Why Don’t Marty’s Parents Recognise Him? (Back to the Future Explained)
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- Опубліковано 30 тра 2024
- I’m this video I will be looking at and explaining a Back to the Future plot hole that has confused fans for years. Why don’t Marty’s parents recognise him in the alternative 1985.
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Martys parents saw him almost every single day for 17+ years grow from a baby to a young man. Any sense of familiarity would likely just feel parental / maternal.
Also, Marty would have *started* to look similar gradually. Even if they noticed, then the memory of exactly what the original "Calvin" looked like would have been confused by that.
And any similar "personality traits" would be deemed as "osmosis" (they mentioned it etc).
We all have influences we're not quite sure where they started
exactly
Up until he was 17 yes, but then at 17 their son looked like the Marty that they knew 30 years ago, he dressed like the Marty they knew 30 years ago, he spoke like the Marty they knew 30 years ago and he acted like the Marty they knew 30 years ago and he had the same name as the Marty they knew 30 years ago. He even wore the same Calvin Klein underpants that Marty wore 30 years ago (presumably his mum did his washing in 1985, ) but with all that they somehow never twigged?? You can't get more memorable than that.
@@rl7012 His parents also probably bought his clothes for him. Again, people wouldn't necessarily remember what someone they knew for a week wore for one day 30 years ago.
The biggest plothole is that they dont name his older brother "marty" instead of him
because he's called calvin klein in 1955.
You just blew my mind.
That is another clue there. That name on his shorts was it same as one about the young man named met.
@@sussurus But, at the end, Loraine says "Marty. What a nice name."
@@sussurus Until this moment... 5:58
I used to wonder about this too, but now that I'm 47 years old, I can completely understand why Marty's parents don't recognize him. to remember a face from 30 years ago would be very difficult, especially if it's someone you've only spent a week of your life around.
Yep, I can't really remember my first girlfriend's face from '87, and we were together for about 2 months (we were teens, so of course it was a quick summer thing).
true but he had such a huge impact on their lives. and they were teens not toddlers or something. but if u ask me its more of a situation where theyre both like "...nah it couldnt be" which they should have put in the film!
@@MsDudette21 , except, as pointed out, if they recognized him, it would have been years ago as he gradually came to look the way he did in the movie. So, if they were to comment on it, they probably would have months or even years before this point and they are going to deal with it and move on rather than commenting on it every day. So, while they could still put it in the movie, it's a perfectly plausible reason for why they didn't. But yeah, whatever makes a movie work. If they did that, then we'd all be talking about why it is a goof that the parents _did_ remember him.
Marty hasn’t been born yet because George and Lorraine weren’t married yet! GEEZ!
@@MsDudette21 yeah but I had someone growing up that was extremely influential on me and I saw him 5 days a week for over a year and I couldn't pick him out of a crowd now. I remember a lot about him but I don't remember his face in detail like that. If I gradually saw my child every single day for 17 years there's no way I would recognize him as that other person. And that's someone I saw nearly every day for a year. Not someone I saw for a week
It would've been funny if Marty's parents named him Calvin in the new timeline. Then at the end of the movie they could've said, "He was gone as soon as he arrived, but you always reminded us of him."
Oh yeah, absolutely! I can clearly see this!
Oh that would have been a trippy twist 😂😂
Lorraine actually says “Marty, what a nice name”. She might only know about the name Marty because she heard it from him.
They would’ve been reminded of the old Marty by their newborn baby?
@@emymarties7827But then he wouldn’t’ve been named Marty in Timeline 1 (Marty doesn’t go to 55, Doc dies to the Libyans)
I also like to think that George and Lorraine would see the actual Calvin Klein on TV when his fashion empire gets established. They think "Well look at that, I knew Marty was going to be someone." and that would distort their memory of what Calvin looked like.
☠️🤣🤣🤣😭
Lorraine just spent her adult years telling people she met and fell in love with Calvin Klein
Except that they knew his name was really Marty. So....
@@coreymunroe8073 She thought his name was Calvin Klein, and he told her that he went by Marty. She probably assumed it was his middle name.
@@snowangelnc That wouldn't account for George knowing his name and correcting her. But it's semantics really.
I didn't recognize my ex-wife yesterday. She was with her new husband and two kids. I was with her for years and knew her deepest darkest secrets and I passed her right up, but Marty's parents are supposed to remember some guy they saw for a week 30 years ago?
Hi Frank I'm Peter from Hamilton Ontario Canada you sound like both myself and my younger brother Chris, me I've been devorced since 2010 with no kids I'm now about 50 years old and a stroke and cardiac arrest and colon cancer survivor and at the time both my cat Nemo and my now ex wife Angy saved my life and she decided to leave our marriage couldn't handle the pressure I'm guessing that's why she left and my poor baby brother Chris was also married but now has 3 little kids 2 boys and a girl ages 11 9 and almost 6, his ex drank too much is like what Marty's mom was in the beginning of the first film a alcoholic before going back to 1955 and then coming back to '85. Great film and triogy.
@@vassa1972 holy shit you on drugs bro?
Word 👌🏽💯
True, except that this wasnt some random guy from 30 years ago. This was the person who got them together. And before marty went back in time she knew all the details about them getting together, so it would stand to reason she would remember marty as she would remember the details of her getting together with george in this new timeline
Maybe you should get checked for early, or maybe not-so-early onset dementia if you don’t recognise your ex wife even briefly.
I don’t really remember the face of a rebound fling from 20 years ago I was with for a few months, but not recognising a former spouse is a pretty worrying sign.
I feel like the bigger plothole is the likelihood of Marty being born again - he changed the way his parents met but yet they still had the exact same 3 children born at the same time
exaclty those are 3 one in an infinity chances every times and they happened to do it again lol
i always feel like time travel films just brush off the butterfly effect, even the smallest change could have a huge effect.
If time travel movies didn’t ignore these details all we would have to watch would be paradoxes. If he changed enough that he wouldn’t be born how could he ever had gone? We know that their universe has only a single timeline otherwise when he came back everything would be the same. Gotta use that suspension of disbelief a bit to watch time travel movies guys haha
When they kissed the photograph was restored showing the same 3 kids, otherwise, marty would have still faded out on stage. I would simply put it down to fate.
@@nigelpisswater484 11.22.63 is a great mini-series that took the butterfly effect into account during time travel. :)
The one that always got me is how he returned to the same house. If the parents were more successful in this future, don't you think they might have moved into a different, possibly more affluent neighborhood? Wouldn't it be a case of Marty returning to the house he knew, only to find complete strangers living there? Makes you think.
You’re right, they wouldn’t be in the same house, and the two older kids would have moved out. But it was worth it because it allowed the filmmakers to tie everything together neatly and introduce all the changes to his family in a tight 5 minute scene. Plus we got the unforgettable line from his brother “Marty - I always wear a suit to the office” when in the original timeline he was late for his bus wearing a Burger King uniform.
Depends when they became successful if it was when the kids where already going to be teenagers than maybe it’s to keep them happy since they have their lives in that town Marty having a gf.
Perhaps, the whole neighborhood is more upperclass without the negative impact of Biff Tannen.
They're all about investing and passive income. The McFly's didn't want to lock capital away in a house.
But you also have to remember that Doc Brown already knows everything about the new Marty and since it was him that gave him a ride to his house Doc Brown knew where Marty lived, if the McFlys would have gotten a new house I'm sure Doc Brown would have known about it and if we're talking about plot holes how about if the new McFlys lived in another neighborhood and sent Marty to a different school that would have jeopardize him meeting Jennifer.
There's also the other side of the medal, being, they witnessed their son grow from 1969 to 1985, which would make the association with that kid from way back when all the more difficult. Making the leap to time traveller son is pretty big. It would be interesting to see if George put the 3 clues Marty left him about time travel (Darth Vader, Vulcan, vulcan salute) in his first book, that would risk tipping him off, not mentionning how it could change the new timeline (Star Wars's villain having a new name to evade copyright infringement, for exemple.)
You take things way to seriously just take it for what it is George mcfly n George lucas competing for copyright infringement get a grip 😅.
I would think george might consider that loraine met up with Calvin an had an affair
Took the words right out of my mouth.
Had he not been their son, and watched him grow up, with the way he currently looks almost like being a slow boil, and they ran into him in the street, then maybe they would have a memory.
Especially with playing the guitar on the stage.
Another consideration is, probably, an expectation that "Calvin" would look older - at least somewhere in the back of their minds.
@@Pathdrc Yeah, because a 17 year will look older when you're still 17 too, verses seeing a 17 year old when you're in your 40s.
He probably did and with Marty using Calvin Klien as his alias George more than likely knows that "Calvin Klien" was the alien he met. Add to the fact that Lorraine knew Calvin Klien was stay at Doc Browns place and George would know of Marty's close friendship with Doc. Brown. When you add the circumstantial evidence together it is a safe bet that George suspects Marty was Calvin Klien but with out hard proof he would come off as crazy.
