ship_manifesto

Title: Love Through All Time (A Marty McFly/Doc Brown Manifesto)
Author: usedusernames
Fandom: Back to the Future
Word Count: Around 4,300
Pairing: Marty McFly/Doc Brown
Spoilers: For all three movies. Also makes reference to early drafts of the script and the 1991 animated series.
Disclaimer: I do not own either the Back To the Future trilogy or its characters.
Notes: Apologies for being so late.

Why I like this Couple

I’m not a ‘sci-fi’ person. ‘Back to the Future’ is as close as it gets, and I‘m fairly inclined to say that my joy for the trilogy will fade over time; it has reached its peak due to my nearing Marty‘s age and having similar disposition to him; soon I probably won‘t connect to the protagonist as I do now. In any case, one of the qualities I most enjoy of the movies is the relationship between Doc and Marty.

To be honest, I bumbled my way about the fandom side of Back to the Future for years. I first joined www.bttf.com, a fantastic site, for the record, and promptly got kicked out of it for making slash-oriented comments. Strangely enough, I didn’t even particularly ship anything at that time. I mostly saw Doc Brown as an asexual character with Marty as his young, perfectly heterosexual, companion who catalogued all his escapades. I suppose my support of them as a couple therefore formed in a similar vein as my support for a romantic relationship between Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson. Of course, in canon, we see they have separate lives and certainly can function without one another. But then we see that even when ‘separate‘ their lives are entangled. And there’s something sweet and spectacular in being caught up in somebody no matter how far (or how long) you’re apart.

Common Reasons why not to Ship the Pairing

1. The Age Difference
I think this reason deserves to be number one, as it’s probably the most prominent in the ‘ick’ category. And if you care to have Marty and Doc have any romantic inclinations toward each other before Marty travels through time for the first time, the age difference is definitely intimidating. Marty isn’t even legal yet and Doc is nearing 70, after all. However, if you use any sort of timeline in the second or third movie, Doc has added 30 or 40 years to his life, via rejuvenation. Given the implication that it made him actually, physically younger, he would be 35 or even 25 in the majority of both movies. If it’s the mentality and not the physicality of a 65 year old with a 17 year old, however, there’s no real solution excluding the period of the movie where Marty is in 1955 and hangs out with the actually 35 year old Doc.
2. Doc is a father figure to Marty.
I’m inclined to agree with this. Doc is a lot of things, relationship-wise, to Marty; father, mentor, friend, coworker. It could be argued that the pseudo incest really makes this a pairing worth avoiding. But these movies are so full of pseudo-incest that it, to me, nullifies it entirely. It is heavily implicated throughout the films that Marty is actually supposed to be attracted to a woman (Jennifer) who looks similar to and acts like his mother. This is shown overtly through the pairing of Seamus and Maggie. Marty also makes the comment of how he’s acting like George. He also does seem at least mildly attracted to Lorraine when meeting her for the first time, but is suitably freaked out by it. While there are drastic differences, such as those I listed under the ‘Jennifer’ category, it is to me implied that Marty and Jennifer are supposed to be similar to George and Lorraine. So the mock-incest of Marty/Doc, which is more disassociated by Doc acting and looking nothing like either George or Lorraine, is fairly tame in comparison.
3. There are well-established pairings involving both the characters.
I agree with this wholeheartedly. Particularly post-trilogy. However, during the first movie (and the second, for that matter), Doc has no one in his life but Marty and Marty has only a high school girlfriend. Jennifer is only obviously who Marty is going to spend his life with in the second movie, and then they have a fairly depressing relationship. High school romances don’t last often, and she’s virtually nonexistent (and literally nonexistent for a good part of the first movie) for quite a while. The pairings don’t become well-established until the very end of the third movie. Given that the content’s time travel, this gives almost an indefinite time period for whatever pairing you so choose to win out over the canonical ones.

MARTY MCFLY

An average teenage boy with terrific hair. In the original timeline, he comes from a dysfunctional home with a drunk mother and weak father. Marty, himself, fits in well with this family, his major dysfunction mirroring his father’s; he has no confidence in himself. He slacks when it comes to school, is easily defeated when his music is put down, and gets into fights whenever someone insults him. Though a good kid, he has some serious problems that he can’t address on his own.

