MovieChat Forums > Back to the Future (1985) Discussion > The ending ruins the moral of the story

The ending ruins the moral of the story

posted 7 months ago by ImAComputer (330)
1 reply | jump to latest

For the whole movie, the doc keeps saying that he doesn’t want to use the time machine for personal gain or to alter the future. He claims that it would be dangerous. But then Marty changes the past which inherently changes his present for the better. So the movie’s moral of the story gets completely contradicted by the ending. Still a great movie, but I just never noticed that until watching it the other day for the first time in 20 years. It probably took me about 15 times watching it to realize this though. Kind of makes me feel stupid.

[–] [deleted] 7 months ago

I never cared for Marty being excited about the truck at the end. Too materlialistic. To be fair, Robert Zemeckis admits it. "You have to look at in the context of which it was made, it was the 80's, and it was a very 80's ending".

But just imagine. You're 17, you've just witnessed your friend being murdered by terrorists, who then pursued you, you've gone back in time, met your teenage parents, your dad who you thought was a wimp stood up to a bully trying to rape your mum, you was nearly erased from existence, you made it back home, found out your friend saved himself from the terrorists after your warning, and your family have changed for the better. And you get excited about a truck?!

It's a comedy not to be taken seriously but it's one of the film's few flaws because it makes Marty out to be shallow.