he diverts the course of time and causes his parents not to meet. He also somehow attracts romantic intention from his mother, as they are roughly the same age at the time. He tracks down Doc - or the 1955 version of Doc - to help him get home, Doc is skeptical of what Marty tells him. Marty eventually convinces him and with Doc's help, he helps his parents fall in love as well as concocting a way to get back to the future.
My point is that although the film incorporates elements of action, comedy, adventure and romance, it leaves out the sleezy innuendo that has become so common in modern film-making. I think a film this devoid of popular techniques but still this exciting and loved is one mighty fine piece of cinema and that is the real reason for my obsession.
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