So the question is "Why don't they recognize someone they knew 30 years ago, knew just for 7 days, and had no photos of?"
Also, Marty looked totally different as a baby and slowly changed to look more like "Calvin" over the years. By that time it was like the Frog in the Pot and they never noticed him slowly turning into that old friend.
No ,bruh 😂
Think of one person u knew for barely a week a few decades back and compare them to your kid ..the human mind doesn't work like that
Someone would have to point that out in very perfect detail
I agree with this one. From Marty's birth to 1985, the growth and changes were so gradual, they likely didn't see any resemblance with a faded past memory of Calvin and Marty. Even in Part II, that wasn't touched upon.
Though I hope they went easy on him for setting fire to the living room rug.
What is hard to believe is not recognising the name Calvin Klien and not thinking that, somehow, he was Marty's dad.
@@AnonEyeMouse They would probably just think that they went to school with a kid who had the same name, I grew up with Glen Campbell and Cindi Crawford, neither were even related to the famous ones.
The big problem with this theory is that Lorraine comments when they say goodbye at the dance that Marty is, "such a nice name", and they then go on to name one of their children that.
I remember people I knew for a week or less from more than 30 years ago, and recall every girl I had a crush on in high school. George and Lorraine's limited interaction with Marty is no argument that they would not remember him.
"marty....thats a nice name" that's lorraine's line after marty says goodbye to them when the dance is over. he also mentions the fire on the living room rug. they had to have remembered him enough to name their son after him, as well as marty predicting that he set their house on fire by accident.
Yes, the fact that Marty was actually named after himself is the flaw in this theory. He obviously had a sufficient impact on his parents for them to do that. I suppose it is possible that they might not have had a clear memory of what he looked like.
And worth considering that he had quite a few memorable encounters with Biff, who did not recognize him in 1985 either.
Another question is how in 1955 Marty was just able to attend high school with no administrative questions or paperwork.
@@geoffreylogsdon162his was before record keeping was as easy as looking him up in a computer database.
In 1955 computers weren't available to anyone except governments or large corporations or universities. They were also very expensive so a lot of places didn't own their computer. They often rented their machines from the manufacturer.
Computer networking didn't exist until 1969.
They liked the name so much that they named their SECOND son Marty. Haha!
@@geoffreylogsdon162 he wasn’t even attending it as in attending the classes... he was just hanging around in the corridors and the cafeteria
You can also consider the fact that they watched Marty grow up, slowly becoming who he is in 1985. I would speculate that the image in their memory is completely different than how Marty looks.
Yeah. It would be different if they were seeing Marty for the first time then in 1985 since seeing "Calvin" in 1955. And it would be different if they had any photos of "Calvin". Those I think are the 2 main points on why they don't make any connections between Marty and "Calvin"
@@alvexok5523 On top of what happened with Biff. THAT was the Key to making Marty's Timeline so much pleasant.
@@Tornado1994 Yes, that's right. They gave most of the credit to Biff instead of "Calvin" here it seemed, but I still think that they acknowledged both of them, and they just said it was Biff in this new improved 1985 scene because Biff was there, and they hadn't seen "Calvin" for 30 years. Maybe, in fact, they deliberately didn't mention "Calvin" there because Biff was there, because Biff had bad memories of him and didn't want to hear him being mentioned.
@@alvexok5523 Its certain that all 3 likely sorta remember "Calvin" and that Biff probably cowars to George.
in 1985 George tells Marty 'A wise man once told me, "if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything"' That wise man was Marty (in 1955) so George was influenced enough by 1955 Marty to remember that.
And? I'm about the age Marty's parents are suppose to be in the movie and I wouldn't recognize 90% of my classmates of they walked up in their 17 year old body tomorrow. They also watched Marty go from infant to how he looks over the course of 17 years. So to them he just looks like their son and don't equate him to to someone they saw for a few hours 3 or 4 times over the course of a week 30 years ago.....
For those old enough to remember back 30 years back, memories that far back of a single week or days aren't really that strong, even for important events. Unless you have photos or videos of someone, memories degrade and old memories of people get jumbled up a little and replaced. 30 years on, you could show them a photo of Eric Stoltz playing Marty and they'd swear that was the guy they met.
Exactly. You remember feelings, you remember what happened or what you did. That doesn't mean you remember every detail though. I said in another reply that I have friends from high school that I haven't seen in years and I can't remember what they look like and that was only 20 years ago.
@@christinadoxstader3004 I went to a private school when I was 16. There were some students who were there only a week or two before being pulled out. Me and a buddy remember a kid we called Duke of Earl because he kept singing that song, and that was 38 years ago. Kind of remember his appearance too, but not enough to pull him out of a line up. And he wasn't unique in appearance either. So while yeah, I remember a kid I barely knew, and so does my buddy, I couldn't draw you a police sketch.
@@williamhenry8259 That's my point. Marty's parents remember the kid who helped them get together but other than his name and what he did they probably don't remember much else
@@christinadoxstader3004 But do you think he got named Marty due to some subconscious memory?
Some people have better memories when it comes facial recognition than others. I’m one of those people that never forgets a face, but I realize not everyone is like that.
I think that Martys appearance as he grew up would change so slowly from no resemblance to a close resemblance that they wouldn't notice. If you look back at photos from 30 years ago of people you know, they look impossibly young and different to how you remember them. Finally, you wouldn't expect to find someone that looks like someone from 30 years ago, although if they saw him looking 30 years older they might have a flashback.
Lorraine sure has a good memory. Listen to how she recounts in great detail the events from 30 years prior with Marty's sister Linda in the beginning of the movie:
"Well, it will just happen, like the way I met your father.
Linda:
That was so stupid! Grandpa hit him with the car.
Lorraine:
It was meant to be. Anyway, if Grandpa hadn't hit him, then none of you would have been born.
Linda:
Yeah, well, I still don't understand what Dad was doing in the middle of the street.
Lorraine:
What was it, George? Birdwatching?
George:
What, Lorraine? What?
Lorraine:
Anyway, your Grandpa hit him with the car, and brought him into the house. He seemed so helpless, like a little lost puppy. And my heart just went out to him.
Linda:
Yeah, Mom, we know. You've told us this story a million times. You felt sorry for him, so you decided to go with him to the Fish Under the Sea dance.
Lorraine:
No, no, it was the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. Our first date. I'll never forget it. It was the night of that terrible thunderstorm, remember, George? Your father kissed me for the very first time on that dance floor. And...and it was then that I realized...that I was going to spend the rest of my life with him"
Certainly, this level of detail and constant recollection ("you've told us this story a million times"), Marty would not have been forgotten.
Still love the movie!
The reason her recollection of that memory is so clear is because that is how she met her husband in the original timeline. When that incident is altered in 1955 and Marty is hit by the car instead, obviously it does not carry any weight with her, because that is not how she met her husband.
In the new timeline the story of how she and George met is different (he rescues her from Biff), so in the new 1985, the episode with Marty and the car would not have any significance.
@@geoffreylogsdon162 I could be wrong, but I think the OP knows that the part about Lorraine and George meeting because he was hit by her dad's car would not be (or have any significance) in the altered timeline.
I think what the OP is pointing out is that Lorraine has an exceptionally good memory of how they met 30 years ago in the original timeline and would likely have the same great memory in the altered timeline as well. As such, she would likely remember Marty from 1955 in great detail and how he was originally with her in that car before Biff showed up. So much so, that she would likely see the resemblance in her son Marty as he grew into a teen, to the Marty from 1955. I mean, they named him after the 1955 Marty for christsake!
I, on the other hand, think George would have an even better recollection of Marty from the past because their interaction that week in 1955 was the direct catalyst for changing George's entire persona for the rest of his life from that point on . I mean, George even wrote a book in the new 1985 based on his interaction with Marty in 1955. He should see the resemblance in his son Marty to the 1955 Marty even more than Lorraine.
@@geoffreylogsdon162 That's Right. Biff is Why when Marty returns to 1985, why his Present Timeline is so much more pleasant and content. Also Notice that BOTH Lorraine and George are now doting on Marty when he returns.
It was a bigger impact for George. I was someone that was picked on and didn’t have any friends in school. I had a short lived friendship in a high school in Missouri and (like George) named my son after him…I’ve never seen this person since that science fair 20 years ago and all I remember was their first name 😂
That's an awesome story.
What was his name?
Exactly
Maybe one day you'll find them again.
He was a time traveler!
It’s probably because they don’t remember some guy they knew for a week from 30 years ago. George and Lorraine didn’t even spend a full week with him, half the time Marty was with Doc. They don’t even have a picture to remember ‘Calvin’, so unless they did police sketches, they just forgot about him.
