Hill Valley

The film Back to the future II is often credited to have predicted some things that actually had become reality in 2015 – somehow. But now the year 2015 is in the past, and it’s possible to make some considerations not for the things that were predicted in the film, but for those things that the film has utterly missed.... ... (continue reading).

The film Back to the future II is often credited to have predicted some things that actually had become reality in 2015 – somehow. But now the year 2015 is in the past, and it’s possible to make some considerations not for the things that were predicted in the film, but for those things that the film has utterly missed.
The question is: if Marty McFly had arrived in the real 2015, what would the scenes in the movie have looked like?

Well, actually in terms of flying cars, we have to admit that some differences between the movie and our reality still exist. And even in matters of flying hoverboards, it's not as if technology has made great leaps since then (the Venice Beach skatepark is certainly not famous for hoverboards today).
Regarding the "Jaws" film series, we haven't exactly made it to number 19, and if grampa gets injured playing golf, he probably doesn't come home upside down, moreover suspended in the air hooked up to a strange machine.

For some cases, it has to be said that it was impossible for the producers to imagine how certain things would have evolved. In fact, for certain points in the list we need to ask ourselves whether it’s more strange what the producers of the film have predicted, or our reality.
So lets review Marty's arrival in a real- life 2015 Hill Valley.

This list includes mainly those items that correspond closely to the scenes in the film.

10) Smartphones

The producers of the film predicted that in 2015 we should have devices capable to repeat the last words of each speech by pressing a single button (mostly used to insult Marty). Indeed, this is not our main use of smartphones.

But should Marty have arrived in the real 2015, he would surely have stumbled upon people walking everywhere with their faces down, and their eyes glued to their smartphones. And it is easy to imagine the scene where he would have wondered what they all had to look at, that was so important that they completely ignored their surroundings.

9) Selfies

What happens usually today when an extraordinary, or even just a curious event occurs, for example a gang of young people flying with hoverboards into the city hall, shattering all glasses? Exactly, those who are nearby will waste no time in taking a few selfies, maybe even to make a video.
And that is exactly what does not happen in the film, after that a gang of young people flew with hoverboards into the city hall, shattering all glasses. In our reality, most people would not have stood by to watch the scene with empty hands.

Well, as we know, the habit to take selfies occurs today even for something much, much less spectacular and relevant …for example, when someone simply wants to take a picture of the own food. Who knows how Doc would have explained this strange modern- day practice to Marty.

8) Cinema

Even after 2015, up to Jaws 19 it still seems to be a long way (in the meantime, there are even more Sharknado films). And in any case, if you walk in any city in our reality (whether it's 2015 or today), frankly you don't happen to find Holomax Theaters, where the protagonists of current films surprise you as holograms every time you pass by.
But even if they had existed, it’s more likely that the Holomax Theater in Hill Valley would have projected the hologram of a superhero movie, instead of a shark.

Who knows how Marty would have reacted at the sudden appearance of the Avengers (well, at their holograms).

7) SUV’s

According to BTTF 2, the cars in 2015 seem to have essentially two characteristics: the first is that in many cases they are exactly the same as the cars in the 80’s (even the Taxis), but horribly tuned. The second is that they can fly (obviously... what else?). ...And if your car still doesn’t fly in 2015, Goldie Wilson III has a Hover Conversion System, for only $39.999,95.
For some reason, all this has failed to happen in real life... who knows why. But in one thing Marty would certainly have come across in reality, which is completely missing in the film (not that we in reality should be too proud of it): SUV’s.

Probably in 1989 their existence would not have seemed futuristic enough. And anyway, there was no reason to imagine something like that for the future. But at least in our reality they don’t fly, not even if you are willing to pay $39.999,95.

6) People walking around with coffee cups

No, in our reality the most common habit in matters of drinks has never been to order a Pepsi Perfect. Instead, it’s to walk holding a coffee cup in your hand, with such a variety of options, that it would certainly have seemed futuristic enough to the producers to include it in a scene of the movie.
As happens in many cities in reality, today as well as in 2015, Marty would probably have seen several people walking around holding a cup of coffee.

But thankfully in reality, to order coffee at least you don't have to turn to a former president in front of a monitor, who is arguing with someone else.

5) E-scooters

What we have seen in Back to the future 2: automatic dog walkers. What we don’t have seen in real 2015: automatic dog walkers. What we have seen in real 2015, that we don’t have seen in BTTF 2: electric scooters.

Perhaps the film's writers thought that the world of 2015 would reach the peak of environmentally sustainable individual mobility with hoverboards. Or perhaps a scooter – basically as they knew it even then, but electrified – seemed too trivial (even in a flying version). After all, for those who know BTTF 1, the skateboard stolen by Marty in 1955 from a child is also originally a kind of scooter.

But should Marty have been in Hill Valley of the real 2015, he probably would have encountered several of them around. In fact, perhaps he would have "borrowed" one to escape from Griff.

4) Streaming services

When Marty senior comes back home, Marty jr. is watching TV. Lot of TV. Conventional TV channels. Many of them contemporary. ...No streaming?

Although in 2015 the variety of streaming platforms was not yet the same as today, let's say that Marty jr. has a very different conception of binge watching than we do: instead of watching one episode after another, he watches many programs at the same time.
So, let’s consider our binge watching a sort of evolution of what was assumed in the movie to become our normality.

3) Email and messaging

Marty senior gets fired. That’s sad. But even more, the way that it’s communicated to him: with fax.
Today we know that the evolution of the fax has not been … …many faxes, possibly everywhere around the house, but email and messaging.
Therefore, in real 2015, no message would have popped up in various parts of the home.
Not that the message "You're fired" would have become more pleasant to receive in this way. But at least Marty senior would not have to give immediate explanations to all other family members.

2) Internet

In 1989, when the film came out, internet did not yet exist. So no one could know what it had produced over the years. Consequently, Doc has acquired analogically all the information that he communicates to Marty about the events and his family, for example, through the newspaper.
It is also necessary to consider that Doc spent some time in 2015, before returning to 1985 to pick up Marty and Jennifer: in addition to undergoing a facelift, he adapted the car so that it could fly.
At no time during his presence does he seem to have come across anything like information available online, or some of the devices to read them, such as tablets.

Besides, it would certainly have been curious to see the social media profiles of all members of the McFly family in real 2015 (the daughter would probably have been an influencer).

1) Hipsters

In 2015 Marty runs into a lot of people dressed in ways that we would call just as strange today as we would have in 1989. In one category of people, however, he does not run into at all: hipsters. There is simply no trace of them. No one with a particularly well-groomed beard, absolutely none of that.
Still, in a real 2015 more sooner than later he would have met at least a few of them. Certainly hipsters would have loved the Café 80’s, so perhaps he would have found some hipsters there.

However, it must be said that the producers in 1989 could absolutely not foresee the existence of hipsters in the future. ...On the other hand, it's not like they necessarily look particularly futuristic.