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Great Scott!! A time traveling oedipal complex masquerading as family entertainment?

This special patrons-only bonus episode of Deep Thoughts takes a closer look at the film that ensured the DeLorean’s ongoing cultural relevance: Back to the Future. From the erasure of Black culture and ambition to some truly weird sexual politics (Marty was gonna do what in that parked car? And Lorraine was happy for her would-be rapist to come to her home 30 years later?), Emily and Tracie talk about all the ways this weird, regressive, fun, and remarkably well-made movie reifies social hierarchies and celebrates bizarre friendships between high school kids and ageless mad scientists.

Listen as we take this baby to 88 MPH—and go back to the future.

Mentioned in this episode:

https://newrepublic.com/article/122243/how-back-future-helped-make-me-feminist

CW: Discussion of on-screen sexual harassment and implied sexual assault.

Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

To listen to the complete episode, become a Patron! Patrons are members of the Guy Girls' family, with exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thoughts. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Emily Guy-Burkin and you're listening
to Deep Thoughts about StupidShit, because pop culture is
still culture, and shouldn't youknow what's in your head?
In today's special bonusepisode, I will be discussing
Back to the Future with mysister, tracy Guy-Dekker, and
with you, let's dive in.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Have you ever had something you love dismissed
because it's just pop culture,what others might deem stupid
shit?
You know matters, you knowwhat's worth talking and
thinking about, and so do we.
So come over, think with us aswe delve into our deep thoughts
about stupid shit.

Speaker 1 (00:36):
Okay, tracy, I know that Back to the Future is kind
of a pillar of your childhood aswell.
I don't recall if we saw it inthe theater.
I remember seeing two and threein the theater with you, but
you know we definitely was onregular rotation at like
sleepovers and with our cousinand stuff like that.
But tell me what you rememberabout the film.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
You know it's funny because a lot of the movies that
we have taken on so far havebeen ones that, like I, have
strong associations with dad.
About this one, I have a strongassociation with our stepfather
.

Speaker 1 (01:08):
Me too yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:10):
So that's.
It's interesting that that'scoming in on this one, so you
know what comes to my mind first.
Besides, our stepfather isactually from the show Glow
Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,the sitcom.
Have you seen it?

Speaker 1 (01:29):
I have not.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Okay, I recommend it.
I recommend it.
Okay.
But there's a character who'slike this kind of B movie
director who thinks of himselfas like very avant garde and
like edgy, and he has this ideafor this movie that he's super
excited about.
That's so dark and interesting,about this man who time travels
back in time and has sex withhis own mom.

(01:50):
It's supposed to be like reallylike edgy and whatever, and
he's talking about it at onepoint and a guy he doesn't
really know, but just someonewho's in the periphery, is like
oh yeah, like back to the futureman and like this, um, this
like edgy tough guy is like sohe feels so betrayed that this
mainstream studio movie likestole his idea and like watching

(02:17):
this show, this was like it'skind of an aside, it was not a
main plot point of the show, butI was like, oh, that is kind of
what, back to the future, yucky, I do, because I mean it's
there, it's obviously there, butI like it's not the thing that

(02:37):
I focus on.
Anyway, that's what comes tomind first and I'm sure we'll
get into some of that.
But, um, yeah, that's that'swhere I'm coming, that's where
I'm coming from today, but whyare we talking about it.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
I will tell our listeners Tracy already knows
this, I've told her this that Ihave not been looking forward to
recording this episode andthat's in part because back to
the future was one of the filmsthat I watched many, many times
not like Princess Bride, notlike Neverending Story, but it
was on the rotation Um and Ithought of it as fun family romp

(03:15):
.
Um in part because as a kid Ididn't completely understand the
subplot with uh, with Lorraineand Marty Um like I kind of got
it, but it kind of went over myhead and um and I just I I
thought Michael J Fox was cute.
I loved the fact that this isanother movie that uh rewards

(03:36):
repeat watching because you cansee little details that have
changed since he went back intime.
Um all of that.
When I was in college I took acourse and I cannot recall what
the title of the course was, butit was.
It was on race in Americanliterature and my um, my

(03:58):
professor, uh, ted Mason um fromuh from Kenyon College, who was
brilliant.
Um was talking about the waysin which culture erases people
of color, and uh pop culturespecifically, and he gave two
examples Um one was how StarTrek originally had um to boldly

(04:19):
go where no man has gone before, and then the next generation
made it to boldly go where noone has gone before.
And Professor Mason, very I,pointed out, like that's saying
that the aliens they meet are noone, and I was like, oh god, oh
, that's terrible.
Like they were trying to bemore gender inclusive and they

(04:42):
went straight to erasing theexistence of non-humans, which,
because it's kind of anadventure show like Old Westerns
, it's erasing the existence andthe humanity of non-white folks
, so that.
And then the other example hegave is Marty McFly inventing

(05:04):
rock and roll instead of ChuckBerry.
And I remember feeling betrayedby Robert Zemeckis and Steven
Spielberg when Professor Masonpointed that out and it really
colored the way that I, or itchanged the way that I looked at

(05:26):
this movie, because it made merealize how white-centric it is
and in part because I rememberhow tickled our parents were by
that joke and I'm not, like youknow, our parents were in the
same culture that we are in andso like it didn't occur to them,

(05:48):
it didn't occur to us.
It's okay that it didn'tbecause, like that's the culture
that we live in.
But when you know better, youdo better and we didn't know
better.
But that to me like that itcompletely erases this like
seminal portion of black 20thcentury culture really had me

(06:11):
nervous about rewatching itbecause I don't believe I've
seen it since before ProfessorMason blew my mind that way.
So that's part of it.
That's part of what I want totalk about is, like how
white-centric this film is.
I want to talk about genderagain because Lorraine gets she

(06:35):
gets done dirty in this film andI kind of want to talk about
this film's place in our cultureand why it is so beloved.
Because it is a weird littlefilm.
It's very well done and it isanother one of those films where

(06:58):
I am so impressed with thestory construction, like
everything that they do, fromlike the introduction of Marty
and Doc Brown through to thelike little you can't even call
them Easter eggs but like thethings that change because of
his trip to back in time all ofthat is just masterfully done.

(07:20):
It is a remarkably well writtenscreenplay.
So like I love that part of thereason why we love it is
because of that.
Like that is our culture,responding well to very well
written story.
But there's some, there's somenot so great undercurrents, but

(07:40):
it wasn't as awful as I wasafraid it was going to be.

Speaker 2 (07:44):
All right, well, I mean, okay, cool, I'm excited to
hear you know where you landed.
Sorry, listener.
Our deep thoughts about Back tothe Future are patron exclusive
, but you can become a patron.
It's easy.
Head on over to our Patreon andfind the tier that's right for
you.
Thanks for listening.
Our theme music is ProfessorUmlaut by Kevin MacLeod from

(08:07):
Incompetekcom.
Find full music credits in theshow notes.
Until next time, remember, popculture is still culture, and
shouldn't you know what's inyour head?