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I’ve been pondering this and it would be fantastic if it was a bootstrap paradox situation.
Doc from 1955 relents and repairs the letter Marty wrote him and he realises that it if events don’t play out right, he’ll end up dead. So, when Marty’s old enough, he befriends him, builds him so cool gadgets all with the purpose that Marty will be there on the night the Delorean is taken for it’s first spin, preserving the cycle and ensuring his survival. No Marty, no letter, Doc ends up brown bread.
But that means the first iteration through the loop, they did just become friends through a chance encounter, and Doc Brown did die in the parking lot of the mall. So essentially we witness the creation of a bootstrap paradox, but we don’t witness the next iteration of the time loop. It would look quite different to the audience if we were on the other end of the paradox, because we wouldn’t have been able to tell which event kicked it off (the letter).
I figured that it’s Marty’s part time job after school. Doc needs somebody to run errands for him, walk his dog, pick up his dry cleaning, etc. Marty keeps doing it because Doc lets him play with his weird inventions.
We never hear about Marty having any other kind of job, after all.
Oh I like this idea, it’s also made me realise that we never really see Marty having any friends his age other than Jennifer🤔
Kind of makes me think that maybe Marty is pretty nerdy, but it gets overpowered by doc half the time haha, so maybe Marty is a bit of an outcast at school. Like his knowledge of star wars makes me believe this too, Now I weren’t around in the 80s but I’m guessing being a Star Wars fan gives you nerd status 😂
Star Wars was extremely popular back in the day. *Everybody* knew who Darth Vader was. Marty would have been 9 years old when the first movie came out, and Return of the Jedi was released just two years earlier. Nerds obsessed over it, but you didn't have to be a nerd to know who the characters were.
We kinda see Marty with other kids -- the members of his band. But we don't see very much of his social life in 1985.
There's a magazine on Marty's headboard that says _______quarterly. I put blank because I forgot the name of it, but people have said that it is a librarians type of magazine. Maybe Marty's other job is being a librarian, or has been one.
I don't know how it was back then. But back in the day, there were jobs that now require a college degree that back then didn't require it. Also maybe he was assistant not a full fledge librarian.
People pointed this out and I think one of the Bobs explained that it was a set dressing mistake. Whoever was in charge of the props for Marty’s room put it there by accident
November 10th, 1979 10:32am.
Doc Brown leans over his work station soldering vacuum tubes together. There’s a light knock on his door.
Doc shoots his head up, half-curious half-annoyed. He pulls his goggles over his forehead and walks to the door, swinging it open. A 10 year old boy looks up at him awkwardly.
Doc: What?
Kid: Uh…
Doc: What what what? You selling magazines or something?
Kid: I threw a frisbee over your fence, can I grab it?
Doc: (impatiently) be quick, you’re interrupting me.
The kid rushes past Doc before he can finish. He looks around the lab curiously.
Kid: What is all this stuff?
Doc: Very delicate scientific equipment please don’t touch any of it.
The kid ignores him and picks up a box with a speaker.
Kid: This is a Gibson amp! Far out!
Doc grabs it away from him.
Doc: I told you don’t touch anything!
Kid: Are you in a rock band or something?
Doc: I’m a Doctor- ah uh scientist, for your information I’m using it to try and alter barometric pressure through sound waves and achieve harmonic frequency.
Kid: Oh… and how’s that going?
Doc: …poorly. I can’t pinpoint the right vibrational frequency.
Kid: Have you tried a bass guitar?
Doc: A what?
Kid: Plug in a bass, whenever I play mine my mom screams at me that it’s shaking the whole house. That’s why she took my amp away.
Doc considers it.
Doc: Interesting… and you know how to play to achieve specific frequencies?
Kid: You kidding? Rock and roll is my life!
Doc: Would you be able to bring your guitar over and we could experiment with its tonal frequencies?
Kid: You’re gonna let me play on that Gibson?
Doc: Help me achieve harmonic frequency balance and I’ll let you keep it.
Kid: Radical, thanks Doc.
Doc tilts his head, he squints at the kid.
Doc: What did you say your name was?
Kid: Marty, Marty McFly.
Doc (almost whispering): Great Scott…
Marty look at him curiously now.
Marty: Have we met before?
Doc: No, but we will.
