PropertyValue
?:author
?:datePublished
  • 2015-10-22 (xsd:date)
?:headline
  • Back to the Future Rumors and Predictions (en)
?:inLanguage
?:itemReviewed
?:mentions
?:reviewBody
  • On 21 October 2015, social media users marked what informally came to be known as Back to the Future Day — the then-distant date to which Michael J. Fox (as Marty McFly) traveled in the 1987 film Back to the Future II. Amid memes, retrospective articles, and a multi-day trending streak of chatter about Marty McFly's return, several rumors about the Back to the Future (BTTF) trilogy, its legacy, and its stars circulated via social media. Given the general celebratory mood and heightened interest, some of those claims spread further and faster than they might have on any other day: Claim: Actor Michael J. Fox was arrested on charges of insider sports betting. Rating: FALSE On 21 October 2015, the web site Stubhill News published an article titled Breaking News: Michael J Fox Arrested for Insider Sports Betting: Most readers managed to pick out the multiple humorous references contained therein: the username NoChicken, the use of a sports almanac (both nods to BTTF), and astrophysicist Barry Manilow. Moreover, a disclaimer on Stubhill News advises viewers: Claim: Nike sent Michael J. Fox its first pair of self-lacing sneakers, which will retail in 2016 with proceeds to be earmarked for Fox's Parkinson's Disease foundation. Rating: MIXTURE On 21 October 2015, ABC News published an article titled Nike Sending First 'Back to the Future' Self-Tying Shoes to Michael J. Fox. According to the network, Nike confirmed that Fox had been sent a pair of what they described as self-lacing sneakers. However the company was tight-lipped about the details, adding only that future versions of the product would be available at auction and promising further information in 2016: At this point, little is known about the sneakers purportedly gifted to Fox. The Michael J. Fox Foundation published an eight-second video in which the actor modeled the shoes: So Nike says they gave Michael J. Fox a pair of self-lacing sneakers; but how (well) those sneakers work is unknown, and their auction-only availability suggests they exist only as an expensive limited edition and not as practical model expected to be widely available any time soon. Claim: A Back to the Future II writer based the character of Biff Tannen on real estate mogul Donald Trump. Rating: MIXTURE As Back to the Future Day approached, social media users inevitably drew parallels between the film's predictions of life in 2015 and the reality of today's 2015. Among the memes that arose in the weeks leading up to 21 October 2015 was one drawing comparisons between the movie's principals and real-life figures, such as those likening eccentric scientist Doc Brown to Bernie Sanders and ruthless businessman Biff Tannen to Donald Trump: On 21 October 2015, The Daily Beast published an article titled 'Back to the Future' Writer: Biff Tannen Is Based on Donald Trump. That piece quoted Back to the Future screenwriter Bob Gale on the purported inspiration for Tannen's character: Notably, Gale did a lot of talking around the film's October 2015 anniversary. But when CNN hosted a Back to the Future Q&A in July 2015, Gale had this to say about the inspiration for Tannen and McFly: Prior to that, Tannen's inspiration was partially credited to a separate person with whom creators Gale and Robert Zemeckis had both clashed: The notion that Trump formed the total or partial basis for Tannen appeared seemingly out of the ether. Although the Wikipedia page devoted to the character prominently featured that explanation, an archived version from 16 October 2015 made no mention of it. Trump was somewhat notable in 1985 (even rating a GQ cover), but his persona then didn't match very well with the character of Tannen. Trump's later grandiose, reality-show style brand had yet to develop (and while his style had always been somewhat garish, it was never very similar to Tannen's): It's true that Gale claimed in October 2015 that Biff Tannen was based (entirely or in part) on Donald Trump. It's even possible that Gale believed that the character's inspiration hinged on a real-life figure who (in his view) came to closely match Tannen in 2015. But Trump was a relatively minor celebrity in 1985, known mostly in the New York City area as a real estate developer. Trump's reality TV show The Apprentice was still many years away, as was any serious indication Trump would ever leave real estate to enter politics. If Trump indeed crossed Gale and Zemeckis' minds when Tannen was being developed in the years prior to the 1985 film, neither thought to mention it until after Sanders/Trump comparisons began appearing on social media in late 2015. A minor-league Manhattan businessman very well could have appeared on the radar of two Hollywood producers, but the prediction of Trump by Back to the Future appeared to be retrofitted to 2015's current events, not prescience on the part of the filmmakers in 1985. (en)
?:reviewRating
rdf:type
?:url