A Nuanced Take on the First Back to the Future Episode: Marty Saves George MacFly
In one of the earliest scenes of Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s 1985 sci-fi comedy trilogy, Back to the Future, Marty McFly interacts with his father, George McFly, in what seems like a straightforward meet-and-greet. Surprisingly, this encounter provides a clever subversion of the Grandfather Paradox, a classic time-travel problem.
The Paradox, explained by space.com, occurs when a time traveler kills their grandparent before they have them, preventing their own conception. In Back to the Future, Marty McFly arrives in 1955 and seeks out his parents’ younger versions. Faced with the prospect of altering the timeline, which would have led to Mary’s non-conception or, in this case, the Grandfather Paradox, Marty decides to avoid the paradox by saving George McFly from being run over by a car in 1955.
Unlike the Grandfather Paradox, where a time-traveler kills their great-grandparent, Marty creates a paradox by saving a person who is crucial in his own conception. Initially, this action seems likely to prevent Marty’s eventual birth. The film uses a clever plot device whereby a photo of Marty grows dim and eventually fades into non-existence whenever it seems that Marty’s interaction in the past has come close to preventing his concept. This device serves a constant reminder of the perilous nature of time- travel and the potential long-term consequences of altering significant events.
In the concluding scene of the film, it is clear that only after Marty saves George’s life does the timeline gradually adjust to allow for Martian’s conception. The image of Marty gradually re-appearance in the photo only emphasizes the impact of Doctor Brown’s DeLoren time machine on the couple’s future.