Marty played guitar and sang on the school dance.. some pictures should have existed on the walls of the school after the dance
@@florifatsarino2982 there probably wasn't any on the walls. If they did see a picture, someone they knew in school might've gotten a picture of him that they got a look at. But then they never saw any pictures of him again after highschool. Unless a picture of him was in the yearbook
I would remember a guy who shredded on a guitar kicking things as that was not common in 1955.
@@JohnS-il1dr People can remember a person without remembering how they looked. There are people I knew for years when I was younger but can't recall what they look like.
Lorraine would definitely remember Calvin, not because he was only present for one week in their lives, but because he imprinted memorable moments in her:
- he was the first teen to sleep on her bed/bedroom;
- she had a crush on him;
- he did memorable things like skating around (isn't he dreamy?) in the town square and making Biff crash his car into a manure truck;
- he played weird music at the school dance that made everyone think WTH?
George on the other hand would probably not remember Calvin because their interactions were short. If he DID remember Calvin vividly, he would probably divorce Lorraine after realizing that Marty looks EXACTLY like Calvin, which would probably lead George to believe that Lorraine had an affair with Calvin sometime after their 2nd child was born.
It's too obvious not to've come up. The topic was probably just not discussed at the end of the movie because it was beaten to death for years. George probably came to the realization that even if she did cheat on him, it was with someone that went out of his way to make him get with her and not be a complete loser, not to mention the fact that there wasn't any proof or potentially even a timeline for when it would have happened.
Might have even been some sort of dna testing done, depending on how relevant that was back then, but whatever the case, the fact that his parents were together when Marty went "back" to the future means it all worked out somehow.
None of those things mean that Lorraine would actually remember exactly what Calvin had looked like nor that she would have had a moment when her son was a teenager where it hit her that oh my God my son is literally Calvin from back in high school and must have time travelled. Her own baby’s face would have too much familiarity for her to compare it to a very old and dim memory of someone of whom she has no picture. You’ll see what I mean when you have 30-year-old memories.
None of those events are relevant to memory. I spent almost every single day over the course of 5 months with someone that became a very good friend (so much so that my parents looked into adopting him) and if I were to see someone now that looked just like him, I wouldn't recognize him at all. "Calvin" was in town for less than a week, and was only seen by Lorraine and George a few times.
They will remember the guy Calvin that involved them meeting, but they won't remember what exactly he looked like.
Those memories got pushed aside when she looked up to her new man. She had to, she was sitting on the ground.
Most people have very bad memories when it comes to face recollection, especially when a lot of time has passed like 30 years in this case. All the faces from 30 years ago become hazy and kind of blend in with other memories. And considering that Marty was only one week in 1955 then it makes total sense that his parents don't remember him.
Great analysis. So many good points but the one that stuck with me was that any resemblance between Marty and “the kid that helped them meet” would never have been explained by “ Our son Marty must have travelled back in time to help us get together” by the parents. Most people just don’t think that way. We all know people now who resemble kids we went to school with, and we just think “that person looks like a kid I went to school with”!
The only problem with this theory is that in 1955, Marty told Lorraine and George that in the future, go easy on their son if he starts a fire in the living room. While over the years, Lorraine and George likely forgot that Marty told them that, I think that once Marty actually did set fire to the living room in the future, it would come flooding back to their memory. At that point, they reasonably "would" think Marty from 1955 was either from the future or psychic. That said, this would probably only be a small thought in the back of their minds but not be anything they would spend much time contemplating. However, as their son Marty started to resemble the Marty from 1955 (as he aged to 17) I think they would start to put two and two together to indeed believe Marty was a time traveller.
Another reason they wouldn't remember him is that it was probably about 13 years after the events happened in 1955 until Marty is born, plenty of time to forget the details of what he looked like, plus Its not like it would have been an instant shock to see him when he returned, they would have gotten use to way he looked gradually from the time he was born until he returned in 1985.
Marty was there for such a short time, they probably couldn't perfectly imagine his face if they closed their eyes 30 years later, it's probably a blur. Marty grew up in their house as their son and they only ever viewed him as their son. Perhaps realizing he looks similar to that Marty kid from back in the day, but not worth bringing up because the end of the movie is just a normal day for them. Maybe they even realized it was Marty who time travelled but again, not worth bringing up on a random day.
I cant remember shit of my school friends
This is exactly how I saw it, as the years of my life have moved on I can understand it more! I remember one moment in high school where an exchange student stayed at my house for a week. This kid introduced me to video games on his game console and arcade games in town that I had never heard of or played before - (introduced me to games.) That moment changed me forever! I still love video games, I introduced gaming to my youngest brother when he was 6 years old after this kid left town. He got his daughter into gaming when she was 3! We all still love games - yet, it has been 34 years since I saw that boy, he was there for 1 week, over 30 years have passed since then and he DID change our lives a lot after the decades and of course, I do not remember his face. But I do know it was because of him that I love gaming and so does my brother and my niece!
Robert zemeckis already kind of responded to this. Someone asked him about the theory the George remembered Darth Vader when Star wars was made and remembered planet Vulcan when Star Trek came out and recognize that Marty looks like Calvin klein. He said yo this was literally one week out of their life as a teenager lol. That's how long they knew Marty one week. Imagine all the things you forgotten from one week out of your life.
The fact that they don't recognize him never seemed strange to me. I agree with you, it was only a week, and also our brain completes facts we don't understand. Even if they saw a similarity, in their mind it would have been completely impossible that it is the same person, so they wouldn't even have that thought.
What would have been more likely however is that, if George had noticed that their kid looked a lot like their old school mate (of whom they didn't have a photo of course, so it would only be a memory), he might have thought that Lorraine and Marty had slept with each other. The fact that this suspicion never comes up, seems a bit weird to me.
😂😂 yeah if anything George may be suspicious and think his wife slept with Marty. I am 65 and there are plenty of people I knew for a week as a teenager I don't remember. I had short term girlfriends a week or two, who I enjoyed their company very much who I would have know as well as they knew Marty and don't remember what they looked.
I don't think it's weird at all. Calvin disappears from their lives in 1955, and Marty isn't born until 1968. (He's 17 in 1985.) And he probably doesn't really start looking "just like Calvin" until he hits puberty. So George would have to remember exactly what Calvin looked like 20-25 years after they met, and be paranoid enough to imagine he had a secret affair with Lorraine 12-13 years after last being seen in Hill Valley.
Because its what the audience, us, knows. If you put yourself in the characters’ shoes, you wouldn’t remember what Calvin would look like. I remember my middle school friends, i see them everyday then but its all so faint now.
Again...how do you know it NEVER comes up! We see "new" George and Lorraine for like TWENTY SECONDS in Back to the Future. They interact with Marty for like 5 seconds. For all we know, they have discussed this at length. It doesn't mean they are going to CONSTANTLY talk about it every time they see their son Marty.
But Marty would then be about 30 years old which isn't right.
I'm sure they noticed, but they probably starting noticing much sooner than the time frame shown in the movie. By the time we get to the timeline shown to us, they have already noticed it, questioned it, accepted it, and really think nothing of it anymore
Good point.
Best answer!
George thinking, "Hmmmm.... my youngest son sure does have an uncanny resemblance to this guy my wife had a huge crush on in high-school..."
...
...
...
"Oh well, must be a coincidence"
@@Grizzlox A guy who had a big impact on my life in a short period of time who then just vanished!
@@Grizzlox Now that you put it that way...
My biggest problem is that their son looks amazingly like the guy she had a crush on. George would think she cheated on him.
Why doesn’t Mr. Strickland question who this strange guy is in his school that he’s never seen before?
Best way to describe this is when people remember an awesome looking computer game they played back in the 90s but when they youtube the game, they always say how it doesn't look as good as they remember, because you end up with a distorted memory of the game due to games evolving over time, you kind of compare what you think you remember, to the standard of graphics we have now.
I feel the thing with this "plot hole" is that we all saw this movie in our youth, so we were inexperienced as to how relationships work over a long period of time. We couldn't conceive what it means to have known a person 30 years ago when we were 10 years old!
In real life it does happen to meet somebody that leaves a big impact on you over just a small period, it may be somebody who was a schoolmate of yours for just a year, somebody who tagged along with your group of friends for just a few weeks, or even somebody you formed an instant bond in just one single day and will forever remember the one night you spent together but never saw them again... In all these cases it is true that you'll remember the event, but the details will fade out of your memory, and their face may too.
Yeah. I was saying that there are people that I knew for YEARS in my youth. I remember the people but can't recall what they look like at all.
I'm 16 and I just watched this movie for the first time a year ago. But the plot hole initially disturbed me, but I then immediately realized that at the worst, they would have thought "Ah, our son looks somewhat like that guy who made us fall in love." But since a lot of people look similar, they probably just ignored it as a slight coincidence.