EMMETT ‘DOC’ BROWN

The freak of Hill Valley, Doc sticks out like a sore thumb. He is excitable, eccentric, and just a little bit crazy. An inventor, though he has few inventions that work, Doc is the typical scientist despite being atypical in every other way. Doc is a great reader, particularly of Jules Verne, and has a fantastic affinity for time.

Summation of Their Relationship

One of the most pointedly odd things about Marty is that he has a pretty girlfriend, makes reference to other friends, has a band, and seems overall pretty well-adjusted socially even though he has many problems within his family. In other words, he isn’t a social outcast who is destined to hang out with the town nutcase. He just chooses to hang out with the town nutcase. The ’how’ and ’why’ of his relationship with Doc is an object of curiosity that even Marty’s principal, Mr. Strickland, takes notice of and criticizes. Through this one encounter, we learn just how stigmatic Marty’s attachment to Doc is; more importantly than that, we learn how little Marty cares that it is.

Canon Romantic Interests

Since I’m making reference to the entirety of Back to the Future, I can’t well ignore what doesn’t suit my pairing. So I’m going to briefly mention the romances of Marty and Doc.

Clara Clayton

Doc Brown’s girlfriend (and wife) of the third and final movie, with whom he has two children, Jules and Verne. Post-trilogy I wholeheartedly believe in this pairing. Though I think Clara was too flat a character, and what was deep and explored of her was pretty annoying, she and Doc can, perceivably, work together. They have established shared interests, are both intelligent, and while it’s a little bothersome how they get together, I don’t think there’s any reason why they shouldn’t be together. Just the same, she is literally non-existent in Back to the Future I and II, and so isn’t applicable there.

Jennifer Parker

Marty’s girlfriend (and wife of 2015 A). I actually take greater issue with Jennifer being a love interest than Clara. This time it has nothing to do with her lack of character growth (though that’s a problem, too). Instead, it has to do with their relationship on a whole. More specifically, their marriage: it’s implied that she married Marty only because she pitied him. Not because she loved him in spite of his failures, but because he broke his hand and was pretty darn down on his luck and she couldn‘t bare to hurt him further. This, seemingly, is supposed to be a reflection of George and Lorraine’s initial relationship, but to me it seems that Lorraine was love struck for a while and only came to pity George after marrying him. Besides which, George was never anyone but who he is. For Lorraine to fall out of love with someone who was and always will be a dorky loser after marrying him is different, to me, than Jennifer falling out of love with someone because he fell on very hard times and still marrying him because he’s had such a bad time of it all. To me, Lorraine’s love, while naïve and pretty baseless, is sincere. Jennifer’s ‘love’ seems more of a crush at best, an infatuation with Marty’s ability to play music (despite his lack of ability to go anywhere with it) at worst. She’s young, and it’s not as though it’s inexcusable, but I see Marty and Jennifer’s high school romance as just that.

Beginnings

Strickland: The Doc? Am I to understand you're still hanging around with Dr. Emmett Brown, McFly? (he ‘tsk-tsks’. Looks to Jennifer) Tardy slip for you, Miss Parker. And one for you, McFly, I believe that makes four in a row. Now, let me give you a nickel's worth of free advice, young man. This so-called Dr. Brown is dangerous. He's a real nutcase. You hang around with him, you're going to end up in big trouble.

Marty: (sarcastically) Oh, yes, Sir.

In the start of the first movie, we don’t know how or when Doc and Marty started being friends*. As the movie opens, Doc is absent and Marty is popping into Doc’s home, presumably to do two things: talk to The Doc and try out an amplifying system that Doc made for him. After nearly blowing himself up, the phone rings and Marty answers it:

Marty: Yo. Hey.
Doc: Marty, is that you?
Marty: Hey! Hey, Doc. Where are you?
Doc: Thank God, I've found you. Can you meet me at Twin Pines Mall tonight at 1:15? I've made a major breakthrough and I'll need your assistance.
Marty: Wait-wait a minute. 1:15 in the morning?
Doc: Yeah.
Marty: Doc, what's goin' on? Where ya been all week?
Doc: Workin'
Marty: Where's Einstein? Is he with you?
Doc: Yeah, he's right here.
Marty: You know, Doc, you left your equipment on all week.
Doc: My equipment? That reminds me, Marty. You better not hook up to the amplifier. There's a slight possibility of overload.
Marty: Yeah, I'll keep that in mind.
Doc: Good. I'll see you tonight. Don't forget now, 1:15 A.M., Twin Pines Mall.
Marty: Right.

