Crispin Glover thought ‘Back to the Future’ carried a “bad message”
For those who grew up watching Back to the Future, the DeLorean will always be a powerful symbol of hope. Regarded as one of the most beloved sci-fi franchises of the 20th century, it starred Michael J. Fox in the most iconic role of his career as Marty McFly. While time travel narratives are often criticised by fans of the genre for their scientific inconsistencies, Back to the Future managed to transcend such complaints by becoming an integral part of popular culture.
Robert Zemeckis’ film revolved around Marty’s journey back into the past, facilitated by the wild experiments of his friend ‘Doc’ Brown. After ending up in the past, Marty finds himself confronted by an existential threat as he disrupts his future parents from getting together. In order to save his own life, Fox’s character transforms the world around him while also changing the lives of the people he meets along the way.
In the film, Crispin Glover plays the role of George McFly, Marty’s meek father who doesn’t have what it takes to stand up to authority and make something of himself. However, after Marty’s intervention in the alternative timeline, his entire family becomes a prosperous and successful unit. Although it’s considered a quintessential Hollywood happy ending, Glover found the film’s messaging about happiness and economic success problematic.
During an interview with AV Club, Glover said: “I had a conversation with Robert Zemeckis about it, and I said, ‘I think if the characters have money [in the updated timeline at the end of the film] if our characters are rich, it’s a bad message. That reward should not be in there.’ People love the movie, and of course, who am I to say — I was 20 years old, though. And again, I was stepping into it from a time period of questioning. But Robert Zemeckis got really angry. Essentially, he did not like that idea. He was pissed.”
The actor added: “I still would argue all the things that people love about the film would still be there, and I think there would be a better message if, instead of the son character pumping his fist in the air or whatever, jumping up in the air because he has a new truck [in the new timeline], if instead, the reward was that the mother and father characters are in love with each other. And that there’s the potential that money comes in. I think [equating their new riches with moral success] is a bad message. And this is aligned to those things in film that I’m saying serve the interests of a corporate element.”
