Shannon Morgan
staff writer
@shannonlacyy

“2015? You mean we’re in the future?”

Anyone who has seen the iconic 80s film, Back to the Future Part II numerous times will recognize that line, and the person who said it: Marty Mcfly.

Ironically though, they would not be able to recognize the future depicted in the film as the world today. This is because the real 2015 lacks flying cars, hoverboards and questionable fashion trends as shown in the movie.

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute, Doc. Ah… Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?”

For those that have not seen the movie many times, or at all, Back to the Future is about a teenager, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), who lives an average life, with the exception of his eccentric scientist friend Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd), who invents a time machine that actually works.

In the first Back to the Future Marty gets stuck in 1955 and must get back to the present (1985). But in the sequel, Marty must go to 2015 to fix his future, which is in danger.

Upon first arriving in 2015, Marty encounters technology that you would never see in 1985. But as the real world reaches 2015 these types of technology still seem just as far away.

“Hey, Doc, we better back up. We don’t have enough road to get up to 88.”

“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

For instance, flying cars are essential to complete any futuristic movie, and Back to the Future Part II certainly does not lack any. (In fact, the time traveling DeLorean is now a flying car thanks to Doc installing a Mr. Fusion which replaces the other energy source- the flux capacitor.)

Yet, here we are in 2015, still driving on the road. How primitive of us.

“I need to borrow your… hoverboard?”

And as far as hoverboards go, you can forget those. The only hoverboards to be sold in retail  are ones made by the toy company Mattel, which were sold back in 2012 for a limited time. The toy is an exact replica of the one featured in the movie, with sound effects too.

The “hoverboard” had one huge problem: it did not actually hover.

Also, this improperly named toy came with a price tag of $120. Hopefully whoever bought it wanted it as a collectible, not as a toy, because it is really only a skateboard without the wheels.

The movie also introduced fashion trends that you certainly do not see today. Transparent neckties, shiny rainbow baseball hats and wrap around, reflective sunglasses are all the rage in the film’s version of 2015.

One item in particular, the Nike self lacing tennis shoes worn by Marty, are some of the most famous shoes in movie history. In fact, Nike has been trying to create shoes similar that actually lace by themselves. They are rumored to be revealed in 2015, which would be the only futuristic thing from the movie our 2015 would have.

Of course we have to take into account that Back to the Future Part II was definitely exaggerated when it came to some aspects of the future. Did they really think we would be wearing transparent ties? Probably not. But it may have seemed possible that something other than airplanes would be flying now, and that fashion may have become something completely alien to 1985.

For now, we are all stuck in a 2015 without flying cars or hoverboards. Maybe in another 30 years from now we will have these things, but until then we can continue to live vicariously through Marty in Back to the Future Part II. And if I live long enough to drive a flying car, I will definitely remember to quote him:

“This is heavy.”