Chapter 255: BttF Nitpickers II: The Opposing Bandwagon
Putting the Karen who's way ahead of her time aside...
Alexander understood that as successful as Back to the Future was, not everyone could really be on board with it.
That's just how it was... since it was really hard to find something that was universally liked.
Even essentials like air and water weren't exempt from this. There are even people that detest money.
People just have a knack for finding something to hate and dislike about something... however petty or rational their reasons may be.
It's not just people... but pretty much the rest of the world just works that way.
It's an expression of individualism and uniqueness and whatnot... and yada-yada.
Whatever the case was, the BttF-displeased Karen's actions could be boiled down to this.
She expressed her opinions, stood out, and went extremely all the way to stand out some more.
Perhaps her displeasure with the film was already over with... she just wanted to act that way to play the part and soak in the unexpected fame.
It wouldn't be a surprise... if she'd capitalize on this and become an established film critic. She'd be the film-enlightening voice that rose from the common folk!
Her new line of work would essentially be the same as the snobby film critics. The only thing that set them apart is that she never studied filmography or whatever qualification you'd have to be qualified as a film critic.
Maybe it was due to this unprofessional background of her's is why her BttF-disliking movement never really took off.
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Anyways, she was just considered a flash in a pan... and Alexander's never really wanted to put more attention to whether the 'distinguished lady' really had those motivations or would her career trajectory really take off as the common folk's film guide.
What he put more focus into was the trend of bad Back to the Future press that came after her.
Her nitpicky points about racism, sexist-ness, and inappropriateness did get some pop-up supporters.
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A feminist group had made some strides in having their voice heard. They aren't as toxic and empowered as they would be though... so they were more reasonable and professional in their complaints to the film.
Then, there were some parent's associations and children's advocacy groups that were roused and abhorred by whatever they considered detrimental to their kids.
The slurs, bullying, and the "dangerous actions" that were present in Back to the Future's plots were pointed out... and they gunning for the MPAA to bump the film out of its PG-rating.
Fortunately, the ratings were set in stone and there's nothing they can do about it
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Some associations were striking on Back to the Future due to its racist and racist undertones as well.
They weren't the Libyans though... but from the African-American community.
Their concerns were mostly in line with Chuck Berry as his "Johnny B. Goode" song was used during the film's final act.
It was reported that Berry did not want to agree to it... and that was what was brought up.
Berry's resistance was not a matter of money, as there are just underlying racial issues involved in having Marty, a white male, seemingly rewriting history to invent the rock and roll music genre... something which was heavily influenced by African-American music.
Anyways, Berry ultimately acquiesced and that was the end of that.
The baffling but hilarious reaction to Marty's riff at the 1950s dance was still an incredible highlight of the film... and the complaints should have receded at some point.
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With African-Americans having their complaints be somewhat heard... not far from them were the animal activists.
The first time travel scene was a travesty to them... because Doc Brown used the poor Einstein as the test subject.
With the film's popularity in American society... is it telling people that using dogs as a test subjects for things dangerous is the way to go?
They were arguing that Tiger the sheepdog was frightened but still unceremoniously filmed.
Granted, they were shut down by Tiger's owner defending the film... and the fact that BttF had followed all proper guidelines when it comes to filming animals.
The animal activist became animal de-activated for a while, after that.
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Then to top it all off... there was the vocalness of some intellectuals from the intellectual community of masters and doctorates that had their spotlight.
Their cause was mostly in debunking the science and physics that were prevalent in the sci-fi time travel film.
Their point mostly boils down to this...
Some aspects of the movie are scientifically accurate, like traveling forward in time, which is theoretically possible, along with altering a given timeline by changing past events. However, in the movie, the protagonist also travels backward in time; according to the current theories, this is impossible, making it scientifically inaccurate.
What's wrong or what's right didn't really matter much for sci-fi films though... and their "smart" enlightenment to the fooled masses was seen as more of a nuisance than anything.
If anything... these intellectuals seem to be the dumb ones since they were taking a "movie" quite seriously... as if the movie's core was blasphemy to what they stood for.
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Perhaps all these attacks and attackers out to get Back to the Future are all dumb since they take aspects of a film way too seriously!
Anyways... as proven from many instances now... everything that tries to involve itself in Back to the Future just has its way of escalating.
These bad press were pretty much fads that did balloon much.
The irksome thing to all of it was that everything really seemed to be strategically timed and organized.
Unlike John DeLorean that joined Reagan's bandwagon to give Back to the Future a boost... these movements were out to do the opposite.
It was a bad bandwagon hoping to crash the good bandwagon... but the good bandwagon ultimately prevailed.
Maybe DeLorean isn't such a questionable guy after all? At least, he was quite leaning on BttF's win compared to the others.
If things really caught on, then it'd spell trouble for the moneymaking status quo that Creed Pictures were hoping to maintain and grow.
Fortunately, that didn't happen and Alexander did not doubt that these were failed tactics from the competition.
That was just the dynamics of the film industry... to hammer down the nail that stands out.
This was true in everything involving businesses and that was something that Old Sullivan had repeatedly told him about!
As for who was the mastermind behind the BttF maligning... it could have been anyone but it shouldn't fall far from the obvious.
There are the major studios that had plenty of experience in these strategies. The mid and small film companies can't be discounted as well... since their film may very well conflict with Back to the Future's theatrical dominance.
And then there's the Anti-Creed Alliance as well... but it was quite doubtful that they had the resources to pull this off.
Well... given that it failed... maybe it was the Anti-Creed Alliance all along.
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Whatever the case was, it was just great that Back to the Future managed to buckle through it.
With how big and phenomenal the film had gotten... it was bound to go through these kinds of rough roadblocks.
It wasn't going to be showered likes and praises.
There were going to be dislikes and disgusts as well.
At least, some of these dislikers still paid tickets for them to be able to come up with that disliking attitude...
It had probably just contributed to Back to the Future's box office... and the filmmakers are the true winners in all of it.
The manipulators and the BttF-nitpicking masses can dislike, destroy, or nitpick it as they might... the important thing is that the profiteers behind the film could still profit from it!