"When we were 10 years old"? Who said anything about being 10? I was almost exactly Marty's age when this film hit theaters. And yes, I remember a ton from 1985 but other memories have faded or gotten messed up.
yeah i can remember people, names and things we did 35 years ago but i don't remember what they looked like, i wouldn't even recognise them if i saw pictures, partly because we see so many faces every day,
This is something I've pondered at great length. In fact, it's kept me up many a night. And your explanation makes a lot of sense; I'm sure I've had week-long friendships with people who's faces I've long forgotten. Soccer camp comes to mind.
IMO the biggest plot hole is the fact that Marty doesn’t remember anything from his “new life”. I get why they did it the way they did it but I mean what version of Marty lived in that house until he eventually caught up with the “present Marty” . Everyone in the movie changed (Marty’s family & Biff) but Doc and Marty are the same versions of themselves? How come?
What happened since Marty was born until he caught up with himself?
Marty, the Delorean, and all the belongings he carried with him to 1955 are the only things that remain from the Twin Pines timeline thanks to his temporal displacement. His interactions with the past resulted in the Lone Pines continuum. He is a temporally displaced relic of an overwritten alternative reality.
I feel as though George at least knows martys a time traveller. Lorraine and George mostly Lorraine in the original timeline remember how they met and remember the enchantment under the sea dance. So I believe that they would remember marty since George took a lot of his advice and that's why George bought marty his truck and handed him the first copy of his new book.
It's possible, that they knew doc as well, he could of explained it to them, so it was easier for them to understand, he probably told them never to say anything to marty
I'm sure they remember him, i'm also sure the details of that person's face would fade over 30 years.
@@wwerules000 the way they look at him in the end of the movie it’s telling they know something
@@spadesofpaintstudios1719 I love this theory
Exactly. I mean she had told her son about how his parents met and fell in love. Now in the new timeline there was this really cool guy which she on multiple occasions was totally infatuated with but that memory slipped her mind? Cant remember a simple dance at school but not remember the kid you had a crush on rocking out on stage either and how he looks a lot like your son.
I mean, I see a much bigger issue than his parents not remembering him: clearly, as he comes back, everything that happened to his parents, including HIS OWN childhood and that of his sister and brother, is news to him. So, with whom did his parents and family members interact with in the last (dunon) 18 years? Marty is supposed to be 18ish. And what happened to that guy? Okay, the timeline got changed but that means also Marty's life must have changed so how did he end up going back to the past? If we think about it, although everything turned out to be good for everyone, Marty has become a victim of the whole story as his past is fake at his point. Everything he remembers: never happened.
Was always wondering about that, to him they must have become total strangers.
Imagine something terrible happens in your families past and you go back in time to fix it, and when you come back everything is turned upside down. A lost family member is alive again, estranged family members all the sudden come over for BBQ and patting you on your shoulder, heck...your family maybe live in a town you know absolute nothing off.
The timeline didn't change, Marty fixed his mistakes, so he appeared on the photo together with 2 siblings. He changed just his father's personality to encourage him to do something.
@@kafkaesk_… the timeline did change. Marty’s parents are different. His brother and sister are different. Biff is different. Marty’s new timeline, that he wasn’t there for, would/could/should have changed him as well. Example: maybe in his alternate timeline he doesn’t set the living room rug on fire. If Biff went from being George’s boss, to being the guy that waxes his car… presumably some details of Marty’s life would have changed as well.
@@jeffreybosiljevac3408 Keep this in mind however: The Marty we follow in the entire trilogy travels to the timelines of other versions of himself who have lived those alternate timelines. Both Marty and the audience see this past version of himself when he returns to 1985, so Marty staying the way he is can be explained by either alternate timelines existing alongside each other, or that Marty, Doc, and any other time traveler is a paradox that can continue to exist whether or not their time line has been altered.
@@Impractical0 I see what you’re saying and that may be true. My response was to ikrime’s post that nothing changed except for George’s personality. Of course Marty will still exist… but upon his return to 1985, things are different. Example: he now has a brand new Toyota pick-up truck that he only dreamed of in his original timeline. It could be due to his father now being more successful due to the advice he got from Marty as a teen. Whatever the cause, many things are different. It would have been cool in the movie if we could have seen more of Marty’s new life upon returning to 1985, instead of him leaving right away to see what happens with his kids. Isn’t it possible that he’s in a successful band with a record deal? His dad would have raised him with the thought that he could accomplish anything. Instead of his previous upbringing of self doubt? He could also have confessed to his parents that he’s a time traveler and jolt their memory of meeting him when they were teens. They must know he hangs out with Doc Brown and that Doc is a scientist and inventor. Anything would have been better than that second movie!!! I thought the third one (old west)was pretty good.
I have a supporting story from 1984.
New school for the last 3 months of the year, that summer I met Kelly who remembered me from school and told me about all kinds of things that I did and people that I talked to. I barely remembered a single one and could not remember one face. That was only a 2 month period so I can see someone not remembering her face or a person around 20 years later.
I’ve always thought about this, even when I was younger.
And I know that it’s 30 years apart, they only knew him for a week, and etc. But anyone who changes two people’s lives like that must be rememberable.
I know I would at least remember something.
I would imagine there’s some sort of space time continuum theory around this.
Update:
Plus they remembered the name Marty and named Marty… Marty.
After waiting around 20 years; remembering that name so they can call their kid that. I would imagine it would fuel some remembering when he grows up and gets the face we all know and love.
Update 2:
After watching all of this video. I see why they wouldn’t have mentioned it.
See, you're trying to see things from their perspective with the knowledge of time travel. George and Lorraine had no knowledge of time travel, so even the thought of Marty being the same person from 1955 is something that they wouldn't even consider.
Like Biff trying to rape Lorraine.
@@centuryrox Exactly!! Well said.
They remember Marty from 1955 for sure. What's up for debate is why don't they remember what he looks like and realize that their son IS Marty from 1955. I, personally, believe it's more likely than not that as Marty grew into his looks that he had when he went back in time, that at least one of his parents would start to remember what Marty from 1955 looked like.
What a lot of people who think that Lorraine and George wouldn't remember what Marty looked like after only interacting with him for a week 30 year don't take into account is that memory isn't necessarily erased forever once we forget something. Sometimes, all it takes is a trigger to bring something back to the forefront of our memory that has faded over time. And I think your son looking like the identical twin to the guy who had a profound impact on your life (even 30 years ago during only one week) is a pretty significant trigger.
@@lamontjohnson5810 Additionally, George and Loraine always talk about that day. They remember every bit of the dance, and that day.
People are likely to remember someone from 30 years ago, who had an impact on their lives for a week or less, and trigged that memory by their son looking like that person, but when they both remember that day with great detail: they’d remember Marty for sure.
It’s impossible to forget him, if they remember that day so fondly.
People often forget that characters in the world of the story don't know and see everything that we do as the audience. George and Lorraine named him Marty because of the person they knew in high-school and thought that his having a resemblence to that guy (based on their slightly hazy recall of the kid they knew for one week) was just a ironic or weird coincidence.
I guess BTTF operates on the idea that whatever you do to change the past just paves over what was before (as opposed to creating branching timelines) but you the traveler still retain the memory because that's the version of time that you are from. The changes don't change or erase you or change your memories because you plucked yourself out of the old timeline *before* it was paved over. Kyle Reese still came back to protect Sarah Connor even though they later saved the future in T2.....and then the other sequels shat on goddamn everything but I digress.
As for the BTTF sequels the only thing I can think of is that 2015 Biff had altered the timeline and his own life so radically that he did manage to erase himself which I guess just further increases the danger of the Sports Almanac. If try to alter time on THAT scale then you the traveler will get paved over.
how did old biff get back to the future if he went back and changed it? he would have arrived in the new future he just made.. That's the biggest plot whole of the whole thing.
@@MephProduction IIRC there's a scene where as soon as Biff arrives he's falling ill same as Marty did in the original when it looked like George was gonna let that one guy at the dance tell him to scram. It would seem there's a slight delay in the changes taking effect so old Biff had just enough time to get back the future that he was from just before that version of himself was erased. Marty and Doc left that 2015 before it would have become the 2015 of Biff being ruler of Hill Valley.
Also George and Lorraine would expect "Calvin" to look their age and not 20 + years younger than them if they were to run into him.
The bigger question to ask is, "Why doesn't Biff recognize him?" The entire trilogy is really about Marty and Biff fighting each other for timeline dominance in which Biff always comes out worse off than before with this ONE, specific asshole (Calvin Klein) getting in the way every time. To be honest, Marty's interference of Biff's life is FAR more ingrained and interconnected than it is with his parents.
