We made it, Doc! We’re BACK IN THE FUTURE!
As most of you will know (as geeks worldwide, like myself, have been geeking out over the final arrival of this incredibly awesome day), today is Back to the Future Day: Marty McFly and Doc Brown have officially arrived in the future (as of 4.28PM UTC+1 time in Hill Valley).
Now, you may ask, and probably are asking, why is this such a momentous day? Why do you care so much? Well, the answer is this, dear friends.
Like many trilogies, Back to the Future is iconic, the three movies intrinsic to, not just American culture, but world culture. Since 1985 the adventures of Doc Brown and Marty McFly’s jaunts into the past and future have mesmerised millions, reaching audiences across generations. Whether a geek or not, you will have at least heard of these fantastic films (if you still haven’t, after today, well, that is to say, you can hardly escape it now), and most likely will watch them in the future, and appreciate the genius of it all. It’s impacted so many lives, made so many childhoods. Many have taken the opportunity today to say “thank you” to Doc, Marty, Biff, Spielberg and Zemeckis for making their childhoods so enjoyable and fuelling their imaginations.
One of the great things about Back to the Future II is that it predicted October 21, 2015, and what we would have: Jaws 19, self-drying jackets, self-tying shoes, hover boards, and rather eccentric fashion (to be honest it felt more like a flashback to the 80s in that sense), and amazingly we’ve managed to achieve some of those ‘aspirations’. And to prove it, here’s Michael J. Fox, who portrayed Marty McFly in the trilogy, trying on the first pair of self-tying Nike Mags:
When you think about it, this is an incredible technological advance. And how did it come about? Why, Back to the Future of course! And, when you think about it, fiction has once more impacted the world in such a momentous way, contributing to daily life and to the enjoyment of millions of human beings around the world. Now that’s truly something.
So, fellow people of the future: let’s take a lever out of Back to the Future’s Delorean: let’s make our imaginations a reality.
To everyone involved in the Back to the Future trilogy, especially Christopher Lloyd and Michael J. Fox, who helped my imagination extend a long way.
Fictional Inspiration 