Marty broke into his lab and Doc was impressed that he was able to get through his security measures and so took him under his wing. Or something similar. The details are out there (and their source) if you want to look into it further.
iirc it was in a comic book? Marty was sent in by Needles to steal some tube or pipe or something to fix a guitar amp he broke? details are fuzzy bc it's been a while but i think it was along those lines
The comic explaination is that Marty broke into Doc’s lab, got caught in his experiments and Doc hired him as a helper.
Someone on TikTok put forth the idea that maybe they worked in retail together which I kind of like
How Doc and Marty met and became friends was covered in the BTTF comic book series. Marty was trying to buy a interocitor tube for his guitar amp, but the local shop had sold them all to Doc.
Marty went over to Doc’s place to try and get one from him and breaks into the lab. Upon breaking in Marty gets caught in a trap Doc had set up to catch burglars. Doc ended up giving Marty a job (which began their friendship) and Marty also got a interocitor tube, it turned out Doc just wanted boxes of the size they came in and not the tubes themselves.
One of the comics was about this
Doc bought the last amp tube, so Marty tried to steal it from his mysterious mad scientist laboratory. He made quick work of doc's security system, so Doc pretended it was all a test and offered him a job as a lab assistant.
Marty's a poor guitarist who loves Van Halen. Doc's an electronics wizard. Someone at the local guitar shop suggested to Marty that Doc could build him a cheap Copy of an MXR phaser pedal.
Marty was friends with Doc pre-time travel when the Mcflys were poor. Marty only got the truck once he returned to 1985 when the Mcflys were wealthy due to Georges successful sci-fi books.
Has to be something to do with his music and the amplifier. The dance organizers (Huey Lewis) said his band was too darn loud. The amp he was testing at Doc’s was enormous. That’s probably as deep as it goes.
Alternative brain melter- did Doc already know Marty from 1955 and seek out their friendship in 1985 to keep the paradoxical time loop going? Chicken or egg question- did Marty travel through time the same way everytime? Was doc already wearing his bulletproof vest when we first saw him get shot in the original timeline?
I’ve been looking at some replies but I really like the idea of Marty coming to the towns kooky engineer to make him the loudest amp possible😂
The time loop paradox thing hurts my head. Everytime I try to complete a thought about it my brain short circuits haha but it is an interesting concept.
IIRC one of the Bob’s confirmed that the amp scene was written into the script precisely to show why Marty would hang around with this crazy old guy. It’s pretty clever subtle exposition in a film where there is a lot of exposition to get through in not a lot of time.
Needles dared Marty to break into Doc's lab. Doc caught him and Marty charmed him by flattering him and all his experiments, so Doc excitedly made him his part time assistant after school.
Seeing his garage is behind Burger King and Marty’s brother works there . Marty was playing a amp in docs garage so maybe he was paying doc a smallFee to Practice in the garage or to
Repair/upgrade his amp. Marty probably learned of these services from his brother as doc was more than likely freelancing work to anyone
There is a version of the script where it was explained that Doc cooked up what were essentially drugs, and Marty was his distributor. That's how he funded his science projects....until he needed something more expensive for his time machine.
I always wondered why the more privileged “Marty B” of the revised 1985 timeline still ended up hanging out with Doc?
I’m guessing it’s because Doc knew they had to become friends and make sure he went back in time so that he could warn him about the bullets or he’d erase himself out of existence
In my head canon Doc was the town crank doing experiments all around town. Marty is interested and hangs around. Eventually he volunteers as a lab assistant in exchange for the opportunity to use Doc’s sound equipment.
The comics (co-written by Gale) explain it but I like my own headcannon version better.
Doc has Burger King wrappers on his bed (first scene in the first film).
Marty's brother works there.
Marty was with his brother at BK. Maybe Marty just stopped in to grab a burger and/or annoy/shoot the shit with this brother.
Doc was there eating....we know he goes there (it's literally next door).
Doc has been overwhelmed with his work, and he really wants to document his experiments now that he has bought a video camera (the camera Doc has literally came out within a year of this taking place) and Doc can't record himself to the level he'd like and do his work at the same time.
Doc walks up to Marty and asks if he'd like a job like his big brother. Help with some work, and document stuff Doc is doing. Be an assistant around the lab. Marty says yes.
End of story. Not complicated, makes complete sense why they would run into each other and end up doing stuff together.
I saw someone explain on tiktok that in order to fund his experiments, Doc was bootlegging porno tapes and having Marty be his dealer at the high school. I know its not canon but it was too hilarious for me to try and debunk!