So, I always maintained that subtly they recognize him. I mean, when you see his father's book cover, the suit looks almost exactly like the suit he came to him in when he told him to go to the dance. George got encouraged to publish his stories because Marty encouraged him, and he even quotes Marty, "If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything," who quoted Doc at the time. And they even name their kid Marty, because that's what Marty always told them to call him, and it stuck. Even Old Biff remembered him enough to steal the Time Machine and recognize the skateboard/hoverboard moment. Having a hard time remembering the face is not uncommon, unless they told me their names when they met me today, I wouldn't have remembered their faces, but recognized them on a subtle level. Just my thinking.
I sure remember people from 1991, but not the faces in particular, if I hadnt to deal with them each day. I remember faces from teachers, but nobody working in the supermarket. I remember parents from my friends, but would I recognize all? Hard to say. Even if somebody looks simular, I would rather see a doppelganger, but not think its the exact same person.
Also how can you forget the first boy you had a crush on its not like Lorraine was 5 she was a teenager.
@@GameOn71213 I agree. I think she would be more likely to recognise him. Just look at how shes looking at him at 1:28. Shes obsessed with him.
That's right. They're at most assuming their son is a doppelganger of "Calvin", they're not for even 1 second seriously considering him to actually be "Calvin" because the logical sides of their minds are automatically saying that it's impossible because their son wasn't even born until over a decade after seeing "Calvin". Their logical sides therefore immediately shuts down the part of their brains that'll allow them to go into any kind of surprise mode of seriously considering "Oh my god!! Could it really be!? Marty/Calvin!!?". The most they will ever think is that there's an uncanny resemblance between them. Now that would change if they ever saw Doc Brown's time machine and discovered proof that you can go back into time in it and that Marty did. But nothing in the Bttf movies ever suggests that they ever did find out about that.
@@dj71162 yeah, but she'd still at most just see him as a doppelganger. See my above comment
@@GameOn71213 crush? she was wetter than Niagara Falls!
You are assuming they didn't recognize him from a short clip, a short part of their entire lives. It is possible that for every single day that Marty could speak that the parents told him that he reminded them both of someone they met many years before. Marty has just travelled to a new future, a new timeline, therefore he would not have 'personally' experienced the 18 years [or whatever] of life with these new, brave parents he would have no recollection of his experiences with these 'new' parents.
They remember him just fine, they assumed his relevance is paternal, and nostalgic of their past, and their old friend. I'm sure Doc sent them a postcard or two to wrap up the story. Plus unless I am wrong, they knew him as calvin anyway.
There’s also the fact that we have the bias of having watched the two points in time back to back, while George and Lorraine have 30 years difference, which is why we initially got confused
Also thanks to Marty, his uppbringing would have changed thanks to a more confident father.. Something he would not remember anyhing of, as of the way he is stunned by Biffs kindness..
and thus his personality would have just randomly changed one day in his parents eyes
Don’t forget….they named their 3rd child after him. Lorraine even says “Marty, what a nice name” just before he leaves them at the dance. They didn’t just come up with the name out of thin air right? How could they NOT remember him?
Lorraine said that…..George may not have too keen on that name…until the next son came around.
May the name was in their subconscious mind...maybe they remember the name...but don't remember who suggested the name
@@groot3535 Like Biff being a RAPEIST .
I have so many names and words in my head that I have absolutely no recollection of where they came from that it doesn't even register in my mind that Lorraine would have subconsciously imprinted that name without her mind remembering the source of that imprint.
Marty is very distinctive looking and his encounters were major. Total fail .
A little over 20 years ago, Corporate sent a new employee to my plant for training. I spent nearly 8 hours a days for a week with the guy, took him to dinner at my house, I even let him use my wife's mountain bike when I took him for a trail ride. I remember that he was Asian & self-conscious about his accent, and that's it. I don't remember his name and I doubt I'd recognize him if I saw him today. I've never seen this as a plot hole, but even less-so the older I get.
biggest plot hole is that the second Marty at the end of the movie travels back to a 1955 where the first Marty already was, since they’re in the updated timeline now
There's a lot of things you could nitpick. Like, why would the McFlys buy the same exact lower-middle class home despite being much more financially successful?
My mom believes in staying in the same poor old neighborhood even though my dad reached the corporate world and makes six figures. My aunt and uncle travel all over the world and own a 600 sq ft house and raised 3 kids there. People do it.
A single anecdote aside, it is the second major plothole. The other being that Marty A and Marty B, who's life he takes over and replaces are completely different people.
I bet they weren't as far along financially the year they bought the house. Even if they were a little better off.
@@wetterschneider ain't that what time travels about though, once marty b go's time catches up with it self, it's basically like doc says when he sends the dog a minute into the future.
@@wwerules000 Going a few minutes into the future as the dog did, changes nothing, it just basically let the dog skip a few minutes, like he was in suspended animation. Going into the past and messing with things ... that's the big one.
They don't recognize him because they knew him for a few hours over the course of one week thirty years in their past. This isn't some kind of massive plot hole that needs explaining, it's common sense.
The Biggest thing that debunks the Theory is quite simple: Biff Tannen. People Forgot the one KEY Element to the 1955 Story Arc that actively shows WHY George and Lorriane wouldn't remember Calvin "Marty" Klien. Remember, Marty was supposed to FEIGN Grope his Mom Lorriane and George was supposed to pretend to Rescue her and mock punch Marty. BUT REMEMBER, due to the Skateboarding Incident that Saturday, Biff was out for Revenge against Marty for Causing $300 damage to his Studebaker. (In 1955 Dollars, that's close to $18,000 in Today's Money and in 1985 would have been around $5,000). He Found Marty and Lorriane in the Car and had his Henchmen 3D,Skinhead and Matchstick restrain him and lock him in the Trunk of Marvin Berry's Car, meanwhile Biff decided to take advantage of Lorraine and Try to Dape R*pe her. This is Where George and Lorriane mostly forget about Marty and only recall the brief few times he corresponded with them that whole week. Because once George arrives at the Car at 9 PM still believing its Marty inside, he becomes Bewildered and Mortified when he finds its Biff and that it was a REAL crisis of Lorriane being Molested by him. You can see the Wheels turning in George's head trying to decide whether to coward away like Biff Hotly warned him to or TRY to stop him and SAVE Lorriane. Thankfully, George chose the Latter by Decking Biff and Rescuing Lorriane.
THIS is why they forgot about Marty. He only corresponded with them a few times, Lorriane got uncomfortable and that it didn't feel right kissing Marty, "When I kiss you, its like I'm kissing my brother". With Biff and his Goons Manhandling Marty, Locking him in that Trunk and Biff taking Advantage of Lorraine, the whole "Feign Groping to hook up your Parents" turned into a REAL Crisis. Remember, Marty wasn't there when Biff was fondling Lorraine, and he only got back just in time to watch George Lay off Biff and Save his Mother, luckily, his Goons had Taunted and Race baited Marvin Berry and his Bandmates and were being chased away by them calling them "Spooks" and "Reefer Addicts"(Which are Old Racial Slurs). HAD Marty successfully Feigned the Groping, There's no telling how much WORSE his Relationship would have been with his Mother Lorraine once he got back to 1985, and BOTH his Parents would have remembered him. But FATE is what made the future BETTER for Marty. Biff HAD to catch up to him and 3D,Skinhead and Matchstick HAD to restrain him and incapacitate him from being able to stop Biff. The Whole Crisis and the likelyhood of the Trauma of Biff successfully forcing himself on Lorraine would have made Lorriane an even WORSE Alcoholic than she was when Marty accidentally went back in time to 1955, George deciding NOT to coward away and FACE his Fears completely Made Lorriane's Future so much Brighter. She became Devoted and Indebted to him because he practically PROTECTED her Innocence and purity from Biff. All of that Absolutely made her No longer care or have any interest in Calvin "Marty" Klien. George's Newfound Confidence made him super popular at School and thus Marty became a Casual Stranger that he and Lorriane only saw a couple of times during One Week in the Mid Autumn of 1955. The Thing that was a Pleasant Surprise to him that once he returned to 1985, was not just how much Heathier and Alcohol Free Lorraine was, but how BOTH Lorriane and George were Now DOTING on Marty their 2nd Son. Before Marty accidentally went back to 1955, George was a complete Nerd and Introvert, Biff also had some dictation over him, but when Marty got back, George was a Hero and successful Author, while Biff was completely Emasculated and completely subservient.
Bottom line, George and Lorriane don't remember Calvin "Marty" Klien because of what happened with Biff.
1) we don't need over 7 minutes of repeating "it was 30 years ago for a week". it's a valid point, but you're just repeating it over and over.
2) her dad hit him with his car and she changed his underwear.
