BACK TO THE FUTURE Writer Bob Gale Settles the Debate on Why Marty's Parents Don't Recognize Him as Calvin
A lot of elements from the classic film Back To The Future have been debated over the years, one that always seems to come up in conversations is what Marty’s parents don’t recognize their son Marty as Calvin.
Director James Gunn brought this up on Twitter saying, "a perfect film can be different from a favorite film, or a great film. A perfect film is something that sings from start to finish with no obvious mistakes, whether they be aesthetic or structural. There are no logical lapses."
He then used Back to the Future as an example writing, "Back to the Future SEEMINGLY could be imperfect (why don't Mom and Dad remember Marty?), but I would still argue it's a perfect film because there are reasons why this could conceivably be the case (time protects itself from unraveling, etc). Or maybe I'm in denial. Who knows."
At this point, Chris Pratt chimed in, offering his thoughts on this saying, "Maybe they do remember him tho, not as Marty, as Calvin. When Marty returns to present-day 1985, it could have been years since his parents would have perhaps originally noted the uncanny resemblance between their son and that kid from high school 20 years previous."
The film’s screenwriter, Bob Gale, has now finally settled the debate. He recently explained to THR:
"Bear in mind that George and Lorraine only knew Marty/Calvin for eight days when they were 17, and they did not even see him every one of those eight days. So, many years later, they still might remember that interesting kid who got them together on their first date."
“But I would ask anyone to think back on their own high school days and ask themselves how well they remember a kid who might have been at their school for even a semester. Or someone you went out with just one time. If you had no photo reference, after 25 years, you'd probably have just a hazy recollection.
“So Lorraine and George might think it funny that they once actually met someone named Calvin Klein, and even if they thought their son at age 16 or 17 had some resemblance to him, it wouldn't be a big deal. I'd bet most of us could look thru our high school yearbooks and find photos of our teen-aged classmates that bear some resemblance to our children.”
I’ll buy that! He makes a great point here. However, I would argue that Biff would remember what he looked like because Marty made his life a living hell! You tend to remember those you despised from back in the day. What do you think about Gale’s explanation for why Marty’s parents don’t recognize him as Calvin?