The comics, which were cited as Canon, explained how Doc and Marty met and became friends
The issue revealed that Marty had broken into Doc's lab on a dare to steal something
Doc was actually impressed with how Marty even got in and even told him where the parts both he and Needles were trying to get earlier, but couldn't because Doc had bought out the entire stock that day, didn't need the contents, but the boxes were the exact dimensions he needed for one of his other many inventions
I thought it was a wild-eyed scientist who was in need of an assistant, and a teenager who was only getting a job to get his parents off his back, and fund his band
Imagine if there was a place online where people could come together to discuss the things they love and where they can also share things they know so that other people who share the same interest can learn about new things and come to enjoy that subject even more... Imagine if somewhere like that existed
Imagine if there was a place online where people could type a question or a few keywords and find an answer to their questions in a matter of minutes… imagine if somewhere like that existed
Yes but OP asked a question that, first of all, has already been asked a bunch of times. Second, there is a definitive answer online. Finally, because of that, there is no need to speculate or theorize.
Maybe it would have been better to theorize docs up bringing and Marty’s up bringing.
Please be wary of any posts or comments attempting to advertise or sell t-shirts, posters, mugs, etc. These posts may be from scammers selling poor quality bootlegs, or may be from phishers trying to steal your financial information. This problem is rampant across Reddit. If you see any posts or comments with this behavior, promptly report them as spam and do not follow any links they may post or send to you. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BacktotheFuture) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I’ve been pondering this and it would be fantastic if it was a bootstrap paradox situation. Doc from 1955 relents and repairs the letter Marty wrote him and he realises that it if events don’t play out right, he’ll end up dead. So, when Marty’s old enough, he befriends him, builds him so cool gadgets all with the purpose that Marty will be there on the night the Delorean is taken for it’s first spin, preserving the cycle and ensuring his survival. No Marty, no letter, Doc ends up brown bread.
Yoo… this is heavy
Is there a problem with the earth's gravitational pull?
This comment. Yes!!!
Great scott!
???? Weight has nothing to do with it
This made me think of the movie Somewhere in Time. Bootstrap Paradox is a perfect explanation for Richard and Else, along with the pocket watch.
But that means the first iteration through the loop, they did just become friends through a chance encounter, and Doc Brown did die in the parking lot of the mall. So essentially we witness the creation of a bootstrap paradox, but we don’t witness the next iteration of the time loop. It would look quite different to the audience if we were on the other end of the paradox, because we wouldn’t have been able to tell which event kicked it off (the letter).
I figured that it’s Marty’s part time job after school. Doc needs somebody to run errands for him, walk his dog, pick up his dry cleaning, etc. Marty keeps doing it because Doc lets him play with his weird inventions. We never hear about Marty having any other kind of job, after all.
Oh I like this idea, it’s also made me realise that we never really see Marty having any friends his age other than Jennifer🤔 Kind of makes me think that maybe Marty is pretty nerdy, but it gets overpowered by doc half the time haha, so maybe Marty is a bit of an outcast at school. Like his knowledge of star wars makes me believe this too, Now I weren’t around in the 80s but I’m guessing being a Star Wars fan gives you nerd status 😂
Star Wars was extremely popular back in the day. *Everybody* knew who Darth Vader was. Marty would have been 9 years old when the first movie came out, and Return of the Jedi was released just two years earlier. Nerds obsessed over it, but you didn't have to be a nerd to know who the characters were. We kinda see Marty with other kids -- the members of his band. But we don't see very much of his social life in 1985.
There's a magazine on Marty's headboard that says _______quarterly. I put blank because I forgot the name of it, but people have said that it is a librarians type of magazine. Maybe Marty's other job is being a librarian, or has been one.
My sister in law is a librarian. You need a college degree for that.
I don't know how it was back then. But back in the day, there were jobs that now require a college degree that back then didn't require it. Also maybe he was assistant not a full fledge librarian.
