Netflix has the movie Back to the Future playing for the last few days of September, and I watched it last night. It originally came out in the Eighties when I was in third grade.  It was a big deal, everyone was talking about it.  Back then, it was a straight forward adventure story of time travel. Of course a high school kid is hanging out with a mad scientist of indeterminate age. Of course the world is saved by skateboards and rock and roll. Of course the parents are unbearably cringe. Aren’t all parents?

Now, watching the movie in 2024 (39 years later!) I am closer in age to the parents in the show, yet I still see the parents as older than me. Maybe it’s the styles or the smoking, but apparently, they will always be old to me. Part of the storyline that fell second to Doc yelling “Great Scott, 121 jigawatts!” is the wish fulfillment of going back in time and fixing your parents.  At the beginning of the film, the Mom is an alcoholic and the Dad is bullied by his boss. Their home is shabby and the car is broken. As cool as Marty is, he is held back by his fear of failure inherited from his parents. Not only does he go back save the day, but he sees his father’s creative writing and builds the confidence of his future Dad, telling him the things he also needs to hear. 

Fast forward to the future, and Marty’s Mom has a healthy lifestyle and his Dad is a published author telling his son, “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything.” That was my unspoken desire of childhood, to have more self-determined and confident parents that could teach me and my siblings how to also be self-determined and confident. It’s my wish now as parent to be the best version of myself, so that my kids are free to succeed and be the best versions of themselves. Hopefully I don’t need a flux capacitor to do it.