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Fax to the Future
A while back, someone asked me about a (perceived) plot hole in the "Back to the Future" films. That was a simple misunderstanding, but I've been thinking about the emotional arc in the second/third films, which holds up well after more viewings than I can count.
Just to clarify, none of this post is intended as a fan theory or head canon. I.e. I think this was all explicitly intended by the film makers. However, the nuance might not be obvious to everyone (as per this Reddit discussion), and I think it's worth giving credit to a summer blockbuster that has this level of subtlety.
By contrast, look at films like "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", where the character development basically consists of one character repeating another character's line. ("Eyes open, boy, I can't protect you all the time.")
The original question involves the ending of part 3, so I need to give big spoilers for the whole trilogy. Please proceed with caution if you haven't seen the films yet!
Here's a quick recap of the relevant plot points:
In the first film, Doc Brown invented a time machine out of a DeLorean car. He was then killed by Libyan terrorists, and his young friend Marty escaped by taking the car back to 1955. Marty accidentally changed history, and had to set things right before he could return. He also left a message for Doc Brown, warning him about his eventual death, and this led to a revised timeline where Doc survived.
In the second film, Doc took Marty and Jennifer (Marty's girlfriend) into the far-flung future of 2015. ("It's your kids, Marty, something's got to be done about your kids!") While they were there, Jennifer saw a glimpse of her future married life: the older Marty had injured his hand after crashing into a Rolls Royce, and he agreed to commit some kind of fraud against his employer but immediately got fired.
Meanwhile, the younger Marty bought a sports almanac (showing the results of baseball games etc.), intending to take it back to 1985 and use it for gambling. Doc refused to allow this, but Biff (the main antagonist of the series) stole the book and the car, going back to 1955. This changed history in a big way, and the new version of 1985 was unrecognisable. (I recommend reading the "Biff to the Future" comic for more details on the alternate timeline.) Eventually, Marty and Doc were able to set things right, undoing Biff's changes.
In the third film, Doc and Marty went to 1885 and faced Buford Tannen (Biff's ancestor). Eventually, Marty returned to 1985 and reunited with Jennifer. Needles (another teenager) pulled up next to them at a stop-light and challenged Marty to a race. Marty agreed, but put his car into reverse instead, and saw that he would have collided with a Rolls Royce if he'd gone straight ahead. Jennifer then pulled out the fax that she'd picked up in 2015, where the words "YOU'RE FIRED" faded to blank.
At the end of the third film, the fax went blank because it had been taken to the past. (In Doc Brown's words: "Of course it's erased! It means your future hasn't been written yet! No-one's has!") By that logic, the sports almanac and the newspapers in the second film should also have been erased when they went to the past, so how was Biff able to use the almanac to place bets?
In brief, Jennifer's piece of paper didn't get erased because it was in the past, it got erased because they'd changed the future. Those changes are personal to their family, so the almanac would stay intact in the past. (Or if different teams won matches, the almanac would change to have the new results, as long as it eventually got published.)
Elaborating on that, look at the photograph of the gravestone in part 3. Doc Brown explicitly said: "We know that this photo represents what will happen if the events of today continue to run their course into tomorrow." Initially it showed Doc Brown's name, then it went blank, then it showed Clint Eastwood (Marty's assumed name), and finally the photo just showed an empty patch of grass after the gravestone was smashed in half.
Similarly with the newspapers in part 2, they showed what would happen in 1985 (e.g. George McFly either being murdered or receiving an award).
So, why did the fax change? I originally said:
"Marty didn't race Needles, therefore he didn't crash his car, and he never wound up working in that office job."
However, after rewatching the films recently, I think there's a bit more to it.
Putting this another way, why didn't Doc warn Marty not to race Needles? He certainly owes Marty a favour, after Marty saved his life twice! Look at the conversation they had in 2015, when Doc was briefing Marty to impersonate his son: "Griff's gonna ask you about tonight. Are you in or out? Tell him you are out! Whatever he says, whatever happens, say no, you're not interested!" The whole point of them going to the future was that this event starts a chain reaction and ends up destroying Marty's entire family.
