So Marty recounts the events of the day and even considers them “rather bland” (you know, the usual: travelled through time, blah blah blah, got hit by a car, blah blah blah”) until he sees how deeply they’re affecting Doc. Doc’s all “Good Lord! You prevented your parents from having their initial meeting?” and Marty’s all “Yeah, but no bigs, they go to the same school” and FINALLY Doc gets the picture and looks at it and we get the “Erased… from existence” line. And Marty actually admits to acting dumb:
“Erased from existence,” Doc Brown added significantly.
“I don’t understand this,” Marty said. “Or maybe I do but I don’t want to.”
HAHAH AMAZING. BOOK MARTY, THIS EXPLAINS — THIS EXPLAINS SO MUCH.
The movie jumps to Marty and Doc at the school the next day, but didn’t you always wonder where Marty got those new 50s clothes from? THE BOOK REVEALS ALL, AND I HAVE GOOD NEWS: IT INVOLVES MARTY ACTING LIKE A LITTLE CHILD:
An hour later, [Doc] returned from the local Sears, Roebuck with a shopping bag filled with a complete outfit.
And this just TWO PAGES AFTER Marty was killing people by supporting local businesses that he wouldn’t have otherwise supported. Remember, Crappy Doc? You all but called him a murderer? HOW MANY FAMILIES DID YOU MURDER AT SEARS, ROEBUCK, DOC??
Doc says Marty will have to go to school to make sure his parents meet, Marty because he’s suddenly a baby says he doesn’t wanna (“School was boring in 1985. When I think how dull 1955 will be, it blows my mind.”), but Doc insists that they use every moment they have to fix this. Then Doc finishes dressing Marty in his new shirt and pants (??) (??????) and pulls out some “Vaseline hair tonic” (George Gipe is writing! Of course there’s a brand name!) and Marty curls his lip.
“Look, Doc,” he murmured. “I’ll admit that these threads are pretty cool. But you’re not putting that greasy shit in my hair.”
Doc tells him all he cool kids are doing it and as that logic works on children, Marty acquieses but worries that Vaseline in his hair will give him cancer (literally not making this up). Doc then combs his hair for him. Because Marty is 7.
Marty then grabs the comb (“allow me”, he says) and combs his hair like Elvis.
“If I’m gonna go through with this,” he explained, “at least I’m gonna look like Elvis.”
“Elvis? What’s Elvis?” Doc Brown asked.
“You’ll find out.”
And again: Future Dick Marty and again: Doc being a Crappy Doc and asking “What’s Elvis” and not “Who’s Elvis?” despite the syntax of the sentence clearly indicating that a proper name is being used. Marty didn’t say “at least I’m gonna look like AN Elvis”, did he, Doc? Gosh.
GOSH.
Anyway Marty is now a boy who looks like Elvis, and around here at this point in the book I probably shouldn’t be so hard on Doc and Marty: they’re both up very very, very very late, and they probably just have trouble acting normal when they’re nervous.
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