Movies reflect the changing roles of men in the 21st century. Here is what our community says about a classic one from 1985.
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This is the fourth post in our “Movies and Manhood” that gives our regular writers a voice to share their views on how movies have impacted their thinking about men, as well as the culture at large. Our objective is to find the intersection between these films and the themes and topics we address here at The Good Men Project. Be sure to check out our other posts on Dead Poets Society, Field of Dreams, and The Godfather trilogy.
Back to the Future is one of my favorite movies. Although some of the magic and sweetness was lost with its two sequels, the sci-fi fantasy featuring a time-traveling DeLorean remains a touchstone of 1980’s pop culture. It’s fun, fast-paced, and features memorable performances from Michael J. Fox as high-school student Marty McFly, Thomas F. Wilson as bully Biff Tannen, and Christopher Lloyd as genius inventor Doc Brown.
But if you look under the surface of fun and fantasy you’ll find a movie that address quite serious themes such as bullying, sexual assault, and what it means to be a man. As you read the comments and observations from our GMP panelists below, it’s obvious that Back to the Future has struck an unexpected nerve with many people. We challenge you to revisit Back to the Future, decide for yourself, and share your comments.
But first, enjoy these two clips that represent pivotal moments in Georg McFly’s battle against the bully:
Here are the GMP Perspectives:
Back to the Future riffs on a brilliant theme of “Don’t Bully the Nerd” (or the kid who is friends with a zany scientist) while at the same time reinforcing stereotypes left and right. Dear Hollywood, thanks again for that!
Wilhelm Cortez, Executive Editor at The Good Men Project
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Back to the Future comically and powerfully portrays the impact of changing our past to improve and damage our present. The drastically different personality shifts that still remain familiar show how one small action can ripple through who we become. Since our realities being based so much on our perceptions, there’s a lesson in here of going back and reflecting long and hard on our defining moments. Once we’re there, we can see if the wisdom we’ve collected over the years will help us reframe these moments into something that serves us well instead of turning us into victims.
Elphie Coyle, The Good Men Project Author
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This is a movie that shows how strong the bond between men can be no matter the different lifestyles, beliefs, or age difference. Two men come together and end up going on an amazing journey, seeing things no other people will ever get to witness. Some things happen along the way but they are always able to rely and depend on each other no matter how bad things may seem.
Jay Snook, The Good Men Project Author
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The scariest part of Back to the Future is when Marty McFly begins to disappear from the photo. The scariest part should be the depiction of attempted sexual assault. It’s so much easier to face fears we don’t really believe in.
Feelings Detective, The Good Men Project Author
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This classic feel-good movie may seem like science-fiction fun but its main character, Marty McFly, deals with a real life issue that plagues our society today, bullying. Throughout the series we are provided with two examples of how to deal with bullying. In the first movie his father depicts the classic standard of doing whatever you can to stay in the good graces of the bully. On the other hand, I presume that due to his father’s lack of backbone Marty swings to the other side of the pendulum and fights back even at the smallest slight from the bully.
When you get to the third movie, you realize that both strategies have their flaws. This is made apparent when Marty is faced with death because he couldn’t walk away from the villain who is calling him “chicken.” By the end of the movie he realizes that the best thing you can do when pushed by a bully is to walk away. Don’t fuel the bully by being submissive or aggressive. Just walk away, and if the bully doesn’t stop, talk with an adult in a position of power.
Keola Birano, The Good Men Project Author
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As an audience we crave a villain like Biff to root against. We tell ourselves we could never be that way, yet the real life Biffs (AKA men who build their success on the backs of others) are often lauded for their accomplishments. Are the villains just harder to spot in real life?
Gail Hoffer-Loibl, The Good Men Project Author
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I’m not sure what lesson to take from the original Back to the Future in terms of masculinity. On the one hand, Marty’s mother, Lorraine, turns conventions (and Marty’s perceptions of her) completely around by being assertive, sexually liberated, and independent with a confidence we can assume he is unused to seeing.
On the other hand, Marty’s father, George, seems to be played for laughs as being completely devoid of any masculinity. He isn’t even effeminate, but rather just a wet blanket of self-doubt and passivity. His single expression of sexuality (peeping women through binoculars from a tree) is presented as laughable, repressed, and misguided. It is also supposed to be the thing destined to bring him together with his future wife through a series of accidents.
In Marty’s altered 1950s timeline, his father has to engage with an even more base masculine behavior, fighting Biff’s violent sexual assault on Lorraine with, naturally, more violence. The character of Biff, and his undoing, seem like they are meant to imply that the only way to fight destructive masculinity is with more aggressive masculinity. But when Marty returns to 1985, we see his father has not become a drooling, violent archetype, but a confident, successful, balanced man (we see him, finally, comfortable expressing his sexuality and interest in his wife openly).
Maybe it isn’t merely Masculinity: Unleashed that makes George successful and happy, but his realization that masculine urges can play a constructive role (in balanced doses), allowing a man to both assert himself, and succeed outside of convention. He is, after all, still a science fiction writer, but successful and celebrated, rather than closeted and self-deprecating. Whatever this movie is saying about gender and masculinity, I’m not sure it is as straightforward as it may seem, or as most other movies tend to be.
Edgar Wilson, The Good Men Project Author
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This movie symbolizes the importance of revisiting our past to extract invaluable lessons that will prepare ourselves for the future.
Kallen Diggs, The Good Men Project Author
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In 1985 I sat through three showings one afternoon of Back To The Future. I had already seen it once and was hooked. Of course I was a geeky (before it was cool) 14-year-old, but had to get my fill. Years later I asked myself why I would do that for a film. Was I just obsessive? Maybe a little, but more than that it was the thought that you could change your destiny (no George, not density!). Dealing with some difficulty in my childhood in those years I was looking for a reset button, and Marty and Doc gave me that. In 2015 I waited in line for hours at NYCC to see a panel and was excited to get Oprah’ed an official Back to The Future Pepsi Perfect. I look at that on my desk and it brings a smile knowing that I can hit the reset button, everyday.
Sean Ackerman, The Good Men Project Author
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There are some serious issues with masculinity as portrayed in Back to the Future. One being, of course, that there are two kinds of men: the ones who want to rape you, and the ones who will stop men from raping you. This was the message I took away from BTTF when I was a kid. No part of the movie was singed into my brain as indelibly as Biff sexually assaulting Marty’s mom, and George coming to save her.
What is screwed up about this scene is that she seems to have absolutely no fallout from having been assaulted. She just bounces right up and falls for George. It’s your classic false binary for men: Bad guy or good guy. And it’s a dangerous one at that. Yes, men should strive to intervene when women are being hurt. But it won’t always win you the girl. And she will probably have pretty serious fallout from having been so violently assaulted (watch the scene again, it’s horrific).
This sets guys up for thinking that they can fix women’s problems by being a romantic hero. And it sets both men and women up for believing that masculinity means choosing between sacrificing yourself or being a monster.
Joanna Schroeder, Director of Media Relations at The Good Men Project
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Other than the doors on the DeLorean, what lifts me up most about this movie is how it addresses the influence of bullying. Along with Marty we see how his father’s character is affected by the boys of his youth. The circle of Marty’s realization, intervention, and celebration as he experiences the effect of his actions is profound.
Anna Rosenblum Palmer, The Good Men Project Author
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Photo: Universal Pictures
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