However, when Marty and Doc were in 1885, they had this conversation:
Doc could have adapted his previous advice: "Needles is going to challenge you to a race. Just say no!" However, I don't think that would have helped, because the true problem ran deeper than a single incident.
Look back at the scene in 2015, where Needles goaded Marty into the dodgy activity. This was 30 years after the car crash, so Marty had had a lot of time to think about what went wrong. We saw him pick up a guitar, even though he couldn't play it anymore, so he was clearly conscious of what he'd lost. However, in that timeline he'd learned the wrong lesson, because he repeated exactly the same mistake again: Needles knew that calling Marty chicken was the magic word to make him do anything, and Marty kept falling for it.
Based on that, suppose that Doc had persuaded Marty not to race Needles, so he'd avoided the crash and the injury. Maybe he would have then become a big rockstar, but maybe not. Looking at shows like Pop Idol, there are plenty of people who can sing but don't become rich and famous, and I assume that the same thing applies to guitar players too. So, even if Marty had kept playing guitar, maybe his band (The Pinheads) never made it to the big time, or maybe he chose to take an office job when he got older so that he could provide stability for his family. Or maybe he would have faced a similar challenge as a musician (e.g. embezzling funds from the record company).
The point is, whatever career path Marty followed, sooner or later he'd be in a similar position again. If the memory of the crash wasn't enough to teach him restraint, avoiding the crash certainly wouldn't have helped. It's not Doc's job to play guardian angel and warn Marty every time he's about to "flush his life down the toilet" (to borrow one of old man Biff's phrases); all Doc can do is offer general advice.
So, what changed? Why did the fax go blank? It's because of what Marty learned in 1885. The pivotal moment was when Buford called him out for a duel (giving him a count of ten), and the men in the saloon told him that he'd be branded a coward if he didn't go out there. That's when Marty had his epiphany: "He's an asshole! I don't care what Tannen says. And I don't care what anybody else says either."
That's why Marty tried to walk away from the duel, that's why he refused to race Needles (without knowing about the crash), that's why he wouldn't have agreed to steal from his employer, and that's why the fax went blank. By the end of part 3, Marty has matured to a point where he's avoided that destiny.
Just to clarify, none of this post is intended as a fan theory or head canon. I.e. I think this was all explicitly intended by the film makers. However, the nuance might not be obvious to everyone (as per this Reddit discussion), and I think it's worth giving credit to a summer blockbuster that has this level of subtlety.
By contrast, look at films like "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", where the character development basically consists of one character repeating another character's line. ("Eyes open, boy, I can't protect you all the time.")
The original question involves the ending of part 3, so I need to give big spoilers for the whole trilogy. Please proceed with caution if you haven't seen the films yet!
Recap
Here's a quick recap of the relevant plot points:
In the first film, Doc Brown invented a time machine out of a DeLorean car. He was then killed by Libyan terrorists, and his young friend Marty escaped by taking the car back to 1955. Marty accidentally changed history, and had to set things right before he could return. He also left a message for Doc Brown, warning him about his eventual death, and this led to a revised timeline where Doc survived.
In the second film, Doc took Marty and Jennifer (Marty's girlfriend) into the far-flung future of 2015. ("It's your kids, Marty, something's got to be done about your kids!") While they were there, Jennifer saw a glimpse of her future married life: the older Marty had injured his hand after crashing into a Rolls Royce, and he agreed to commit some kind of fraud against his employer but immediately got fired.
Meanwhile, the younger Marty bought a sports almanac (showing the results of baseball games etc.), intending to take it back to 1985 and use it for gambling. Doc refused to allow this, but Biff (the main antagonist of the series) stole the book and the car, going back to 1955. This changed history in a big way, and the new version of 1985 was unrecognisable. (I recommend reading the "Biff to the Future" comic for more details on the alternate timeline.) Eventually, Marty and Doc were able to set things right, undoing Biff's changes.
In the third film, Doc and Marty went to 1885 and faced Buford Tannen (Biff's ancestor). Eventually, Marty returned to 1985 and reunited with Jennifer. Needles (another teenager) pulled up next to them at a stop-light and challenged Marty to a race. Marty agreed, but put his car into reverse instead, and saw that he would have collided with a Rolls Royce if he'd gone straight ahead. Jennifer then pulled out the fax that she'd picked up in 2015, where the words "YOU'RE FIRED" faded to blank.
