Back to the Future

Directed by  |  Robert Zemeckis
Produced by  |  Steven Spielberg
Frank Marshall
Kathleen Kennedy
Bob Gale
Written by  |  Robert Zemeckis
Bob Gale
Starring  |  Michael J. Fox
Christopher Lloyd
Crispin Glover
Lea Thompson
Thomas F. Wilson
Music by  |  Alan Silvestri
Cinematography  |  Dean Cundey
Editing by  |  Harry Keramidas
Arthur Schmidt
Distributed by  |  Universal Studios
Release date(s)  |  July 3, 1985
Running time  |  116 minutes
Country  |  United States
Language  |  English
Budget  |  $19 million
Gross revenue  |  $383,874,862
Followed by  |  Back to the Future Part II
IMDb profile

Back to the Future is a popular movie from 1985 in which the main character Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) goes back in time to 1955 with the help of his scientist friend, Doctor Emmet Brown (Christopher Lloyd) and a time machine built into a DeLorean DMC-12. It led to two sequels and an animated television series. It was one of the highest-grossing films of the 1980s and is still popular today.

## Contents

* 1 Cultural impact of Back to the Future
* 2 Values
* 2.1 Negative values
* 2.2 Positive values
* 3 References

## Cultural impact of Back to the Future[edit]

This extremely popular film exerts an undeniable influence upon American culture, even being selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".[1]

## Values[edit]

However, the viewer should be selective in watching the film, as both positive and negative values are presented. The viewing of this film by children should be accompanied with parental guidance, highlighting which behaviors should or should not be emulated.

### Negative values[edit]

* Various vulgar expressions: Biff's exclamation upon crashing into the fertilizer truck, Marty's jibe regarding Doc's concern about his future.
* Promotion of youth culture with implications of adult inferiority: when Marty's band performs a loud rock song which the judges (including rock musician Huey Lewis in a cameo role) are not "cool" enough to appreciate.
* Portrayal of chastity as a negative trait
* Premarital sexual activity: when Marty and Jennifer plan to spend the night at the lake alone

### Positive values[edit]

* Dedication and friendship: Doc and Marty stick together and show genuine concern for each other's well-being.
* Health effects of alcohol and tobacco: when Marty discourages the 1955 Lorraine from smoking or drinking, saying that she might regret it, and when the 1985 Lorraine is shown suffering ill-effects from alcohol at the start of the film, but healthy and attractive at the end of the film when she has been positively influenced by "Calvin Klein"
* Disgust for deviancy: when Marty shows contempt of 1955 George's voyeurism
* Chivalry: when George defends Lorraine from Biff's attempted intimate assault

## References[edit]

1. ↑ National Film Registry 2007,Films Selected for the 2007 National Film Registry. Retrieved on 4 February 2008.