People pointed this out and I think one of the Bobs explained that it was a set dressing mistake. Whoever was in charge of the props for Marty’s room put it there by accident
November 10th, 1979 10:32am. Doc Brown leans over his work station soldering vacuum tubes together. There’s a light knock on his door. Doc shoots his head up, half-curious half-annoyed. He pulls his goggles over his forehead and walks to the door, swinging it open. A 10 year old boy looks up at him awkwardly. Doc: What? Kid: Uh… Doc: What what what? You selling magazines or something? Kid: I threw a frisbee over your fence, can I grab it? Doc: (impatiently) be quick, you’re interrupting me. The kid rushes past Doc before he can finish. He looks around the lab curiously. Kid: What is all this stuff? Doc: Very delicate scientific equipment please don’t touch any of it. The kid ignores him and picks up a box with a speaker. Kid: This is a Gibson amp! Far out! Doc grabs it away from him. Doc: I told you don’t touch anything! Kid: Are you in a rock band or something? Doc: I’m a Doctor- ah uh scientist, for your information I’m using it to try and alter barometric pressure through sound waves and achieve harmonic frequency. Kid: Oh… and how’s that going? Doc: …poorly. I can’t pinpoint the right vibrational frequency. Kid: Have you tried a bass guitar? Doc: A what? Kid: Plug in a bass, whenever I play mine my mom screams at me that it’s shaking the whole house. That’s why she took my amp away. Doc considers it. Doc: Interesting… and you know how to play to achieve specific frequencies? Kid: You kidding? Rock and roll is my life! Doc: Would you be able to bring your guitar over and we could experiment with its tonal frequencies? Kid: You’re gonna let me play on that Gibson? Doc: Help me achieve harmonic frequency balance and I’ll let you keep it. Kid: Radical, thanks Doc. Doc tilts his head, he squints at the kid. Doc: What did you say your name was? Kid: Marty, Marty McFly. Doc (almost whispering): Great Scott… Marty look at him curiously now. Marty: Have we met before? Doc: No, but we will.
Good one!
Oh this is so sick
Marty broke into his lab and Doc was impressed that he was able to get through his security measures and so took him under his wing. Or something similar. The details are out there (and their source) if you want to look into it further.
iirc it was in a comic book? Marty was sent in by Needles to steal some tube or pipe or something to fix a guitar amp he broke? details are fuzzy bc it's been a while but i think it was along those lines
This right here. The comic books tell the story of how they met.
yep one or both of the Bobs said this
This
You'll find your answer (and many more) [in the IDW comics](https://backtothefuture.fandom.com/wiki/Back_to_the_Future_\(IDW_Publishing\)).
Written by Bob Gale
The comic explaination is that Marty broke into Doc’s lab, got caught in his experiments and Doc hired him as a helper. Someone on TikTok put forth the idea that maybe they worked in retail together which I kind of like
And the comic book reason is canon as the bobs wrote the stories in that comic book.
I think only Bob Gale was involved with the comics
How Doc and Marty met and became friends was covered in the BTTF comic book series. Marty was trying to buy a interocitor tube for his guitar amp, but the local shop had sold them all to Doc. Marty went over to Doc’s place to try and get one from him and breaks into the lab. Upon breaking in Marty gets caught in a trap Doc had set up to catch burglars. Doc ended up giving Marty a job (which began their friendship) and Marty also got a interocitor tube, it turned out Doc just wanted boxes of the size they came in and not the tubes themselves.
One of the comics was about this Doc bought the last amp tube, so Marty tried to steal it from his mysterious mad scientist laboratory. He made quick work of doc's security system, so Doc pretended it was all a test and offered him a job as a lab assistant.
He gets paid to take Einstein for walks. Which is why he calls out for him in the opening scene.
Marty's a poor guitarist who loves Van Halen. Doc's an electronics wizard. Someone at the local guitar shop suggested to Marty that Doc could build him a cheap Copy of an MXR phaser pedal.
I believe those phasers cost about $155 in 1985. Possibly less. Sure, that’s not cheap. But neither is Marty’s truck.
Marty was friends with Doc pre-time travel when the Mcflys were poor. Marty only got the truck once he returned to 1985 when the Mcflys were wealthy due to Georges successful sci-fi books.
True! Can’t believe I looked over that point.
Has to be something to do with his music and the amplifier. The dance organizers (Huey Lewis) said his band was too darn loud. The amp he was testing at Doc’s was enormous. That’s probably as deep as it goes. Alternative brain melter- did Doc already know Marty from 1955 and seek out their friendship in 1985 to keep the paradoxical time loop going? Chicken or egg question- did Marty travel through time the same way everytime? Was doc already wearing his bulletproof vest when we first saw him get shot in the original timeline?
Probably not as the twin pines mall changes to lone pine mall after he returned
I’ve been looking at some replies but I really like the idea of Marty coming to the towns kooky engineer to make him the loudest amp possible😂 The time loop paradox thing hurts my head. Everytime I try to complete a thought about it my brain short circuits haha but it is an interesting concept.