This conversation and the actions preceding it reveal the closeness of Doc and Marty almost instantaneously by being composed of several intimate details: Marty knows where Doc’s key is and doesn’t knock before going into the house. He is at home enough that he has no problem using the amplifier and doesn’t think he’s going to be in a lot of trouble when he winds up destroying it. Moreover, Doc actively looks for Marty by calling his own home, his only intention getting Marty to meet him at a pretty darn unreasonable time. Marty is unbothered by any of it. While Doc’s line ‘I’ll need your assistance’ implies a professional familiarity between the two characters, their actions are indicative of a more intimate, friendly familiarity wherein Marty is free to use the Doc‘s home as his own, he goes there seemingly almost daily, a gift made solely for him that supports his dream is there (and due to it‘s large size probably wouldn‘t have been moved even if it worked), and even Doc thinks it‘s reasonable to find him there.

In any case, Marty goes to school, winds up late, and runs into his principal. They have the conversation at the top of this section.

Marty McFly then goes to audition for a school dance, but his band is dismissed by Huey Lewis. Another cut and he’s walking home with Jennifer, depressed and ready to give up his dream. Here, Jennifer speaks an important line, showing that she, too, knows the significance of The Doc in Marty’s life, and relays Doc’s advice to cheer Marty up after her own support doesn‘t work:

Jennifer: It's like Doc's always saying--
Marty: Yeah, I know, I know. If you put your mind to it your can accomplish anything.
Jennifer: That's good advice Marty.

This has apparently worked before, and almost works here; Marty goes from rejecting his own music to ‘What if they reject me?’, opting for a little less drama but still not over his band not being chosen.

Marty returns home to find the car, which he was going to use to park with Jennifer, is totaled. Later at dinner, he is told this:
Linda: Hey Marty, I'm not your answering service, but you're outside pouting about the car, Jennifer Parker called you twice.
Lorraine: I don't like her, Marty. Any girl who calls a boy is just asking for trouble.

This is noteworthy for a few reasons: Firstly, Marty wasn't thrilled with the car to begin with, given the way he was drooling over the Toyota. It was a family car and he had to use it, so it stands to reason that he probably saw it as more than a little dorky. In the very least, he had no real attachment to it other than that it was going to be a tool used to make out with Jennifer. That he is so caught up in the fact that he can't make out with her that he forgets to call her is fairly indicative that the relationship really isn't 'serious'**. Linda's formal use of Jennifer's last name and Lorraine's indignant reaction to Jennifer calling also supports that it's not the most serious relationship. The only one who may think there's possibility of their future together is Jennifer. It never is clarified whether or not he called Jennifer, as the next time we see him he's asleep on his bed.

He is then awoken by Doc. Doc says, “I forgot my video camera, could you stop by my place and pick it up on your way to the mall?” which drives home Marty’s familiarity with Doc’s house, as Doc doesn’t tell him where the camera is but expects Marty to be able to find it quickly nonetheless.

Once at Twin Pines Mall, their greeting is unusual and important. They have apparently only not seen each other for a week-- or slightly less, given Marty could have been operating on a 'school week' train of thought-- a fairly short time in any case, and they have talked on the phone twice besides. But they still stand momentarily just staring at each other with the pent up adoration and excitement of seeing a loved one get off a plane after being gone for too long, no matter how long ’too long’ is. They are very physical in their affection for each other, grabbing onto clothes, touching hips, wrists, arms, and backs.

*In an early draft of the script, it's stated that when Marty was 15 he was hired by Doc to do odd jobs.(Direct quote: Marty: Doc Brown's all right - he's just a little hung up on time. A couple of years ago he showed up at my house and hired me to sweep out this garage of his. He pays me 50 bucks a week, gives me free beer...and gives me total access to his record collection - he's got this great old record collection.)
**If the Back to the Future animated cartoon (1991) is to be acceptable canon offshoot of 1985 D (mentioned below) , this, too, supports Marty and Jennifer's relationship being pretty casual. Close to the end of the series, he makes a date with Liz. Although he does later break it and apologize to Jennifer for insulting her hair, it does show that the relationship between himself and Jennifer is not the strongest, particularly as it can be disrupted by petty arguments.

