Back to the Future by Robert Zemeckis - Essay Example

? Back to the Future Introduction The film “Back to the Future” by Robert Zemeckis intrigues the audience from the very beginning. A great number of various types of clocks and their simultaneous ticking give us a hint about theme of keeping the exact time. A concept of time is one of the central issues in this film. Actually, time is a background for relationships development between a father and a son. Thesis: Marty is an able young man, who managed the future of his family by changing his past. Relations between a father and a son are shown as dependent and Marty and George succeeded in their family relations only because of their ability to change. Marty and George in 80s represented a different type of relations in the unhappy family. Relations of Marty and George after his trip to 50s became friendlier and their family turned into a successful one. This research paper is focused on relations between a father and a son. The most interesting thing is that a son changes a life of his father and not a father changes a life of his son, as it usually happens. It is appropriate for Robert Zemeckis to project his relations with his father on his films (Thomson 2002, p. 958). A great director was oppressed by his father, because the latter did not believe in his creative potential. Therefore, a model of relations between Marty and George reflects commonly the relations of Zemeckis and his father. Zemeckis grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and was lacking of art. Robert wanted to take his parents' 8 mm home movie camera and delve in the fascinating world of cinema. His desire to go to a film school was intensified after Robert watched the “Bonnie and Clyde” film. Cinema was an enchanting world for a young boy, who wanted to change his daily routine into a fairy tale. Characters of the film From the very beginning of the film the audience is intrigued by a character of Doc Brown, who is introduced through the number of newspaper articles about his bankruptcy, which are aired on the radio and discussed in TV news. There are also many other trifles, which introduce Doc Brown’s character. This man is supposedly a scientist or an amateur inventor. It is evident that inventions of the scientists were not appreciated by the society. Plutonium was stolen by Doc Brown in order to power his time machine. So, there is so much about this scientist, but who is he and which role does he play in the film? Actually, a young boy entering the house of Doc Brown is Marty and his father’s name is George. Doc Brown is a prototype of Marty’s father, a kind of an ideal person, to which this boy feels a great affection and is attracted by his interesting life. It is possible to suppose that Robert Zemeckis expressed his desire for art in his childhood and a character of Doc in this film embodies desirable features of his father. Moreover, Doc is inspired with technology and Robert in his childhood was enchanted by television. Marty came to Doc to have a rest from his blue-collar environment, and Robert Zemeckis looked for such place of aesthetic pleasure while watching films. Marty is lacking of attention of his father and wants to find an opportunity to penetrate into the depths of George’s ideas. Doc gives him a chance to get acquainted with the past of his father and mother. When a magnificent time machine starts working, Marty has an opportunity to go back to 1955 to help his father to live a better life and not the one he has. It should be noted that Robert Zemeckis develops not only an interesting plot of relations between Marty and George, but also paints a pathetic picture of psychological development of Marty. In his juvenile age in 50s he became his father’s rival and wanted to fight for his mother’s heart. There is no even a hint of Oedipus complex, relations between Marty and George happen at different level. Relations between a father and a son are developed as compensating ones: Marty gave an opportunity for his father to overcome his fears in the past and become a successful person in the future. Actually, Marty is atypical hero for the time of Terminator and other famous bodybuilders.  Therefore, Zemeckis presents a different vision about masculinity in the 80s. The director opens new opportunities for a hero of 80s. He is able to change the way of life of his family and he dares to fight against a father’s enemy. The main idea of the director is to show that one man is able to change the world. Success of Marty’s family depends directly on the ability of a father to be more courageous in the past. There is a different mode of transferring masculinity from a son to a father. The values of father are transferred to the son and a father exerts a great influence on the way of Marty’s life and life of their family and the community. In accordance with Magid: “Back to the Future” showed the son rescuing his community from the shameful world produced by a weak father” (Magid 1989, p. 46). Time change for Marty’s family relations Biff bullies George and Marty helps him. What happens next is an incredible thing: Marty’s mother falls in love with Marty instead of George. When Marty