For the next few weeks, we will be counting down our 25 favorite blockbusters! Read all of the entries here.

11. Back to the Future (dir. Robert Zemeckis, 1985)

by Ashley Jane Davis, Staff Writer

Fifty-three seconds. One of the most monumental scenes in the history of cinema is only about fifty-three seconds long, and it changed my life forever. However, it should be noted, when I say, “history of cinema”, I mostly mean the history of my brain, but still – no matter how many movies I watch and how my horizons expand, The Pinheads’ audition scene from Back to the Future is as influential as anything. I’m serious!

There are a few very well-known guitar-centered scenes in Back to the Future. There’s the comically huge amp explosion in Doc’s house (notable for Marty playing a rare travel-sized Erlewine Chiquita! Oooh!), the unforgettable Johnny B. Goode fiasco at the Enchantment Under the Sea Dance (notable for Marty playing a gorgeous Gibson ES-345, which wouldn’t even be introduced until 1958! Oooh!) but that brief audition… phew!

I cannot tell you how much I love this scene. It is absolutely thrilling to me! It’s the way Marty just casually strolls over, plugs in, and starts. It’s the way the hi-hats rattle. It’s the way the sound echoes through the empty gymnasium. It’s the way Marty never drops the whammy bar and assaults the bridge of his guitar, bending the notes to nearly unidentifiable tones. It’s the way Jennifer looks on, enraptured, as if her sweetheart is the coolest being on the planet. The other folks watching on weren’t ready for Marty, but I was. How could I do this? How could I learn to play like him?

I have always loved music more than anything (so sorry, movies. You’re up there though). Neither of my parents played any instruments, but from a very young age, I was drawn to expressing myself musically using anything I could, even if I had to make instruments out of rubber bands, cardboard, and tape. I think most musicians have a hero in their field, an inspirational player that first moved them to want to try to learn themselves – it just so happens that mine is a fictional character. Marty McFly is the real reason I first learned to play guitar. 

My older brother got a guitar before I did. I would rush home from school before him and secretly play with this guitar and put it back justtt as I found it so he wouldn’t know I touched it. One day, he caught me! I thought he was going to murder me, but he didn’t. He actually ripped a piece of lined paper from his binder, grabbed a ballpoint pen, and started drawing. I waited nervously to see what he was up to. He handed me the sheet of paper. It was a drawing of the first three frets of a guitar with six lines, one for each string, and three prominent dots. “That’s an A minor.” Wow! My first chord! A minor, all day long. I found an old music book at my school library and built my knowledge of chords from there. My fingers were sore 100% of the time, but hey, this is how Marty would have started, right?

I was so proud when I finally mastered “Earth Angel”. I would get home from school, run to my room, and play Earth Angel for 2 hours nonstop, as a typical 10-year-old in 1995 would, each time exclaiming, “this is for all you lovers out there.” Eventually, I tried to experiment with playing it with all the mistakes Marty makes as he’s being erased…. From existence! – always to a varying degree of success. Of course, I also began to learn other rock and pop songs, and began writing songs of my own too, but there was just something comforting about going back to the songs I could watch endlessly on my VHS tape of Back to the Future.

A big pet peeve of mine in films is when it is glaringly obvious that the actor is not playing the instrument they are pretending to. I understand, they are acting, it’s a movie – who cares? But I’m always thinking, “but… what if you just tried? Make it look a little more believable.” I’m kind of obnoxious about it, if I’m honest. While Michael J. Fox is not actually playing the guitar in Back to the Future, I am truly impressed by the work he put into this aspect of his role. He spent a lot of time not only learning the songs, but also learning how to move naturally and watching him perform is really fun!

It honestly took me years to realize that they were playing “The Power of Love” at this rehearsal. The joke was lost on me. Huey Lewis himself complains that it’s just too darn loud, but I wonder if he secretly wished he recorded it to make it sound *this* awesome. Many years later I would be in a band and would beg them to play this song. We did, and it was a lot of fun, but dammit, we were not The Pinheads. 

I watched this fifty-three seconds for probably the four thousandth time just now. Guess what! It made me very excited to make music. I am now thinking about my guitar, resting under the bed, just waiting. Each day is its own creative space. It’s not easy to be vulnerable and share your art. The world at large may not be ready for the ideas inside your brain. Maybe your friends and loved ones don’t really get it. You may hear Lorraine’s voice say, “Marty, that was very interesting music.” Well, there is nothing wrong with being “interesting”! You just never know when someone who is ready may find ya! My advice is to instead listen to Jennifer. Get your ideas out there! I’m challenging myself to do this and I am officially challenging you to do the same. 

“If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything” – George McFly

Now. Please enjoy.