Middles
Marty: This is my, uh, Doc.--uh, uncle! Doc…Brown.

The middle of the trilogy itself technically starts with Marty zipping back in time and ends when he avoids getting ploughed into by the Rolls Royce, because it is between those two points that Marty changed himself and history.For the sake of condensation, only the key points in their relationship will be addressed.

First and foremost is The Doc. Marty, bless him, isn’t actually ruffled as far as Doc is concerned. The only difference is that Doc is younger (as well as not blasted to bits by terrorists, but the situation’s screwy enough that it mostly doesn’t take precedence until nearly the end of the first movie). Doc, however, has had a lot dropped on him: some weirdly dressed kid popped up on his doorstep saying he knows the future--and, for that matter, knows him. The comfort level between Marty and Doc is the same for Marty as it had been previously; it seems natural for him to drop by, rely on Doc, and even to live there because it’s what he’s always done. He fails to see the oddness of it because: 1. He’s had a fairly terrible day involving the impossibility of time travel and 2. The Doc he knows would be willing to let him. For Doc, however, this is the first time he’s ever met Marty. So the first time he meets the boy, the kid knows everything about him, wants his help with a illogical and actually very personal problem, and proceeds to invite himself into his house.

And Doc lets him.

Why? Well, the simple answer is that Marty knows how Doc got the bruise on his head. But the real reason is this: Marty, more so than the DeLorean itself, embodies Doc’s dreams. He proves that a person can live through, and even interfere with, the space-time continuum. Whether Marty’s done good or bad to the future, the fact is that with Doc’s invention he can influence it. A time machine is nothing if it can’t sustain life while traveling through time--which is the reason for Einstein being put into it in the opening-- and it is Marty being there, and not the DeLorean, that is the proof the machine works.

Secondly, Marty puts the entire universe in jeopardy just to save The Doc*. This is very significant after all that had happened earlier on. Marty knows the possibilities of what can happen firsthand. Because of him, he and his brother and sister nearly never existed, his parents would never have gotten married, and if the scene in the parking lot is any indication, his mother would have been raped by Biff. With his simple interference of keeping his dad from being hit by a car, he could have inadvertently destroyed five lives. But he forgoes all this and saves Doc nonetheless. Marty’s not a complete idiot-- he knows of and lived the possible outcome. It’s the classic morality question of killing one to save an indefinite amount-- where the logical answer is to kill the one. But in this case, Marty knows the one and not the masses. He knows and loves Doc and Doc’s safety becomes more important than his own, than his family’s, friends, or people he doesn’t know. To reiterate: Doc’s life is literally more important than the lives of either his family or himself.

Prior to arriving in the altered Hill Valley, we again see the possible destruction of the world to help one person, this time the help coming from The Doc. The Doc is a little less careless about the whole thing, not wanting Jennifer to see her other self and taking care of a few precautions, but nonetheless risks a heck of a lot to keep Marty’s kids out of jail, (and ultimately from Marty’s family being torn apart). Once again the possible good of the few is weighed against the good of the many, and once again the few win, simply because of who the ’few’ are.

In the Hell Valley timeline, Marty and Doc have, quite literally, only each other. The entire city has been virtually overtaken by corruption. Here Marty has a pretty terrible day, what with almost getting shot twice, finding out his father’s been dead for twelve years, his stepfather is Biff, his mother is depressed and has a boob job, and the fact he himself should be in Switzerland and all. Really, the day sucked. And with how Marty reacted to the death of his father, and how he was only consoled by getting the facts from Doc, we can deduct that Marty’s reaction to the day would have been drastically different had Doc not been there. This, like the simple advice of Doc’s that Jennifer gives, shows just how much Doc guides Marty. This again manifests itself in most of the third movie (after Marty opts again to disrupt the space-time continuum to get the Doc home after finding out the Doc is dead instead of going home himself….in spite of the fact that if Doc was in 1885 he probably wouldn’t have stuck around long enough to see 1985 anyway. Marty’s an emotional kid.).