Question
At the end of the third film, the fax went blank because it had been taken to the past. (In Doc Brown's words: "Of course it's erased! It means your future hasn't been written yet! No-one's has!") By that logic, the sports almanac and the newspapers in the second film should also have been erased when they went to the past, so how was Biff able to use the almanac to place bets?
Answer
In brief, Jennifer's piece of paper didn't get erased because it was in the past, it got erased because they'd changed the future. Those changes are personal to their family, so the almanac would stay intact in the past. (Or if different teams won matches, the almanac would change to have the new results, as long as it eventually got published.)
Elaborating on that, look at the photograph of the gravestone in part 3. Doc Brown explicitly said: "We know that this photo represents what will happen if the events of today continue to run their course into tomorrow." Initially it showed Doc Brown's name, then it went blank, then it showed Clint Eastwood (Marty's assumed name), and finally the photo just showed an empty patch of grass after the gravestone was smashed in half.
Similarly with the newspapers in part 2, they showed what would happen in 1985 (e.g. George McFly either being murdered or receiving an award).
So, why did the fax change? I originally said:
"Marty didn't race Needles, therefore he didn't crash his car, and he never wound up working in that office job."
However, after rewatching the films recently, I think there's a bit more to it.
Putting this another way, why didn't Doc warn Marty not to race Needles? He certainly owes Marty a favour, after Marty saved his life twice! Look at the conversation they had in 2015, when Doc was briefing Marty to impersonate his son: "Griff's gonna ask you about tonight. Are you in or out? Tell him you are out! Whatever he says, whatever happens, say no, you're not interested!" The whole point of them going to the future was that this event starts a chain reaction and ends up destroying Marty's entire family.
However, when Marty and Doc were in 1885, they had this conversation:
Doc: "Marty, you can't go losing your judgment every time someone calls you a name. That's exactly what causes you to get into that accident in the future."
Marty: "What? What about my future?
Doc: "I can't tell you. It might make things worse."
Doc could have adapted his previous advice: "Needles is going to challenge you to a race. Just say no!" However, I don't think that would have helped, because the true problem ran deeper than a single incident.
Look back at the scene in 2015, where Needles goaded Marty into the dodgy activity. This was 30 years after the car crash, so Marty had had a lot of time to think about what went wrong. We saw him pick up a guitar, even though he couldn't play it anymore, so he was clearly conscious of what he'd lost. However, in that timeline he'd learned the wrong lesson, because he repeated exactly the same mistake again: Needles knew that calling Marty chicken was the magic word to make him do anything, and Marty kept falling for it.
Based on that, suppose that Doc had persuaded Marty not to race Needles, so he'd avoided the crash and the injury. Maybe he would have then become a big rockstar, but maybe not. Looking at shows like Pop Idol, there are plenty of people who can sing but don't become rich and famous, and I assume that the same thing applies to guitar players too. So, even if Marty had kept playing guitar, maybe his band (The Pinheads) never made it to the big time, or maybe he chose to take an office job when he got older so that he could provide stability for his family. Or maybe he would have faced a similar challenge as a musician (e.g. embezzling funds from the record company).
The point is, whatever career path Marty followed, sooner or later he'd be in a similar position again. If the memory of the crash wasn't enough to teach him restraint, avoiding the crash certainly wouldn't have helped. It's not Doc's job to play guardian angel and warn Marty every time he's about to "flush his life down the toilet" (to borrow one of old man Biff's phrases); all Doc can do is offer general advice.
So, what changed? Why did the fax go blank? It's because of what Marty learned in 1885. The pivotal moment was when Buford called him out for a duel (giving him a count of ten), and the men in the saloon told him that he'd be branded a coward if he didn't go out there. That's when Marty had his epiphany: "He's an asshole! I don't care what Tannen says. And I don't care what anybody else says either."
That's why Marty tried to walk away from the duel, that's why he refused to race Needles (without knowing about the crash), that's why he wouldn't have agreed to steal from his employer, and that's why the fax went blank. By the end of part 3, Marty has matured to a point where he's avoided that destiny.