This tiny detail in ‘Back to the Future Part II’ explains so much
The Back to the Future trilogy is one of the most cherished and beloved film series of the last few decades. We’ve got the cool and confident Marty McFly (played by a dashing young Michael J. Fox) who finds himself back in time, and then in the future, and has to correct so many wrongs. One misstep could alter his, and his family’s, timeline forever. So naturally, everything that can go wrong does go wrong, but don’t worry, Marty is able to save the day in the end.
You might not think of Back to the Future as having impressive fan theories out there, but one eagle-eyed viewer on Reddit recently picked up on a tiny little detail that links Back to the Future and Back to the Future Part II more even more so than they are already. It’s all got to do with the Enchantment Under the Sea school dance, and how Marty’s dad, George, suddenly has the chutzpah to stand up to bad-boy Biff.
User KevinStoley pointed out on Reddit, there’s a piece of trivia listed on Back to the Future: Part II’s IMDb page that mentions that we see Biff spike the punch with alcohol at the dance. Stay with us here.
In the OG Back to the Future, we see George drink the punch before he heads outside to save Lorraine from Biff. Coincidence?
“Did George have a little liquid courage in him that helped him stand up for himself?” KevinStoley writes, “George was a skinny guy who had most likely never drank any alcohol up to that point. Even if he only had 1 or 2 glasses of punch it would have most likely given him a solid buzz, not to mention he was dancing around… which to that point seems a bit uncharacteristic of shy/nervous George. He even lost track of time and was almost late to defend Lorraine.”
The amazing thing about this is that it’s a tiny throw-away moment in the first movie, that we don’t get a pay off for until the second. It also explains just where George’s courage came from. Sure, he was staring danger in the face, but he had a little extra boost in him too. Even with all the time jumping it was always George’s destiny to save Lorraine.
After all, without their love, we wouldn’t have Marty McFly and without Marty McFly, we wouldn’t have hoverboards—the most magical invention ever inspired by a movie.
So thank you, Biff, for spiking that punch.
(Image via Universal, Tumblr, WordPress)
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