MovieChat Forums > Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) Discussion > To those who question if she time travle...

To those who question if she time travled

posted 11 years ago by nickynichole01
17 replies | jump to latest

Off course she did. Remember the the chat and help from the tech kid about physics of time travel and her grandads time travel ceremony with his cult/grand poobaa thing hehe. So yes she did time trip no doubt. I mean really its so obvious. And the reunion is just like all the other time travel with a reunion movies. The bullied, nerdy or ignored kids get advice from the traveler and they come back changed at the reunions because of the time traveler's advice. I mean its an overused story line.

Nichole was here.

[–] rdpepper 11 years ago

Also the book was dedicated to her. Before she came back she never spoke to Michael so he would have no reason to write about her.

[–] artistathome 11 years ago

I question whether there was real time travel. After all she got married because she was pregnant and got pregnant how? Was it the night she and Charlie spent in the greenhouse?

Didn't she also have sex with Michael? the guy with the motorcycle? If she had really time traveled and went back wouldn't it occur to her that her baby was NOT Charlie's?

Just sayin...

It is obvious she had been unconscious all that time and went back only in her mind. But it was enough to change her future!

[–] CaZSuede-2 10 years ago

I could see that as well. I could see her having her "starry night" with Michael and her ultimate rejection of him, as reasoning in her mind for why her and Charlie were meant to be.

But the problem with the dedication, is the fact that all this talk about Dreaming is speculation while the book is concrete proof.

[–] daughterofolaf 10 years ago

Not only that but the point is made repeatedly that she had never in her life been with or slept with anyone but Charlie and that the starry night dude was the one guy she wished she had slept with other than Charlie. It seems that a lot of people ignore or simply forget this detail for some reason. One poster on this board even said that it had happened in her original life but she forgot--wtf?!

It wasn't me who was murdered, was it?

[–] Adler-99 10 years ago

I've seen PSGM multiple times and used to think she really did travel back in time. But I just watched it again last night, after not seeing it for years, and I think it was all a dream. To wit, all the white/shades of gray clothing Peggy Sue and her friends wear in 1960, like it's a fuzzy old TV picture and not real. Also, looking at the balloon she sees in the school hallway after she gives blood -- isn't it a mylar balloon? Those weren't even around until the 1970s.

The book dedication is the biggest argument for her actually having time traveled, but maybe it really did mean a different person named Peggy Sue, since she and Michael hardly knew each other. Or maybe Michael had a similar dream about this Peggy Sue, it inspired him, and that's what the dedication was referring to.

[–] daughterofolaf 9 years ago

The book dedication is the biggest argument for her actually having time traveled,

The book seems to be proof, not just an argument.

but maybe it really did mean a different person named Peggy Sue,

So, Michael Fitzsimmons dedicated his book to "Peggy Sue and a starry night" after they specifically had the following conversation when she time traveled:

Michael: What about the other night? We were like two stars in the same constellation...

Peggy Sue: We had one glorious night together. Someday you'll remember and write about it.

And he then sends the book to her, yet he is talking about a different Peggy Sue and a different starry night? That makes absolutely zero sense whatsoever.

since she and Michael hardly knew each other.

Yes, they hardly knew each other originally. But when she went back in time she spent time with him and they had their starry night, they had the discussion about the stars and constellation and how he would write about their one night someday, which is exactly what happens. That was the entire point.

"Why couldn't the monkey arrange this from INSIDE the garbage can?"

[–] !!!deleted!!! (47421091) 10 years ago

Didn't she also have sex with Michael? the guy with the motorcycle? If she had really time traveled and went back wouldn't it occur to her that her baby was NOT Charlie's?

Depends on the time frame. She did get pregnant the night of her birthday in both timelines, but had sex with Michael days (or weeks?) before. The ovulation window can be very short in the cycle.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (47421091) 10 years ago

I'm going to say first that I believe the writer/director meant that she did time travel, and the evidence of this was the dedication in the book by a guy she barely knew. Why else would this scene be in the movie if not to convince the audience that her journey was real?

