Back to the Movies?
As we pull out of our long pandemic, brick-and-mortar theaters are trying to draw people back in. Did you know that Kenmore once had a drive-in theater? It launched in 1953 on the site of the then Kenmore Village, with the motto, “See the Stars under the Stars.” The Kenmore Drive-in Theater entertained families as well as couples on dates throughout the 1960s. When indoor theaters and stereo sound systems took over movie-goers’ preferences, Kenmore’s open-air offerings dwindled, and in 1978 the site was converted to a Metro park-and-ride lot and apartment buildings.
For another peek at past cinema, Marty McFly and Doc Brown were well known partners in the 1985 sci-fi romp, Back to the Future. In Part II these two characters, played by Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, time-travel to their future, to October 21, 2015 — and when that date actually arrived (in real life), devotees established a “Back to the Future Day,” commemorating its 30th anniversary. Since then, each year fans all over the world have celebrated the film, its messages, and its predictions.
Here is a quick summary of the first installment: “Seventeen-year-old Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time from 1985, to 1955, in a time machine built from a DeLorean automobile by eccentric scientist Emmett “Doc” Brown, when they are attacked, and Doc is apparently killed by terrorists from whom he stole the plutonium that gives the flux capacitor the 1.21 gigawatts it needs to time-travel. Soon after his arrival in 1955, Marty’s mother, Lorraine (then a teenager herself) falls in love with him, rather than with his actual father George McFly, threatening to cause a four-dimensional paradox that would result in Marty ceasing to exist. Without plutonium to power the time machine, Marty must find the 1955 Doc Brown to help him reunite his parents and return to 1985.” (source: Wikipedia)
Here are possibly the 5 best quotes from the BTTF trilogy (and what they could mean for us):
- “This is heavy.” Marty McFly says this multiple times, especially when he’s stunned or confused. At one point, Doc Brown reacts: “There’s that word again, ‘heavy.’ Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth’s gravitational pull?”
- “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.” Doc says this when showing off his DeLorean-sportscar-based time machine. It almost sounded as if we’d all be piloting flying cars in the years to come. But nearly 4 decades later we still need our roads (and they are still jammed up).
- “Nobody calls me chicken.” Marty gets into a tizzy anytime someone calls him a “chicken,” and he has a hard time walking away from a bad situation. This gets both him and Doc into a few challenging situations, but Marty always manages to pull it back together.
- “It’s your kids, Marty! Something’s gotta be done about your kids!” Doc warns Marty that things in the future may not be what one expects. What unknowns might the future hold, and can you head them off if needed? (This might also have been the first movie’s setup for a sequel.)
- “Great Scott!” Doc’s dramatic utterance in reaction to sudden and surprising realizations surged in popularity for anyone, anytime to convey shock and awe.