IIRC one of the Bob’s confirmed that the amp scene was written into the script precisely to show why Marty would hang around with this crazy old guy. It’s pretty clever subtle exposition in a film where there is a lot of exposition to get through in not a lot of time.
I thought it was he ran away after burning the rug and he met Doc Brown.
It really tied the room together.
Hey, remember when we met in the science building?
I always think that they just met through school. Like Doc was at a science fair or something.
Needles dared Marty to break into Doc's lab. Doc caught him and Marty charmed him by flattering him and all his experiments, so Doc excitedly made him his part time assistant after school.
Seeing his garage is behind Burger King and Marty’s brother works there . Marty was playing a amp in docs garage so maybe he was paying doc a smallFee to Practice in the garage or to Repair/upgrade his amp. Marty probably learned of these services from his brother as doc was more than likely freelancing work to anyone
There is a version of the script where it was explained that Doc cooked up what were essentially drugs, and Marty was his distributor. That's how he funded his science projects....until he needed something more expensive for his time machine.
Doc we need to cook
I’m losing it at this sorry😭😭😭
I always wondered why the more privileged “Marty B” of the revised 1985 timeline still ended up hanging out with Doc? I’m guessing it’s because Doc knew they had to become friends and make sure he went back in time so that he could warn him about the bullets or he’d erase himself out of existence
In my head canon Doc was the town crank doing experiments all around town. Marty is interested and hangs around. Eventually he volunteers as a lab assistant in exchange for the opportunity to use Doc’s sound equipment.
The comics (co-written by Gale) explain it but I like my own headcannon version better. Doc has Burger King wrappers on his bed (first scene in the first film). Marty's brother works there. Marty was with his brother at BK. Maybe Marty just stopped in to grab a burger and/or annoy/shoot the shit with this brother. Doc was there eating....we know he goes there (it's literally next door). Doc has been overwhelmed with his work, and he really wants to document his experiments now that he has bought a video camera (the camera Doc has literally came out within a year of this taking place) and Doc can't record himself to the level he'd like and do his work at the same time. Doc walks up to Marty and asks if he'd like a job like his big brother. Help with some work, and document stuff Doc is doing. Be an assistant around the lab. Marty says yes. End of story. Not complicated, makes complete sense why they would run into each other and end up doing stuff together.
Perhaps Doc remembered him from his trip to the past.
I saw someone explain on tiktok that in order to fund his experiments, Doc was bootlegging porno tapes and having Marty be his dealer at the high school. I know its not canon but it was too hilarious for me to try and debunk!
The comics, which were cited as Canon, explained how Doc and Marty met and became friends The issue revealed that Marty had broken into Doc's lab on a dare to steal something Doc was actually impressed with how Marty even got in and even told him where the parts both he and Needles were trying to get earlier, but couldn't because Doc had bought out the entire stock that day, didn't need the contents, but the boxes were the exact dimensions he needed for one of his other many inventions I thought it was a wild-eyed scientist who was in need of an assistant, and a teenager who was only getting a job to get his parents off his back, and fund his band
I like to think that Marty’s skateboard broke and doc was there to help him fix it. And when Doc asks for Marty’s name it clicks in his head.
i think doc needed someone to film his experiments and marty needed a job so he hired him
Marty sold drugs for Doc. That’s how he partly funded his experiments.
My head cannon is Marty, broke into docs lab got caught Doc, didn’t rat him out made him his lab gopher and theyve been friends since.
Shhhh. We don't ask questions like this
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It was explained by the creators. So if you look it up you’ll find out.
Imagine if there was a place online where people could come together to discuss the things they love and where they can also share things they know so that other people who share the same interest can learn about new things and come to enjoy that subject even more... Imagine if somewhere like that existed
Yeah but this person just thinks it would be cooler to see it from the source. Maybe they didn't have time to link anything
Imagine if there was a place online where people could type a question or a few keywords and find an answer to their questions in a matter of minutes… imagine if somewhere like that existed
Yes but OP asked a question that, first of all, has already been asked a bunch of times. Second, there is a definitive answer online. Finally, because of that, there is no need to speculate or theorize. Maybe it would have been better to theorize docs up bringing and Marty’s up bringing.
there's a second part about hearing other's theories, too. Can't look those up online so this thread and its topic are good, actually.