Doc Brown- Reading Between the Lines
One thing I really like about the BTTF trilogy is how it's possible to come up with your own interpretations based on ambiguous dialogue or actions. Let's discuss some of these and tell each other how we read into them. My observations mostly center on Doc Brown:
BTTF:
1. Doc's mansion was destroyed. How? I always figured it was an experiment gone haywire, but some people speculate it was intentional to collect insurance.
2. Mr. Strickland refers to Doc as "dangerous" and "a real nutcase." Even as a kid I immediately interpreted that line to imply that this was the general attitude of the town towards Doc. This is further supported by the fact that the only person who seems to hang around with Doc is Marty (and possibly Jennifer). This is further supported in Part II when Biff says that Doc is a "crazy, wild-eyed old man who claims to be a scientist" and when Doc is declared legally insane.
3. We never hear Marty's parents mention Doc. In fact, it seems that they don't know about Marty's friendship with him.
4. Doc says that he's had "enough practical jokes for one evening" because he thinks Marty's messing with him by saying he's from the future. Perhaps it also implies that Doc is used to teenagers playing tricks on him.
5. Doc tells Marty that he's "made a real difference" in his life. Perhaps, again, this could imply how lonely Doc is and that he's not used to having friends, or even used to people not thinking he's insane.
6. Marty hugs Doc. Doc looks freaked out. Okay, we know he looks freaked out because he's beginning to realize that what Marty has to tell him about the future is a life-or-death scenario. But perhaps he is he also freaked out because he's not used to someone caring that much about him. Maybe he generally doesn't like to be touched.
BTTF II:
1. Young Doc talks to older Doc. Once again, he seems a bit lonely and wants to connect with people.
BTTF III:
1. When Marty hugs Doc this time, Doc welcomes it. Maybe he's more open to affection now.
2. Doc is suddenly surrounded by friends. Is it because he's pretending to be something he's not in order to blend in? Or has he socially "matured" in some way?
3. Doc is a 65-year-old virgin. He finds the idea of falling in love unscientific, suggesting that he's never been in any kind of relationship. Until meeting Clara, he is mostly asexual.
4. Doc falls in love with Clara very quickly. Once again, this supports the suggestion that he might have had a mostly lonely life.
What does everybody think?
BTTF:
1. Doc's mansion was destroyed. How? I always figured it was an experiment gone haywire, but some people speculate it was intentional to collect insurance.
2. Mr. Strickland refers to Doc as "dangerous" and "a real nutcase." Even as a kid I immediately interpreted that line to imply that this was the general attitude of the town towards Doc. This is further supported by the fact that the only person who seems to hang around with Doc is Marty (and possibly Jennifer). This is further supported in Part II when Biff says that Doc is a "crazy, wild-eyed old man who claims to be a scientist" and when Doc is declared legally insane.
3. We never hear Marty's parents mention Doc. In fact, it seems that they don't know about Marty's friendship with him.
4. Doc says that he's had "enough practical jokes for one evening" because he thinks Marty's messing with him by saying he's from the future. Perhaps it also implies that Doc is used to teenagers playing tricks on him.
5. Doc tells Marty that he's "made a real difference" in his life. Perhaps, again, this could imply how lonely Doc is and that he's not used to having friends, or even used to people not thinking he's insane.
6. Marty hugs Doc. Doc looks freaked out. Okay, we know he looks freaked out because he's beginning to realize that what Marty has to tell him about the future is a life-or-death scenario. But perhaps he is he also freaked out because he's not used to someone caring that much about him. Maybe he generally doesn't like to be touched.
BTTF II:
1. Young Doc talks to older Doc. Once again, he seems a bit lonely and wants to connect with people.
BTTF III:
1. When Marty hugs Doc this time, Doc welcomes it. Maybe he's more open to affection now.
2. Doc is suddenly surrounded by friends. Is it because he's pretending to be something he's not in order to blend in? Or has he socially "matured" in some way?
3. Doc is a 65-year-old virgin. He finds the idea of falling in love unscientific, suggesting that he's never been in any kind of relationship. Until meeting Clara, he is mostly asexual.
4. Doc falls in love with Clara very quickly. Once again, this supports the suggestion that he might have had a mostly lonely life.
What does everybody think?
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Comments
When Edna shook young Docs hand when they first met, he looked freaked out and didn't know what to say.
Not a clue lol
Maybe they'll say something about it in the game?
According to the original scripts he was 65. They took artistic license in the game, making him a little older.
Nah, I think he was just horny right there.
And since Bob Gale okay'd it, then he's 71.
Bob Gale also said that only the movies are canon.
I'd still like to know why young Doc's hair is brown instead of light blond as in the movies. I wonder if it was just something the artists thought looked better from a design perspective. Can anybody from Telltale confirm or deny?
In that case, his age would be unknown. Screenplays don't count as the actual movie.
Game design wise, I dunno, but an explanation would be that his hair grew lighter with age, which is natural.
Is it? I've never heard of someone going from brown to blonde. The other way around maybe, as in my case.
Hair getting lighter with age? Yes. However, another thing to consider is all the chemicals and so forth that Doc works around. That stuff can affect hair color after a while.
As to the origin of the friendship between Marty and the Doc it could actually be a time paradox thing, where the Doc cultivated the relationship to make sure that the whole time machine thing happened... it could also be something a simple as the Doc requiring someone to help out with his experimentation and given that the first version of the McFly family looked to be fairly poor Marty would have jumped at the chance for some spending money.
see above