Back To the Future

1985. 1955. Both of these years represent the middle of an era; a past era. However, in the movie, Back to The Future, 1985 was the present, and 1955 was the past. This gives people viewing the movie today the unique experience of being able to see two different times in America, and how Hollywood portrayed them.

When studying a the culture of a society in history, one important thing to look at is how a society views itself, both in the past and the present. Back to the Future is a great tool to use when studying our culture in the 1980's because it enables us to see how Americans thought of themselves in the 1950's during the 1980's. Now, thirty years into the future, see we can also see how we they of themselves in the 80's and compare it to how Americans now see that decade. In Back to Future, we can see both the 80's, and also get a humorous look back at the 50's.

Even though the movie takes a satirical approach to the past by poking fun at stereotypes and such, it does get a few things right about the 1950's. One thing that is absolutely correct is the fashion. The style of all the people from the 50's in the movie matches with real, historical fashion. For example, the clothes of Marty's young mom, Lorraine, would have been very trendy in the 50's. The length was at about her knees, and most of her dresses had collars, were simple in pattern, and pastel colors. Likewise, the young George McFly, while timid, also was fashionably dressed for the time. He often wore suspenders with a white dress shirt, and bow tie. Both Lorraine and George's hair was stylish, matching with the fashion of the 50's. However, one thing that perhaps the movie got 'wrong' was that they took some stereotypes to the extreme to make humor out of it. One stereotype that, while hilarious, was not entirely right, was the idea that everyone was fixated on and scared of aliens. In the 1950's, sci-fi was gaining popularity. With the movie The Thing From Another World being arguably the biggest sci-fi hit of the 50's, and Doctor Who beginning it's first season in '53, the idea of life on other planets was just becoming really popular. However, I think it was blown out of proportion in the movie. Ironically, it wasn't until the 1980's, when Star Wars came out, that pop culture really started turning toward the skies and wondering what was out there. 

Life was very different in the 50's as opposed to the 80's, but at the same time, it was very similar. While they may not have had their walkmans, skateboards, nice televisions, and such advances in technology, teenagers still interacted in very similar ways in 1955. There was still school, dances, parties and relationships. In fact, at the beginning of the movie, Lorraine tells her son that in her day, girls never chased after boys. However, Marty finds out that his young mother definitely chased after guys she liked. Life for teenagers, without taking into account technology and the like, was very similar. But, if you do take into account technology, life changes. In the 80's, video game consoles were very popular, and kids started being able to play video games in their free time, along with watching T.V. and listening to music on their personal Walkmans. But in the 50's, kids didn't have this luxury.  So, life in the 50's and the 80's was different, but as far as interactions between people and teenagers, it was very similar. 

Now, between 1985 and 2015, another thirty years, but into the future, we can look back and see the differences in life. There has been more change in this era, than between 1985 and 1955. This is not because we have new ways to spend our free time, but it is because the way we interact with other people has changed has so much. Since the introduction of texting, interaction between teenagers has changed dramatically. Now we don't have to meet up or even use our voices to communicate with each other. We can just type a message to someone and it is instantly available to them. We can ALWAYS reach our friends now-24/7. In the 80's you could call each other, but even that is different than texting. What we do in our free time is still very much the same, play video games, watch movies, ect. But, the way humans interact has changed so much since the 80's, it is mindboggling. 

It's insane.

Back to the Future, an exciting movie in which a teenager from 1985 travels back in time to 1955, offers a humorous look at the differences in life between the three decades. The movie did a great job at portraying the 50's, but at times the stereotypes were to an extreme. It also portrayed the 80's fashion and ideas that a teenager would've participated in. The movie was fun and humorous, and through my laughter I was able to thoroughly enjoy Back to the Future.