meets Doc in 1955, he asks to bring him back to 1985. Marty has almost failed to make his parents meet each other and thus their family was in danger. He invents different situations in order for George to have an opportunity to rescue Lorraine. Biff is beaten by George, and the existence of Marty is predetermined. Actually, courage of George in the past is opposed to his absurdity in the presence. He wears tasteless clothes and he does not have a strong character. He does not have a clear goal in his life, because he watches TV all the time and laughs hysterically. In 80s Biff bullies George at work and George has no power to resist him. There is a certain degree of fear in George’s past, even when he is the fiction writer, but he is afraid to show his novels to other people. Marty takes after his father and he becomes a loser in his past life. He tries to fight against a turbulent fate in the past: “Like his father, he has little backbone and even less self confidence, so that it seems, for example, that his musical talent will lapse into dormancy like his father's creative writing ambitions, for lack of drive” (Temporal Anomalies in Time Travel Movies unravels). Thus, in the beginning of the film, Mary’s principal criticizes him and tells that he is a loser. A strong father as a rule has a right to develop strong relationships in the family and in the community. Every little boy wants to have a father and in case a father is not an ideal man, then a little boy wants to find a strong man. Doc inspired Marty instead of his father: “… your future hasn’t been written yet. No one’s has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one” (Ruud 1991, p. 128). It should be noted that this story appeals for the emotions of the contemporaries and relations of a son and a father are shown in dynamics. For example, when Marty saw his father in 80s every day he was irritated by his daily sitting watching TV. When Marty was in the past, he felt sympathy to his father and he thought that it was better to help him. Marty did a right choice, because George became self-confident. Maybe, the root of his uncertainty should be found in the failures of his childhood. Marty is stronger than his father. He dares to save his family and Doc. Actually, this boy has a great and a kind heart. He is a patient and an open-hearted man and he is able to help people who are the most precious for him. Marty returns back and he sees that his family has changed completely. His father is a successful and a self-confident man. Lorraine looks nice and George has made his dream come true and becomes a successful fiction writer. Dave became a businessman and Linda has no more problems in her personal life. Biff becomes a car washer and Marty turnes the future of his family to success. Therefore, relations between a father and a son changed during different periods of time. Marty McFly has changed: from a boy from an ordinary and even unhappy family into a member of a successful and happy family. Marty needed mentorship and inspiration, just like Robert Zemeckis needed a strong trigger for his creative potential’s development. For Marty this mentor was Doc: “given those 30 years, he would have worked out the necessity of Marty McFly returning to the past, interfering with his parent's meeting, and bringing them back together, without which we are caught in a different infinity loop, as those events keep happening and "unhappening" with each cycle)” (Temporal Anomalies in Time Travel Movies unravels).  Conclusion Therefore, relations in the family of Marty depend on this boy and not on his father. It should be noted that Marty is a strong character, which represents masculinity of 80s. Marty is able to break social templates of relations between a father and a son, he makes his father more confident and their family more successful. There are two different timelines for development of father and son relations. When Marty leaves, he does not seem like a caring person for his father, but when he comes back, he has a different attitude for his father and family. George is able to change a life of his son. Marty will have an opportunity to grow up as a wise and well-considerate person, because he could see his family from another perspective and during another period of time. The changed George will make a life of his son a different one. In his past Marty inspired his father and, thanks to him, George changed. In his future George will inspire Marty, and his son would follow a template of a successful life of George. Actually, throughout the film a father and a son are closely connected and it is rather interesting to follow directions of their development, because an interchangeable nature of their relations reminds the audience about the life’s cycling. Works cited Magid, Ron. “Astonishing Effects Slate for Future”. American Cinematographer 70 Dec.1989, p. 44+. Ruud, Jay. “Back to the Future as Quintessential Comedy”. Literature/Film Quarterly 19 (1991), p. 127+. Temporal Anomalies in Time Travel Movies unravels. Back to the Future Part I. Web. May 27, 2012. http://www.mjyoung.net/time/back1.html Thomson, David. The New Biographical Dictionary of Film, 2002. Read More