I recently watched my entire special edition trilogy on DVD(with the fantastic pop up anectdotes!). After watched these 3 great time travel films with my roommate and a few friends, we of course started to discuss the story.

I registered with this board for the very reason to ask you guys the question none of my friends has an answer for...

Why the hell are Doc and Marty friends?

How did they meet? How did they get so close? How do they find enough time to hang out to where Doc is confident enough to let Marty in on his time travel experiment? Marty has a loving girlfriend, his band(The Pinheads) that he must practice with, he has high school(even if he is a slacker!). Is there any revelation to this that I missed in the films? I used to watch the cartoon religiously, but most of the stories from that have escaped my memory.

Thoughts? Anyone?

I think this has been asked elsewhere. If I recall correctly, either the novel or an earlier draft of the script states that Marty used to do odd jobs for Doc and in return, Doc let him listen to his record collection. Or something like that.

You say that Marty has his band and his girlfriend, but what he doesn't really have is a father-figure - someone to look up to. And he would find Doc's experiments exciting. And Doc doesn't appear to have any other friends. I imagine other people thought he was a bit mad/dangerous. He would probably get on better with someone with the open-mindedness of a kid. Doc says in part 2 that if they tell people that they're time travellers, they will be 'comitted'. And yet when Doc tells Marty for the first time, he accepts it and thinks it's cool!

I have always looked at it as an "Effect and Cause" thing (as opposed to a Cause and Effect" thing).

In 1955, Doc knew Marty would go back there and tell him about the Time Machine. He also knew the exact date and time Marty would show up to do that. I could almost see Doc's brain spinning, saying, "Okay, on October 25th, 1985, this kid is going to come back and tell me about hte time machine. I need to find him by January 1st, 1985, and start befriending. Then, if my calculations are correct, by June 1st, 1985, we will be close enough that I can invite him over to my house. Then, by October 25th, we will be close enough that he will meet me at the Twin Pnies Mall (or, Lone Pine Mall), for the expirement, sending him back to 1955 to tell me, thus completing the cycle."

And THAT's what makes Time Travel Posssible!

^ :lol:

But that would be a major major paradox! (Possibly one which could destroy the entire universe!)

Yes, this is true - for the second version of history, the Lone Pine timeline, as it's sometimes referred to. This is the happier/cooler timeline where Marty is in 1955, George punches Biff, etc.

However, this did not happen in the first history (sometimes called Twin Pines) in the beginning of the movie. This is clearly a different time. George is a pushover, Marty never time travelled, Doc didn't have the "warning", etc.

I believe this was what the original poster was referring to.

In the BTTF universe, changes are only made after a time traveller makes them. In other words, there was no Marty in 1955 "before" he did it. So, in the "nerdy George" 1983, for instance, everything was the exact same as the beginning of Part 1, just with two less years of age. ;)


As for the original question, though: I don't think it's that far-fetched for the two to be friends. People assume too many things about people of a certain age, race, background, etc. Sometimes you just kinda connect and have common interests/experiences with someone. To Marty, Doc was probably a cool "older buddy" type, and a father figure nerdy George couldn't have been, and to Doc, Marty was an open-minded young guy willing to spend time with him.

Chemistry! Sometimes people just click! You only get a few close, special friends in your life. The Pinheads were probably just casual friends.

And my own take was that Doc helped Marty actually evolve from a kid who was afraid to stand up for himself to a kid who hated being called chicken (one of my fanfics), thus creating a father-son type bond.

And a great 'fic it was. :) (I really could see that happening in the BTTF universe.)

Sorry for going into this little rant, but, there seems to be this myth among certain folks that everyone in a given age group likes the same things and acts identical to each other, etc. Those people probably think Doc should be a "typical 65-year old" getting ready to retire or play shuffleboard. And that Marty should be a rebellious 17-year old punk only hanging around other Juniors in High School.

I'm not saying there's no truth to certain generalizations, but it can get ridiculous the way people overdo it.

Then again, I suppose I'm a little biased from my experiences. When I was a kid (i.e. under about 12), I tended to prefer hanging around older people. They usually interested me more than kids my age.

Sure, truly older people were boring. For instance, I had this one common babysitter in her 60s at the time (late '80s). I remember just thinking of her as this totally boring, craggy old lady who I couldn't wait to get away from. :lol: But, people in their 30s and 40s were cool enough in my book. Teens and 20s were like older cousin or buddies to me.

I'm 25 and my view hasn't changed that much today. Anyone within about 10-12 years either way I still think of being at least somewhat "peer/friend-like" to me, even if not exactly.

I imagine Marty felt somewhat similarly about Doc (especially in the TP timeline, where he was probably bored/embarrased by his family). And, if we judge alot of the fanfics as "canon", we could say Doc was snubbed by some people in the community and perhaps felt a little isolated. I'm sure he was more than glad to have a young teenage guy like Marty who was genuinely interested in hanging around him.