3) he played a guitar solo that was very memorable, especially in a time before rock n roll. no one remembered that?
what you're saying is valid and makes sense, but it doesn't entirely explain why his mom especially doesn't remember him. the real answer? *it's just a movie!*
I would say they would 100% remember him because he had such a profound impact on an important moment in their life’s but I agree they probably wouldn’t remember what he looks like.
They don't know about their son time travelling so they could just say he looked like the kid that hooked them up 30 years ago.
I don't know. I think its probable that as Marty grew more and more to 17, the age he was when he went back in time, that at least one of them would start to remember what Marty from 1955 looked like.
For one thing, memory isn't necessarily erased forever once we forget something. Sometimes, all it takes is a trigger to bring something back to the forefront of our memory that has faded over time. And I think your son looking like the identical twin to the guy who had a profound impact on your life even 30 years ago is a pretty significant trigger.
@@lamontjohnson5810 Well said
This one is simple. They named their child after the guy that brought them together. They had no pictures of the guy that brought them together. Their child's face at birth patterned into their brain who their son Marty was. As they watched him slowly change over the years his face became their son's face. This would have completely overlaid any remembrance of the face of the Marty they met in 1955. It would have completely replaced who that person was in their minds. They didn't just wake up one day and see their son and say hey that's the same guy we met in 1955.
Did they ever know his name was Marty in 1955, though? Pretty sure he used the alias Calvin Klein because Lorraine saw that name on his underwear, and I don't think he ever revealed his real name.
@@Satoascorpion At the beginning she insisted on calling him that. But check out the scene after the dance when he's mentioning setting the carpet on fire...
@@ReasonablySane I'll take your word for it. It's been a long time for me. I do plan to rewatch this trilogy at some point, so when I do I'll keep that in mind.
@@Satoascorpion It's one of my favorite movies and I even finally got a blueray box set. I remember after he leaves them in the doorway to the dancehall she looks to George and says something like, "Marty. That's a nice name." Or something like that. :)
Wonder why they didn’t call their first son Marty …
Marty´s father sure remembers him and knows who his son is. He never forgot what Marty told him in 1955 about putting his mind into whatever he wanted in order to succeed and that inspired him to write.
I think u missed the entire point of the video ,no way george thinks calvin and marty are the same person
@@GTO_CAL He does. There are some unused/filmed notes from the story script that he remembers him but does not say it. The black Toyota is meant as some payback for the things, Marty has done and said to him. They left this part out in the final movie cut.
@@MrBubbleJet I kinda felt like that was the case as well look how George treated Marty the whole time especially once his Novel showed up and how he handed Marty the 1st copy, something was up and especially once i saw that truck...I was like yeah they know.. they just acting like they dont. And once that Carpet fire happened Lorraine was like oh my goddness..... didnt Marty/Calvin tell us about this happening...
I suspect they both do. But they don't want to make a fuss about it. The way they look at him from the front door screen when he got his truck makes me think that they do. So the truck was the least they could do to show their gratitude to their son for affecting their lives. At least that's my own head canon.
They might even be afraid of him. Acting it out like the twilight zone with that kid who change reality lol.
i mean, imagine them being his parents, they've raised him and watched his appearance change slowly over the 17 years since his birth, they'd only vaguely remember what that one guy in high school looked like that one time, over those 17 years they'd associate that appearance with their son instead of the guy from high school, and like you said they have no pictures of him to directly compare
I never even thought about this until I saw the title of this YT clip. Nice explanation.
Clearly they remember Marty from 1955, Marty 1985 got named after the kid they remember that helped hook them up after all. George and Loraine are only in their late 40s they remember stuff they did and friends they had high school just like we would, They just won't assume or think that their 17 year old kid went through time to help get them together because it's a far fetched idea. I am sure to them it would just be a coincidence that Marty 1985 has a resemblance like the teenager Marty they knew for a bit in 1955.
Another possible explanation is that George believed that "Darth Vader from the planet Vulcan" really was an alien, and, as Marty grew up, that this alien had taken the form of his and Lorraine's future son in order to interact with them as a human.
When you hear a name, you usually know if you ever knew anyone with that name before. For example you may have heard of the name Dimitri, but never had a friend or colleague or classmate or acquaintance with that name. Then you meet someone called Dimitri and any time that name gets mentioned you automatically think of the person you know with that name. So it is incomprehensible that when they named their son 'Marty', that they would have forgotten that they knew someone with that name before. They chose the name because they liked it and they liked the person who had that name. They REMEMBERED the person who had that name.
The mum see's Calvin Klein written in underpants in 1955 and thinks its the new guys name at first, then 30 years in the future Calvin Klein becomes a clothes designer name written in underpants and she doesn't twig?
Marty played some crazy guitar at the school dance, and their son plays crazy guitar songs.
Marty skateboarded when they knew him back in 1955 and Marty skateboards.
Marty was wearing the same clothes as he wore when they met him 30 years before. He looks exactly the same as he did 30 years before. He is talking and acting the same as he did 30 years before.
Marty helped his dad grow a pair 30 years before and encouraged him to go after Lorraine. It was because of Marty's encouragement and tips from Marty that he got Lorraine and then the dad forgets?
His mum can't remember the boy she fancied at first and thought was 'dreamy'? Even though he still looks exactly the same?
His parents should have said when he came back 'You know son now you are almost grown you sometimes you remind me of someone me and your mother met years ago. What was his name Lorraine?' Or something like that. They should have made a reference to Marty being named after someone who helped get them together. That would have been more realistic than both of them completely forgetting someone who was exceptionally memorable.
They saw their kid growing up, I think he did remind them of his "time traveling adventures", indeed. But here's the thing. We see the time travel from Marty's point of view, for him it's entering the DeLorean, traveling to the past, doing stuff there, entering the DeLorean again, coming back to the present. But even during that time travel, there was a version of Marty, that grew up. From his parent's point of view, they came together (with the help of that guy), they had a child and the child was growing up, then one day they came from a job to find their son Marty in their house as he just came back from his trip to the past. They didn't know anything about his trip, they just met their son (that they saw growing up the whole time) in their house, like they did every single day. Sure something about him might come familiar, but it was too long for them to make the connections, so they most likely just waved it away. They also probably had that conversation with him about a guy he reminds them, but that convo most likely happened much earlier, during the time that the real Marty can't remember, as he's from a different timeline, that he eventually changed. Remember Biff cleaning his new car (that black pick up truck)? That wasn't the case originally, was it? Marty changed some things in the past, so his original timeline doesn't exist anymore, and he can't remember things, that happened to his "newer" version (the one, that grew up with his parents, that one, that most likely had the "you know, son, you remind us of a guy" convo happen). Movies usually don't show everything, so we know nothing of Marty's "new" childhood in this changed timeline. It's still the same Marty McFly, but his childhood went differently, than he remembers himself, because of the time travel and the changes, he caused (directly or indirectly).
for me its the fact they watched marty grow up gradually. they didn't just see the guy from 30 years ago all of a sudden
But they called their third child MARTY. That is not a coincidence, his parents must have named him after the Marty they knew 30 years ago because Marty brought them together then. So yes they met Marty 30 years ago only a few times in a week, but that week was monumental in their lives and it was a time full of firsts. They met a very unusual new guy who Lorraine tried it on with at first. They heard certain music for the first time, George overcame big obstacles in his life for the first time too with Marty's help. Marty would be pretty hard to forget because he played such a pivotal role in that week.. It is like when people remember losing their virginity or something, it may not have taken long, but first time experiences of something like that will stay in the memory bank for life.
Then they called their son Marty. So Marty looks like the Marty they knew, dresses like the Marty they knew, speaks like the Marty they knew, acts like the Marty they knew and has the same name as the Marty they knew. So if they remember the name of the 'Under the Sea Dance' which was one evening 30 years ago, they should remember the week leading up to it as it was full of Marty firsts and unusual events too.
And then there are the Calvin Klein underpants. His mum thought Calvin was his name at first 30 years ago because of the name in his pants, and in 1985 his mum presumably did his laundry and they were Calvin Klein pants too. With all the above facts together you can't really get any more memorable than Marty must have been.
Then his mom washing his underwear and recognizing the name Calvin Klein should have brought back memories. Even the color of the underwear should have jiggled her noggin.
but in the original timeline they also had a reason to call him marty so maybe it’s just the same reason
My main question was, why did they not call their first son Marty?
Human memory is highly fallible. A guy may vividly remember his first lay and her name, but after 30 years he can probably describe her posterior and anterior contours better than her facial contours. My brothers and I grew up with 2 cats in our house named Kim and Kate. Years later, my oldest brother named his daughters Kimberly and Katelyn. No one made the connection until well after the youngest was born, and the cats (who had passed on 10+ years prior) certainly didn't influence him or my sister-in-law. My SIL never even knew them. Martin/Marty are not particularly uncommon names. Even if this short-lived friendship played a monumental role in several defining points in their lives, there would almost certainly have been more immediate motives to name their child Martin. Their ongoing proximity to Biff, in turn, caused them to assign more gravity and stronger memories to his role than Marty's.
