Marty McFly: A character analysis

I might make this a new series. I'm really into analyzing them rn (only because a youtube video said that Marty McFly is a flawless character, which I have. Objection against) (I watched this video just before writing this and now I'm committing myself to writing about the characters).

ANYWAY here we go

So. Marty, am I right?

The protagonist of the back to the future franchise. Which is funny, because I read that the movies aren't about Marty at all: The first film is about George, the second about Biff and the third about Doc. And that kinda makes sense. That's exactly what causes people to see Marty as just a flawless, "hero" type character, only there to solve problems with his confidence.

If people are saying that Marty is flawless, what is his role then? (Also, what confidence???)

Let's break Marty up into his good traits and his flaws for this.

Good traits:

I'd say that Marty's most important, good trait is his loyalty. Be it to Doc or his family, during the trilogy, we see him putting the people he cares about over himself - he goes to save Doc in Part III even though Doc told him not to come back, he burns the almanac even though he could have very well kept it for himself and made money off it but didn't want to risk it after what he's seen. He does solve the problems by looking at his loved ones and finding the determination to actually do it. Even though he could have died in the process, or become stuck, or whatever. We see himself willing to sacrifice the entire universe just so Doc survives the shooting at the mall. He stands up for his young mom in 1955 even though that could mean that he worsens the situation with the whole "lorraine has the hots for him" thing. If that isn't loyalty, I don't know what is. And it helps him get through all the insane shit that he experiences, and always pays off at the end. Except when Doc leaves him at the end of part III, but that's on Doc. Booo. Not nice.

Marty is also brave. You might think, "Ah, but Dary! He literally was too chicken to send his recording tapes in. This is not something that makes a character brave." Maybe. But in my opinion, him being brave is partly linked to his loyalty. Which may be me cheating a little, because I have the loyalty thing covered already and now I'm bringing it up again lmao. But hear me out. The situations that require him being brave are the ones he gets into because he's loyal. For example, the rooftop of Biff's casino in Part II. The only reason he's up there is because he needs to know more details about how Biff got the damn almanac just to set the timeline straight. Not for himself, no. For George. For Lorraine. For Doc. Because they met worse fates in that timeline than he did, and that's his priority. The first thing he does after burning the book is check the newspaper about his father. And Marty would jump off a building to make sure his dad's alive in the right timeline. Another, simpler example is him jumping in front of Sam's car in Part I. Why does he do it? To get George out of harm's way. And it was brave. I would have never done that. BUT (here it comes, the actual point of him being brave being a good trait for himself!) he also is brave outside of standing up for or protecting somebody. In the skateboard chase scene in part I, he's protecting himself from being crushed between a 46' Ford and a manure truck, so he performs the arguably coolest stunt in film history and walks over Biff's car. Just like that. He also does the whole hoverboard chase thing in Part II to protect himself from Griff, even through Griff crashing into the courthouse mall wasn't part of his plan at all. Marty is a brave boy and, despite his insecurities, proves that over and over again.

Being inventive and creative is also part of his personality. From the basics like playing his guitar with passion, being the one to jump in when Marvin was unavailable and playing a rendition of the "Greatest 80s Hits"-CD on the school dance stage from basically scratch to coming up with bizzare plans to achieve his goals. Making out with his own mom so George can play hero? Yes. Throwing a literal pie plate at an old west outlaw to save Doc's life? Also yes. Writing Doc a letter when the dude refuses to listen to Marty's warnings? Absolutely. Saving Doc and Clara with his hoverboard, stealing some kids' skateboards/hoverboards to help him out (which is. morally questionable but inventive and helpful for him), all of these things prove that he's capable of thinking on his feet and has the drive and creativity to get him out of every situation.

Alright, to counter that, let's have a look at his rather bad traits.

Flaws

Everyone who has seen the trilogy at least once is familiar with Marty's chicken complex. Strangely, that only appears from part II and onward, which is. Weird. But I can see where that came from - not wanting to stand in George's shadow, being able to prove that he isn't a chicken or a wimp now that his dad isn't. He wants to show everyone that he's not like the original George, not like the family line of his that "never amounted to anything in the history of Hill Valley". Not only is that a flaw in itself, it also gets him into dangerous and even potentially life-threatening situations (e.g. the duel with Buford). I don't know if there's a word for that, but this is his major problem in the sequels.

Connected to that and the root of the chicken thing is Marty's insecurity in himself. And that definitely starts out in Part I. He's scared of rejection, which is why he doesn't even consider sending the tape with his music the record company. This hasn't anything to do with being brave, this is about how Marty perceives himself. And as we see, he doesn't have very. High views. And here's the thing - he actually learns to be less insecure in himself in Part I, by teaching George to be more confident because his literal existence depends on it and he's basically forced to teach George the things he was never taught (well, unless maybe by Doc) and never believed in. After seeing that this has saved himself and his parents' romance, Marty sees that "hm, maybe I should try this for myself" and actually grabs the tape on his way to the dining room to eventually send it later. Then, we dive into Part II and someone - Griff - directly insults his newfound confidence. Boom, cue the chicken complex (which is, by the way, the reason for the entirety of BTTF III lmao).

Marty is also reckless as hell. Not saying that's it's a bad thing to want to keep your loved ones alive, but there is so much that could go wrong and Marty could potentially destroy the world. Well, now he knows how Doc must have felt since 1945 (Yes, this reference was necessary. Forshadowing for my Doc character analysis post <3). He also tends to get in danger because of unfortunate results of a spur-of-the-moment decision, again bringing up the skateboard chase here. He could have died in this and it's not talked about enough. Marty also offended Mad Dog which led to him almost being hanged. Same movie, Marty could have been shot in a duel. Buford could have gone for the head, you know? Marty didn't have a helmet. I wonder how Doc hasn't lost his mind with that boy yet. He's awfully calm throughout all of this. Maybe I should thank Clara for some of that.

Back to the question: What role does Marty play in BTTF?

Well, there's two things: He creates the problems but then also solves them for everyone around him. He learns things for himself. The first movie focuses on George's character arc, leaving Marty's seemingly nonexistent arc in the shadow. But he did get inspiration to get his tapes listened to. Part II, about Biff. Marty learns that being successful easily doesn't mean you've done things for yourself and your own growth, and that it can harm those around you if you're careless, all while the asshole Biff is in the forefront and we see how cruel he can be. Third movie, about Doc. Marty is the one seeing things through Doc's usual angle and he has to make sure Doc gets home (I'm still sad Doc didn't come back with Marty. Like what the fuck :( ) all while dealing with his own problems, and without Doc being here to get him out of that he finally realizes that dying because someone called you yellow isn't worth it. Marty is the protagonist in the "shadow", the hot dude that has the most screentime but is also important to the plot because of his imperfections - which allows us to explore other characters' arcs and personalities. Thanks, Marty.

Marty isn't a flawless character. His flaws are the reason for the damn threequel and 70% of Part II. He's your average, reckless teenage boy who values his friends and family and would do everything for them.

I love that guy.

PHEW. I truly hope all of this makes sense lol I'm writing this at 11:30 PM because, again, this one video pissed me off by saying that Marty is just a flawless, "perfect" hero character.

JOIN ME SOMETIME THIS OR NEXT WEEK FOR DOC HEHE

these are surprisingly fun to write