When you think about it, it actually makes perfect sense. ;)

In my fanfic stories, I said that Marty and Doc became friends at the age of six - after Doc rescued Marty from Cliff Tannen and his gang. I also said that Doc used to teach third grade, so not everyone in town regards Doc as a nutcase. Many of his former students think fondly of Doc, as Doc always made classes interesting. I know many of the fanfic writers usually give you the impression that Doc virtually had no other friends besides Marty. I didn't want to think of Doc as being so lonely, though. Also, in the trilogy, there really is no mention of the whole town regarding Doc Brown as a nutcase - that it was just simply the likes of Mr. Strickland who held that opinion, and Mr. Strickland wasn't exactly a very likeable character.

Ya, in a script I read, Doc came over to Marty's house, and asked Marty to clean out his garage. Funny, because Doc already met Marty.

Yeah, that was Mike Mahoney's story. :)

Everyone has made good points, and I agree with Aaron about it maybe just simple being chemistry. I think that making friends, like falling in love, is something that just happens. I don't think people consciously choose their friends. They do choose them, but I think it's more of an unconscious thing, and they don't realise they're doing it.

I mean, many people make friends simply by meeting to them, talking to them, realising they're fun, and wanting to see more of them, and it develops from there. But I don't think most people would actually think to themselves, "I am in the process of making a new friend here." Maybe I'm wrong and people do, but when I'm getting to know somebody, I haven't consciously thought, "I am making a new friend."

So I think it's just something that happens.

well, basing on the original script of the movie and also my own thoughts, i think marty and doc first met at school, maybe doc was a physics profesor or something and maybe marty would be interested in one particular thing about the subject and he'd go to doc's lab so that he could explain him something and after more visits from marty to doc's lab they would become friends. but this is just my imagination, couse i read in the first script of BTTF that marty called doc profesor so i thought he was a school profesor, it's just what i'd like to believe haha :D

In my stories, Doc taught third grade - but he retired before he met Marty. So he met Marty, when he had rescued Marty from Cliff Tannen.

Doc asked Marty to clean out his garage. He paid Marty $50 a week and offered him free beer and let him listen to his large record collection.

Well, that was mentioned in an earlier script - but most people don't accept that explanation, especially the part about free beer. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that's also the same script where Doc was a ladies' man in 1955.

I guess people don't accept the explanation because Doc has very low tolerance for alcohol. I do like the part about hiring him to clean his garage and allowing him to listen to his record collection.

I decided to have then become friends, when Marty was still a child. Especially in the Twin Pines timeline, Marty could really benefit from having a stable father figure in his life.

Just wondering, are you of the school that Marty and Doc became friends the same way in both timelines?

Yeah, I guess I am. I like to think that the two timelines are mostly the same, but with a few minor differences.

Probably because they wanted to mix brains (Doc) with Brawn (Marty) I dunno.

Sorry about the double post. *blushes*

Marty isn't really that muscular, though, is he? I mean, he's awfully cute - but he does also look a little vulnurable.

I do tend to wonder how much has stayed the same within both timelines. I'm sure quite a few things were different.

Kristen Sheley wrote a story of what would happen if Jules and Verne accidentally messed up Doc's first meeting with Marty, and it caused the timeline to revert to the Twin Pines timeline. She does write a lot of great stories, and I have a lot of respect for her - but I'm not sure I agree with the whole "reverting to Twin Pines timeline" deal. I guess we all have our own theories of how time travel works in the BTTF Universe, though.

To be honest, I'm not sure what would happen if someone inadvertantly messed up Doc's first meeting with Marty - even though I did briefly address the subject in That '70s Story. I think the timeline would just continue on, and Doc would have to be the one to initiate his first meeting with Marty.

Mike Mahoney did a story where the first meeting between Doc and Marty were different in both timelines. In the first timeline, Doc met Marty - when Dave brought Marty to Burger King. Because Dave didn't work at Burger King in the new timeline, though, Doc had to meet Marty a different way - and then he showed up at Marty's house, and asked Marty to work for him.

Personally, I'm of the school that they did meet the same way in both timelines - when Doc rescued Marty from Cliff Tannen and his gang. It should've been Miff Tannen and his gang, but I hadn't come up with the Miff Tannen character yet.

Er, you posted that twice (sorry for the new member bossing you around!)

Oops, I was meaning to edit my previous post! *blushes*

It's alright, so... how about a warm welcome for the new guy?

Welcome to the board! :) I'll check out your website later! :)

THanks, anyway its my fault we went off topic, can we go back on topic now

Yeah, I said the two of them met when Doc saved Marty from Cliff Tannen's gang. Before Marty, he had a witch friend named Sabrina Palmer. He started teaching third-graders back in 1946, and George McFly was in his class. I'm of the school that Doc wasn't scorned by most of Hill Valley, but only a vocal minority.