Back to the Future

I am a big movie lover and always have been.  I distinctly remember going to the movies to see Back to the Future, after all the DeLorean, Michael J Fox and going to one of my favorite eras in time (the 50s - yes the movie 50s because they look ever so cool) was big draw for me.  I liked the movie. Then they came out with Back to the Future 2 and I liked that movie too.  After all the idea of going far forward in time was appealing - a future that was not all apocalyptic as most movies are about the future.  Even now let's face it while we smile at the ever constant flying car that is in pretty much every future based movie it is usually a world dark, grey, destroyed by each other/aliens/wars/ diseases and of course some sort of zombies may make an appearance.   I guess showing us a place where we fixed our then "ozone hole" issues, helped one another move beyond war to more peace, discovered a way to fly far enough to possibly even understand alien lifeforms is not what movie makers thought we wanted to see, then and now, with few exceptions. 

So Back to the Future 2 is unique, a gem in that respect.  There is still sun after all and people may be dressed differently but they are no zombies to be found.  The future in that movie has flying cars and the ever cool hover boards.  They have sneakers that have some pretty cool abilities.  There are  video calls, flat screen TVs and yeah the self lacing shoes.  The year that Marty lands in is 2015.  Wait whaat?????

That seemed so far, so futuristic to me (and obviously the screenwriters) at the time the movie came out.

So here we are -- yeah we have flat screens, skype/facetime, sneakers are good but my boys will tell you self lacing would be a huge bonus and we barely are scraping up electric car technology never mind the flying ones.  It is the future - I know this could turn into a Nietzsche discussion - is today the future if it is today - to the point of total mind blowing exhaustion.

The future - where we have damaged the environment but not to the extent where we live in grey skies with Wall E looking for the last living plant.  Speaking of Wall E - mean girl moment  alert - every time I see that movie then see the grossly obese by choice (yes by choice because they choose to have such bad eating habits vs someone with some sort of disorder that makes them that size) on one of those motorized scooters I am reminded of the Wall E people who no longer walk because of their size (art imitating life).

The future - where the media likes to make us believe we truly hate one another but in reality as boring as this snippet would be to report we actually have more in common and want to accomplish than not.

The future - where 2015 is not really futuristic and yet it is.  Cell phones and laptops and tablets (oh my) are really amazing and a huge opportunity fraught with danger too.  They are the future in a way Marty in the 50s, or even the 80s when the movies were made,  would have not imagined and will seem so obsolete when kids have iwatch like devices that you speak to in say 5 years replace these from today.

I think the Back to the Future movies are fun because it reminds us that we are all products of our past which we always look on with nostalgia and we are responsible for our future which we often view with a twinge of nervousness.  It is good to not forget though that we need to always come back to the present because that is where we need to take advantage of what we learned from the past to make the future better.

So you can buy a hoverboard, yes you can for like $40,000 at this time, and velcro is pretty close to self lacing shoes but the most important thing I hope for is that the future keeps looking more like this movie then the others .. on our planet that we love, without zombies, developing and growing rather than just surviving.

Gotta go Doc is revving up the DeLorean on my on demand, streaming smart tv...