At 45, I can go back 30 years in my own memory and vividly describe a lot of escapades or notable details about many people that I saw on a daily basis. Unless there was something remarkable about their face (like the guy with really bad acne) I would be hard-pressed to describe anyone's mug. My teenagers laugh and roll their eyes at some of the stories of the mischief I got into as a teenager (and wonder how I survived, but that's a different comments section). I can regale them with the events in vivid detail. I can remember a lot of the first names of my cohorts. Maybe even the last names of a few. I'll be darned if I can remember a single face without digging out a dusty old yearbook. These are people that I knew and interacted with for a lot more than a week and they participated in substantial defining moments of my adolescence. Had I known one of them for only a week, I would definitely remember their existence. I might remember their name. Their face? That would be too far in the back of the filing cabinet, behind the cobwebs with the other "chemically diminished" memories.
Also, I'm a single dad with 3 teenagers. THEY do their OWN laundry, as did I when I was a teenager. What 17-year-old needs his mommy to do his laundry? Talk about a mama's boy!
They thought his name was Calvin.
I highly doubt that a couple would ever forget the person that brought them together. I still have vivid memories from 45 years ago where I will always remember. My theory is they know and don’t care. Or that Marty came back before he ever left ,that would be a whole different time paradox as things did change.
They knew Marty for a week 30 years ago. You can remember a person without remembering what their face looked like.
Marty's parents cant remember Biff tried to RAPE her/ Marty's mom .
Loved this video! Keep up the great work!!
I think the biggest plot hole is that although the Mcfly's are clearly far more succesful in the alternate timeline they still live in the same house.
I can barely remember what some of the guys I went to school with looked like - even though I spent pretty much every day for 5 years with them. I doubt I could remember somebody I knew for just a couple of days 30 years ago.
I found my high school yearbook pictures online after many years and while I recognize all the faces of people I knew, they weren't quite like I remembered them, only roughly and keying on certain features, particularly their eyes. Out of context, I may not have recognized them if they time traveled to today and they would merely seem a bit familiar or comparable.
I could. But some people can and some can't. We'll just assume his parents can't.
@@sw1000xg Definitely. I know my memory isn't nearly as good as a lot of people.
I remember a cut scene where the parents recognize Marty but say something like "Nah...couldn't be" - I think it's a photo from the dance that barely shows Marty singing on stage. Something like that.
I think it's fine they left it alone...it's a movie and the fact they had no pics of Marty for 30 years is good enough to not recognize him.
I smell 🐂💩.
I too remember this scene.
Yeah, in the original script, George McFly, who isn't a writer but rather the world middleweight champion in boxing, recognizes Marty as the man who helped him all those years ago in the final scene of the movie. He thinks its impossible, even as he realizes that they are indeed identical. It is a great ending but the ending they went with is great as well.
Yes, not seeing him for 30 years plus not ever having seen a picture of him since really is a good reason not to think "Is our son that kid Calvin that helped us 30 years ago?".
But there's another reason why they're not thinking that, it's that the logical side of their minds immediately think "It's not possible" before they can even begin to think "Hmmm..our son looks so much like that kid Calvin that I wonder if maybe he is??". See, they're thinking time travel isn't possible because they know nothing about Doc or the Delorian
@@kforcer because George and Lorraine think it's impossible, that's why they won't for even one second start really wondering if they are both the same person. It doesn't matter how good the resemblance is. Their son wasn't even born until over a decade after meeting "Calvin". See my other comment above.
The fact that he was only around for one week yet did so much, I think, would make him MORE memorable, no?
“Marty, what an interesting name.” She definitely named her son after him so she would’ve remember him. But after 30 years, even if they put two and two together, they would’ve just thought there brains were tricking them since it was so long ago and they would’ve dropped it.
I mean, I can barely remember my best friend from high school whom I haven't seen since, even though we were friends since the 3rd grade, and I have an unusually above average memory. Like you say, Biff features prominently because he remains in their lives. Marty was there for a week. Nicely written/told :)
Exactly. They knew him for one week and have no photos of him. That and their life would be pretty hectic right from the get go so while they might remember that kid Marty that they knew in high school, they probably aren't going to remember what he looked like. I mean I'm in my mid 30s and I had friends throughout high school that I haven't seen in years but I don't remember what they look like.
@@christinadoxstader3004 there was a girl I liked when I was like in the 4th grade. Then Me and my family moved away and I went to a completely different school for the remainder of my school years and I hadn't seen that girl, I didn't even have pictures of her. I graduated High school in 1984. I went in the military in 1986, Got out in 1992 and in about 1995 or 1996, when I was over 30 years old, I was driving down the street that used to be used as a cruising strip and a car pulled next to me with a woman driving it, and I knew her. It was the girl I hadn't seen since I was in the fourth grade. But she was a complete bitch. I had enough time to tell her who I was and that she used to be friends with Me and my friend Karl. She told me she didn't remember me, but she remembered Karl. So, I say, it's not too far of a stretch to say that people do and can remember people they've only seen a few times.
@@scottkendall7789 so you only knew her for s week?
I'm sure they do remember, because it was a very special week leading up to their dance where they got together. However small or insignificant it might seem in such a short period of time, they will always remember who it was that got them together in the first place. Marty coached George to be more confident and assertive in his behaviours. Plus I'm sure they figured it all out when they saw Marty become of age.
Yeah and then George comes to the conclusion that Lorraine cheated on him and secretly met "Calvin" over the years ^^
If that were true, why is the oldest son named David instead of Marty? Or Calvin? After Marty returns to 1985, we see (as the video mentions) that they have spent 30 years in connection with Biff and assigned more gravity to his role in their relationship. As human memory is wont to do, this caused memories of Marty/Calvin to be pushed to the side by the constant reminders of the memories with Biff. That's not a good thing. It's just the way human memory works.
Either way, the debate is pretty moot. I doubt Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale considered or debated the matter nearly as much as the fans are decades after the fact. The continuity of the movie is way above par and they couldn't be expected to get every possible detail right in the twisty-turny logic of theoretical time-travel.
I don't remember every kid I knew 30 years ago. I used to think this was weird too, but now that I'm older, you realize that those kids from 30 years ago just become background to the memories, even the ones that were important
I remember seeing this movie at the cinema. It was pure entertainment from beginning to end, like few movies I saw afterward.
Same hair style , they did see him in his clothes from present day, this should have raised some questions over the years, especially when Marty started to look the way he looked in the movie.
Besides this issue there are some other questions.
On the night Marty 's parents fell in love, the mother was nearly raped by, so why would he be working for them ?
When Marty got back to the present, Marty 's alternate realty counterpart should have been there because this isn't an altered timeline, this is an alternate reality. You see time is actually immutable, what has happened has happened. When Marty traveled back he generated an alternate or divergent reality that branched off from the timeline at the point of his arrival because he wasn't actually meant to be there in the first place so his mere presence caused this branching effect. He may not be able to return to his point of origin, so when he traveled back he arrived at the present of this universe. Since his family more or less stayed the same, there should have been an alternate universe version of Marty present.
I don't even remember my friends outfits from yesterday, even if they stand out from the norm. I highly doubt they'd recognize Marty wearing the same clothes 30 years later
No the alternate Marty is the
2nd Marty we sees in the bttf 1 ending by the time the 2nd Marty goes back to past and change the past it caused an effect to the main Marty thats why if the 2nd Marty doesn't goes back to the past things like the change In his parents will not happen
Marty's mom almost made out with him, I doubt she would've forgotten that and even if she did the moment Marty started to look like Marty she should've had a wtf moment
As for my second point I will repeat, past can't be altered. Everything is set once it happens. Moment Marty arrived in the past he already changed the course of events so this spacetime diverged from his home realty which people mistake for time being altered. When he tried to get back he wound up in the future of this universe since he's stuck in this alternate reality. Since his family composition has remained the same there should've been an alternate reality counterpart of Marty present when he got back to the future like there was in the second movie when he traveled to his future.
@@SpockBorg5 The alternate Marty was shown, he was still friends with doc and was sent back into the past.
Are you referring to the second movie?
I've seen this sort of thing happen, without photos to reference it's hard to even tell that some people look very similar at times. Like a cheating spouse who had another persons kid without the actual partner knowing it's not theirs. Most of the time unless the two are in the same room or a photo is compared people don't assume that they might look similar.
That was a great explanation. Thanks for the vid.
They DO remember him well enough to name their son after him.
What happen to the Marty who grew up with the parents who got together under better circumstances? Marty who returned to 1985 has no memory of his whole life other than the original timeline.
