btothef:

Page 170-171

Back in the car parked outside George’s house, Doc warns Marty that George could think it’s all a dream, introducing a plot thread that maybe this won’t work after all!

“My knowledge of human psychology tells me that with George McFly it will be touch-and-go all the way.” [Doc said.]
Marty sighed.
Nearly twelve hours later, he was still sighing - and alternately cursing George.

Amazing.  I love how it suggests Marty sighed nonstop for a full half day, taking breaks only for cusses.  Emotions can be SO DEEP!!!!

Marty is sighing because TURNS OUT her never got a copy of George’s schedule, so he spent the whole morning at school trying to find him in classes before realizing he’s not there.  Then he spent the whole afternoon sitting around hoping he’d show up.  Then finally the school day is over and classes are dismissed and George is running to class super late and meets Marty only now.  This is where the movie brings us too, skipping over all this sitting around action.  I guess that’s why they call it “effective filmmaking”??

George tells Marty that he overslept and Marty realizes he almost killed his dad with that chloroform, and this realization sends “a shiver of terror racing through his system” which, you know, is fair.  You did almost kill your dad while trying to prank him, MARTIN.  George is all “I had some strange dreams” that were “fantastic stuff” and oh no maybe he thinks it was all a dream!  Even the narrator tells us this is bad news!

It would not do to have George dismiss the careful scenario he had executed as “fantastic stuff”, of course.

Of course!  So Marty lies and asks George if he saw the flying saucer that hovered above his house last night, and that the dozen kids in class who saw it were talking about it today.  They all agreed it was in your neighbourhood, George!  And this puts “a glint of energy” into George’s eyes and he asks Marty for help asking Lorraine out.  Finally!  Progress!  And that “maybe this won’t work” plot thread introduced at the start of this writeup has now been concluded, and what a wild, pointless ride it’s been.

I’ve always thought the “George McFly seriously thought aliens wanted him to mack on a lady” element of the movie was a little goofy, especially since he’d recognize those SF franchises down the road (“Oh hey, it’s Darth Vader again”), but adding flying saucers on top of that is not a good choice, I think.  It elevates the goofiness, makes what George believes even more implausible, and reduces him more to a clown.  We want to like George and empathize with him, but the more you show him as being stupid the harder that’s going to be. 

George and Marty head towards “the local teen hangout” (let’s go to the local teen hangout, fellows!) and we are going to see some George/Lorraine ACTION tomorrow, so we should all steel ourselves for that.  Go ahead, go get yourself a glass of milk.  Chocolate.