MovieChat Forums > Back to the Future Part II (1989) Discussion > Not sure how to feel about the whole chi...

Not sure how to feel about the whole chicken thing.

posted 7 months ago by TommyJarvis82 (2563)
6 replies | jump to latest

But otherwise, this movie is a lot of fun.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 6 months ago

I know, I found it jarring too

True, BTTF established Marty as a hothead, ready to fight Biff without much provocation. And it makes sense that the son of George McFly, as he originally was, would have a chip on his shoulder about cowardice.

BUT

The whole "nobody calls me chicken" thing is SO specific that it feels tacked on in this film (and BTTF3)

I wonder if they could've gotten away with it by eliminating that one line.

Just have Marty react the way we'd already expect him to act, i.e., exactly the way he DOES act but without saying, "nobody ... NOBODY calls me chicken!"

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 6 months ago

Totally correct.
It's how specific it is that is offputting.
It does not feel organic with the rest of the writing.
It smells of screenwriting class 101 "my character needs a reson to react and do this and this".
"Well, he could get mad when he is called chicken".
So they forced this random gimmick in.

[–] punkrockgirl (1269) 6 months ago

People don't like it when a sequel is exactly the same but complain when it does something different

[–] Melton (4435) 6 months ago

I like it.

They needed to give Marty a character flaw to overcome when they stretched it to three films, in the first he’s basically a perfect dude with no arc.

For a while I actually forgot that it wasn’t in the first film, it was a very ‘organic’ addition.

[–] ExTechOp (2770) 6 months ago

It's "organic" because it does make sense for Marty to hate being called "chicken" -- the problem isn't that he takes offense, it's that the line, "nobody calls me chicken" is so specific that it sounds like a tagline. That's what makes it feel "tacked on"

Marty's not perfect in the first film. He's careless and hot-headed and nearly got in a fight with Biff in school and the diner

That's why I could easily see Marty reacting exactly the same way in BTTF2 and BTTF3 without the specific "nobody calls me chicken" line

It's not that Marty keeps refusing to back down from a challenge -- that's perfectly in character for him and even makes sense given how he grew up with a coward for a dad

It's the tagline itself -- feels like, as other posters point out above -- inserted into the story to create a plot point

[–] Melton (4435) 6 months ago

Meh, it works as a character-story device whereby he is called a ‘chicken’ at the very end and this time refuses to rise to the bait, avoiding the car accident that would ruin his life.

I also like MJFox’s delivery of ‘nobaady, calls me chicken’, it’s a good catchphrase for Marty, who didn’t really have one before.