Yeah like it's just basically time travel assassination
My thoughts exactly, that's the REAL paradox. What happened to him? How does time travel work in these movies? Do time travellers replace and therefore erase their duplicates when they return from whereever (or rather WHENever) they tampered with the timeline?
Yeah, like in Trancers!
@@christian-schubert Yeah. It doesn't make sense. There where two Marty in part 2. He even watched himself playing with the band.
@@christian-schubert Doc knew and suicided them so he and the current Marty could stay with no "hiccups". I say suicided because he was getting rid of their doubles so its hard to murder yourself when you are taking over for yourself. Guess it would sort of be murdering double Marty but not really because Marty is still there living his life.
There’s another HUGE problem. If he never made it back to the future, he could remind doc to bring extra plutonium or about the Libyans thereby undoing the whole sequence of events.
Parents: "Marty, you're 23 years old, why are you dating a high schooler?"
Over time memories fade and you don't always remember people or have clear memory of what they look like.
Good explanation! But it’s hint in one of the video game side stories that George knew his son was also Calvin from the future but, never question his son because he had no evidence to back up his claim and wait for his Son to one day tell him the truth.
My biggest question was always why didn't they name their first son Marty if she thought it was such a nice name? Why wait until the next son? My only guess is perhaps Dave, Marty's older brother, is a family name that either George or Lorraine promised to name their first born. My other issue with Dave is why is he even there in the future? He tells Marty he always wears a suit to the office, so clearly he is doing better in life now (like the rest of the family) so why would he still be living at home? Unless he lives nearby and just happened to stop by for breakfast.
I just want to know why they're still living n the same house! Marty should not have come back to the same house! When the furniture change, so should have the entire house! Marty should have come back to a house in Lyon Estates?
That's time travel/movies for ya.
Easier to have him at breakfast than do individual scenes
Maybe Dave was living at home because he was saving for a house🤷🏽♂️
Dave was like 21, maybe still in university, or just graduate. He is not yet fiancially independent.
@@RumbleFish69 Because Marty did not cause any event that could change that. That section of Hill Valley as Marty saw in 55 was being built new. He did not cause any change that would take away that specific event. George becoming more of a man has an effect on his kids being mature or having dreams which is why they changed but neither George nor Lorrain had zero change from an idea of what there life could become. It's not like Marty told them to move to LA or caused an event that would lead to that conclusion.
The funny thing about memories is that you don't remember the actual event, over the years, you remember the event as the last time you remember it.
there's a Family Guy scene where George confronts Lorraine about Marty looking like that guy who hooked them up back in high school. the implication here being George thought Lorraine met him again and cheated on George with him. good stuff
I always figured there was a ripple effect. The more time righted itself, the less they remembered what "Calvin" looked like.
What’s crazy about this is they DO. It’s in the original script. At the end, Marty leaves and George is looking out at him with a smile, as if he knew something, then he turns to a picture of Marty & says something along the lines of “I knew he looked familiar” or something like that. It might not have been in the final script and what we saw on the big screen, but it was at least planned
Thats so cool! Where did u get this info?
@@julealero7689 some video that was also talking about this same subject. Forgot who the guy was but it was really cool hearing abt it
if its not in the movie then it didnt happen and im glad it didnt since it sounds ridiculous they would remember him
@@kirururik true, but in a way, it was planned to happen. And personally I don’t think so bc if this is a kid that influenced their life so much, I’m sure they’d at least remember him. It’s not far fetched at all. So it was either written as they knew, or they wrote it as they’re playing dumb and secretly know
@@kirururik It may be your opinion that if it wasn't in the movie (I guess you mean the final cut or theatrical release) that it didn't happen. However, even film directors and writers reference deleted scenes to sometimes explain plot holes. So, if the actual director and writer of a film do this, who are you to say otherwise?
"You forget a thousand things every day, pal. Make sure this is one of them"
I was a sophomore in high school in 1985. I can honestly tell you other than my few friends, I couldn’t remember the faces of any other student that I had interaction with on daily bases in class. So if my 16 year old daughter visited me, I probably wouldn’t remember her!! I need to have a talk with her now 🤔
5:57 Interesting, George didn't say, "I'll never forget you." He said, "I'll never forget it" - meaning Marty's advice. It was the words of encouragement he'd remember, not necessarily the person that gave it. Pretty slick of the writers.
It had always bugged me that this was never mentioned, but I always thought that the look which his parents gave him at the end showed that they knew but never said anything.
No, that is ridiculous. They did not have any knowledge of a time travel scheme altering the course of their existences.
Also the fact that the suit he wore in the movie. Was the same one on the cover, the dad had done for his book. So he clearly remembered.
I can understand the point that he didn't have that much of a stamp on his parents lives overall. But I also think it has to do with the fact that he's not the same Marty his parents raised either. That Marty got assimilated over. Or went back in time himself.
I've always considered that they likely have brought it up to each other before that Marty looks "kinda like that guy from years ago", but to whichever extent that may be true there's little reason why they would dwell on it. Since from their perspective, there's zero chance he's the same guy.
That said, it would've been easy enough - and fitting for the comedic style of the film - to toss in a line towards the end like, "Ya know, me and George for years have been amazed just how much you look like this guy we once knew back in high school." But Zemeckis might've thought of it and purposely left it out for fear that it was a bit too kitschy. His moments with them were brief but nonetheless impactful...yet how long ago it happened would realistically allow their memory to distort.
"Since from their perspective, there's zero chance he's the same guy."
Except the fact that if they did remember what Marty from 1955 looked like so much so that they might have brought it up amongst themselves at some point, then they likely remember that Marty from 1955 told them on the last day they saw him that if their son in the future sets fire to the living room, go easy on him. Then, their future son actually goes and sets fire to the living room, it would be too much of a coincidence that there son, who looks like the twin to the Marty in 1955, isn't the same person. George, who let's not forget is a sci-fi geek and author, would certainly entertain the idea his son is a time traveller after these two uncanny factors.
@@lamontjohnson5810 i hear ya, but I also think there's a chance that alt-Marty never set fire to a rug. In fact you kinda have to suspend your disbelief that alt-Marty was no different...despite his brother and sister turning into different versions of their character. No one in alt-1985 seemed to think he was acting strange...though there's bound to have been some differences over the course of alt-Marty's childhood.
Even if one or both did notice it, it might have been a few years ago, say 1983, fromtheir perspective when they did.
They could have even mentioned the person named Calvin.
Marty would have had no reaction to that at the time, and eventually George and Lorraine just move on.
Ultimately, they would continue to treat their son as their son.
Seeing Marty on the day that he returned wouod have been just another day for them.
George had a more intense involvement with him. The whole brain melting thing wouod make the week very memorable.
I think he knows, or at least suspects.
I say suspects because it's a crazy thing to believe and many people would relegate the idea to nonsense and dismiss it.
I think people often forget that we know the events of the movie. Meaning, we as an audience know Marty time travels back. Marty's parents don't. They don't know time travel exists either. Even if they knew Marty looked like Calvin, they wouldn't suspect time travel. It would be incredibly weird if they did connect the dots and assume time travel. Other than Marty having a strange friendship with Doc Brown, there are no bread crumbs for them to connect the dots.
" Is all just a dream.."
Yeah I’m pretty sure all of the events were the turning point in both of their lives. There’s absolutely no way they wouldn’t remember his face. You remember important events. I’m sure the dad finally get confidence, having the big highschool bully punch out, and finally getting together with the girl he loved would be imprinted on his memory along with the guy who directly facilitated it. And same with her. She isn’t forgetting her interactions with him. Her dad hit him with a car, and she sat staring at him and fell in love. You’re full of it if you don’t think Marty was an extremely important part of their lives, and a critical piece of an even more critical moment(s) for both of their lives.
I think of it as Marty wasn't there permanently in the timeline, so his memories wouldn't be either. Once he 'fixed' things, he fades away like his siblings in the picture, his existence in 1955 was like a dream to everyone else as he returns back to 1985 where he is supposed to be.
The question itself is absurd. Once Marty was born, the parents witnessed him growing up for 17 years. If they were going to recognize him as 1955 Marty, at what point in his 17 years of growing up would the parents say "Hey, that's the same Marty we met at 1955!"
You also got to remember that they see his son everyday growing up. If they did ever had that thought it would have been when he was young and not when he returns back from the past.
they recalled Marty enough to name a son after him…he was remembered but they simply couldn’t place him. most folks recall names more than faces, he was a classmate who faded away but wasn’t fully forgotten just overtaken by Biff
Given everything that's changed, it's actually remarkable that they ended up living in the exact same address (they're better off financially in the second timeline -- wouldn't that affect where they live?), with three kids who are the exact same age, name and gender as their kids in the previous timeline.