After Clara shows up, Marty doesn’t really know what to do with himself. Early on it isn’t jealousy because Marty doesn’t see Clara as a threat, no matter what it said on Doc‘s tombstone. He fully expects Doc to come back to 1985 with him until they‘re dropping the DeLorean onto the train tracks, and even then he gives a sigh of relief when it seems he and 1985 win out over 1885. By the end he’s resigned to the fact that Doc would be happier with Clara than with either him or his time. Marty, while making some obvious attempts at keeping Doc and Clara apart, which is strange in how secure he is that Doc’s returning with him, doesn’t appear overly jealous of the relationship. No, he simply doesn’t know how to handle himself without Doc’s influence, which leads to most of his problems (directly interfering with his family through most of the movie, picking fights, etc.).

*Doc reciprocates this again for the less noble reason of giving Marty the photograph at the end of the third movie. But he was also apparently bouncing around time by that point, so that’s mostly irrelevant.

Ends

Doc: It means that your future hasn't been written yet. No one's has. Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one.

Endings of Marty and Jennifer’s relationship:
Had Marty always had the dysfunctional home from 1985 A, he wouldn’t have had the drag race and wouldn’t have gotten his hand broken-- so his future with Jennifer is questionable, as there was no alternate guarantee of their marriage. By living in a good home of 1985 B, in the original timeline of it wherein he races Needles, his future with Jennifer is destroyed to the extent they live in a loveless marriage. 1985 C, in this instance ‘Hell Valley’ where Biff rules all, is irrelevant because of it being reversed before Jennifer and Marty’s relationship had opportunity to be seen. 1985 D, which Marty has created by altering 1985 B by not injuring his hand, ends the same as 1985 A-- happy, but no true guarantee. As the only option where he actually marries Jennifer ends with them both unhappy, their lives with each other are left uncertain--which was, in fact, the point of the end of the third movie.

Endings of Doc and Marty’s relationship:
--2015(A)
In 2015, when Marty and Doc go to intervene in Marty Jr’s fate, there is no mention of 2015 Doc. There are three possible endings to this:
The first solution is probably the easiest: he was just never discussed.

The second possibility is that in the original timeline, Doc is actually dead--he would be about 95. If he is still dead in the second timeline, when he and Marty have returned to save Marty Jr., then it would have been in spite of the rejuvenation he received; as it was supposed to add ’30 to 40 years’ to his life, this would have Doc dying at the physical age of anywhere from 25, which is how old he’d be in 1985 after altering his age, to 55, the age he’d be in 2015. Assuming his rejuvenation adds the maximum amount of 40 years, he’d always die younger than his original 1985 age.

The third possibility is that he lived in either 1885 B, where he fell in love with Clara but got killed by Buford, or 1885 C, where he lived with Clara forever after.

The possibilities for 2015 B are endless as far as Marty is concerned, as we don’t know how it goes from the final alteration of 1985. However, Marty is currently dating Jennifer and Doc is married with Clara, as it comes from an extension of 1885 C.

As I said previously, I like Doc/Clara. So, following the movies, the Doc and Marty pairing ‘ends’ when Doc rescues Clara. This would be a bittersweet ending, with our two heroes without each other forever but finding love nevertheless. But here’s the thing: in this series, ‘forever’ isn’t forever. Time is relative. Lives can change, futures disappear or open up. This is a story of time travel, friendship, and love that lasts as long as our characters do. The possibilities are endless. And therefore even if by the time ‘The End’ pops on screen the protagonists aren’t together, it doesn’t mean that by the time of their own end-- whenever it may be-- they won’t be.

Where you can Have a Wonderful Time

(“Back to the Future Fanfic Directory.") Here you can find a complete compilation of Back to the Future Fanfiction, be it het, slash, or gen. Have fun!
(“Back to the Future slash community‘s Doc/Marty tag.") All Doc/Marty fic, art, and discussion posted at Livejournal’s Back to the Future slash community.
(“Back to the Future on IMDb.") Contains trivia, memorable quotes, and a discussion board about the first Back to the Future movie.
(“Brokeback to the Future.") A youtube video spoofing Back to the Future and Brokeback Mountain.
( 'Back to the Future' slash fics on fanfiction.net)

If anyone has specific fics, art, or information that they want me to add, please say so in the comments. I’d be much obliged.