But I also think there was a bit of sloppy writing the book dedication scene. When Charlie showed her the book by Michael and said he dedicated it to her, she told Charlie it couldn't be her as she hardly knew him. But, Charlie (in the time travel journey) was aware that she took off with Michael and confronted her about it.

[–] Adler-99 10 years ago

I think the best fantasy movies are ones that make several scenarios possible. In PSGM, I can see either actual time travel or "it was all a dream" equally feasible. As I said, I used to believe in the time travel scenario but now think it was a dream.

The book dedication could actually have been inspired by many different things, if we use our imaginations.

[–] Owlnut73 9 years ago

Either she said that for Charlie's benefit, or SHE believes it was a dream, after waking up ar the hospital.

[–] stazza 9 years ago

two things:

1. did that modern metalic balloon tiem travel with her? she looks up while in the past and sees that modern style balloon.

2. the book dedication could be random Michael attachment. I've written stuff about people I never met, and could easily see the maybe she INSPIRED him to write from a distance. You will find that pretty common in life, as far as creative people go.

and 3. she goes from aged (a bit) to younger (ab it).... why would that happen if she really time traveled? And if she over took her girl past, I think she'd have remembered it already.

great fun flick!

[–] Owlnut73 9 years ago

At the reunion Richard said she was nice to him. But in the past, when she first approched him, he said he wasn't doing any tutoring that year. That indicates that she and others basically ignored him before, unless they need tutoring. So, she must have not really treated differently then everyone else did in the real past.

[–] SinemaGirl 9 years ago

2. the book dedication could be random Michael attachment. I've written stuff about people I never met, and could easily see the maybe she INSPIRED him to write from a distance. You will find that pretty common in life, as far as creative people go.

However, this dedication is not random. It is dedicated to Peggy Sue and a starry night. This is a specific moment depicted in the movie, complete with stars and the intimacy she mentioned at the beginning she did not have with Michael in the original timeline.

The moment is set up at the beginning, shown in the 1960 sequence, and then affirmed at the end to point out that her journey happened in the context of the story.

[–] daughterofolaf 9 years ago

However, this dedication is not random. It is dedicated to Peggy Sue and a starry night. This is a specific moment depicted in the movie, complete with stars and the intimacy she mentioned at the beginning she did not have with Michael in the original timeline.

The moment is set up at the beginning, shown in the 1960 sequence, and then affirmed at the end to point out that her journey happened in the context of the story.

EXACTLY.

"Why couldn't the monkey arrange this from INSIDE the garbage can?"

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Elynne 9 years ago

My view of the time travel question: she experienced parallel universes simultaneously, brought about because she was in a coma due to a heart arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat, not necessarily a heart attack.) Her travels were in her mind, but they were more than a dream, because she was apparently in a coma for some time. Enough time had passed so that Charlie broke up with Janet.

Near the end of the film (if I heard it correctly) the doctor mentions her arrhythmia and how serious her condition was, and that they thought that they might lose her. So her experience may have been ventricular fibrillation (which is often fatal, but she may have experienced it as "near-death.") If she had experienced atrial fibrillation (which is a more common arrhythmia) she probably would not have become comatose, but would have been hospitalized for a short time, fully conscious, treated with medications, and then sent home.

So, if you are in a coma and then can remember where your mind traveled while you were comatose, your mind may have experienced "time travel" ~ even as the body continued to exist in the present.

The next puzzle then is: can the mind not only revisit your own past while comatose, but can you affect the experiences and memories of other people that your mind visits while you are in this condition? 

[–] nycboy94117 8 years ago

She DEFINITELY traveled back in time. It was the same ol' Back To The Future scenario and the only way she will ever get back to the present day was to get pregnant from Charlie on her birthday or else present day Peggy Sue will forever be in a coma and never wake up in her hospital bed. The "new" Peggy Sue will transform in a new alternate universe with a brand new life and outcome. However, she has made some minor changes when she cam back to present day since she slept with Michael Fitzsimmons, which resulted in him dedicating his book to her.