One of my favorite movie series of all time is the Back to the Future trilogy. Pretty revolutionary ideas and cinematic achievement for the 80s and thankfully, the movies were left as a sacred trilogy, instead of destroying it with half-assed follow-ups 20 years later like with Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and pretty much anything George Lucas touches (note to George Lucas – I’m honored you’re reading my little blog, you suck, and stay away from the Back to the Future franchise)
With the onset of the 2nd decade in the 21st century, I can’t help but reflect on the second installment of Back to the Future, which sent Marty McFly, Doc Brown, and other characters off to the year 2015 in order to prevent Marty’s future child from getting thrown in jail, and also take an extravagant cinematic swag at predicting the future and touting mid-to-late-80s special effects.
Specifically, I can’t help but look at the level of technological advancement that was dreamed up by the writers/directors/producers/lunch staff of Back to the Future 2 and wonder if we as a society will meet those expectations in just 5 years. Yes, believe it or not, the world portrayed in the movie is just 5 years away, and so far I haven’t seen anything remotely close to futuristic flying cars, highways in the sky, robotic waiters, over-inflated prices (i.e. a can of Pepsi for $100), and of course, hover boards.
Based on where we are today technologically, I’m sad to say that we are not going to meet the expectations set by this movie. That’s not to say we haven’t made amazing advancements since the movie debuted in 1989 – proliferation of personal computers and cell phones, the Internet boom, amazing graphical capabilities, mobile media revolution – but for the most part our advancements are predominantly in the virtual world.
Within tangible, everyday life, sure we’ve got very advanced ovens, refrigerators, and washing machines and cars have unbelievable features for comfort and entertainment, but they sure as hell don’t fly! It’s depressing that the future template created by our 1988 counterparts envisioned us all driving flying cars, talking on video phones exclusively, eating absurdly micro-dehydrated foods, opening doors with finger scans and we’re all still stuck driving with tires, talking on voice-only phones, eating absurdly fatty and largely unhealthy foods, and opening doors with knobs. Knobs! What are we kidding? Knobs…..
I really think this should be a large part of President Obama’s State of the Union address tonight to help inspire innovation, challenge America to set the bar high, stop using door knobs, and live up to the expectations set in 1989 by Back to the Future, Part 2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsgIzU51Mr0
Don’t go to a clothing store where you anticipate trying on pants if you have to mildly go to the bathroom. As soon as you take your pants off your body gets all confused and you suddenly change from thinking you’ll need to go in an hour, to looking for a drain in the changing room.
Prison Guard in “Shawshank Redemption”; Prison Guard in “The Hurricane”; Drill Sgt. in “Starship Troopers”
Corrupt Union Leader in “Armed and Dangerous”; A bad guy in “Scarface”; Coach in “Necessary Roughness”; General in “Independence Day”
Diving Coach in “Back to School”; Gun-shop Owner/Grandfather in “Harry and the Hendersons”; Retiring Policeman in “Camp Nowhere”
District Attorney in “L.A. Confidential”; Corrupt Detective in “The Negotiator”; Father in “Boiler Room”; Secretary of State in “The Sum of All Fears”; and the evil guy on “Alias”
FBI Director in “The Rock”; Police Chief in “The Negotiator”; and yes, Chief of Staff on “The West Wing”
Roger Maris in “61*”; Special Agent in “Enemy of the State”; Prison Guard in “The Green Mile”; Religious Sniper in “Saving Private Ryan”