What do we associate with outstanding people? It is unlikely that the image of a mad scientist springs to mind. But Emmett Lathrop Brown is that kind of person. He, being more famous as Doc Brown, or just Doc, is one of the main characters of the film trilogy “Back to the Future”. He was a physics teacher, he is the time-machine inventor, he is a nuclear scientist, and he is Marty McFly’s friend. Why is Doc so eminent and sticking in everybody’s memory?
Speaking of Emmett as a character, he made a great contribution to the cinema industry. He became one of the first prototypes (after Victor Frankenstein) of “Mad science type” which is used in “Rick and Morty”, a science fiction sitcom, and other sci-fi stories brought to life on screen.
He said some phrases which have become popular expressions. For instance, Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the USA, quoted Emmett Brown by the cult excerpt: «Roads? Where we’re going, we do not need roads». Doc’s quote “If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything” has been put into the list of “100 valuable advice from films” in ShortList Magazine. Doc Brown’s phrase “Great Scott !”, about an American general, has become a widespread idiom and an internet-meme.
In accordance with the plot of the films, Doc’s progress in science was terribly important too. As a creator of the time-machine, his achievements were gradual. The audience do not know a lot about his childhood and past, because it was not mentioned in the films. But according to add-on materials and official comics, Emmett Brown was born in Hill Valley in the summer of 1914 to a family of a German immigrant and an American. His biography is extremely exciting. Von Braun, his father, (this is their former surname, that they had changed after World War I) was a lawyer, and he wanted his son to be a lawyer, too. Emmett was not interested in science since childhood, his first hobby was reading. So, after he was high on Jules Verne’s books at the age of thirteen, he fell for physics. At sixteen he had his own laboratory for experiments. Nevertheless, Doc’s family did not support him in his interests. Emmett went against the advice of the family and became a scientist. He started some projects and experiments, though not successful.
All the information about Doc’s past was taken from an alternative scenario or a cartoon serial. Some trilogy’s fans think that Emmett Brown is related to the real scientist Wernher von Braun, who was the founder of rocket building, and like Emmett, had German roots. Leopold Stokowski and Albert Einstein are known as others prototypes of the character.
By the way, Robert Zemeckis, the scriptwriter of the trilogy, supposed that Emmett Brown had worked with the Manhattan Project, the USA project of nuclear weapon development. This experience might help Doc with time-machine constructing.
The idea of this invention came to Emmett in the 1950’s, when he was a school teacher. On November 5th, while hanging the clock in the bathroom, Doc felt down, hit the washbasin and saw a vision about the construction that makes time travelling real. He spent a lot of money on his idea, but finally got it. During the work on time-machine, Emmett Brown had to earn for living by his «Dr. E Brown Enterprises: 24 hr. Science Service! ». Also he had to cooperate with bandits to procure himself with plutonium, which is needed as a fuel to the machine.
Doc’s friendship with Marty McFly has a significant importance. During the films, passionate viewers check up on warm relations between them two, but there is no scene in the trilogy that explains the way they met and became friends. The year 1983 was mentioned in the first scenario’s version. Then, Doc Brown offered Marty 50 dollars a week, free beer and vintage music, if the boy cleaned the laboratory-garage. However, this version was not included into the trilogy and was changed by phrase: “Children are always intrigued by the strange people living next door”.
In the films Marty and Doc met in 1955, then Marty said that he had come from the future. Emmett did not believe him, so the boy had to tell Doc the story about the invention of the time-machine. Judging by the facts, in order not to change the course of history Doc Brown withheld the fact that he knew Marty.
In IDW comics the story of their meeting was finally told: Marty was trying to get into Doc’s garage on a bet to steal the lamp, when he fell into a snare, made by Doc. But Marty got out, so Emmett Brown was confused and amazed. After that, Doc asked Marty to work with him as an assistant, and Marty agreed.
Was Doc just mad and not overstanding? Some fans have stunning theories about it. Within the story Doc has been a kind and caring person. He has always worried about Marty, supported him. He has been not only Marty’s helper, but also has made comic effect by his phrases and selfless ambitions to the dream. Christopher Lloyd, the actor playing Doc Brown, saw Emmett as a “very positive person, that is always in conflict”, he had to be a step ahead and overcome difficulties.
So, some fans have a theory about Doc and Marty’s death in the first film. According to this suggestion, when the characters were testing the time-machine, it shot them down, and they were dead. Well, they had never travelled to the future or to the past, and the whole trilogy’s plot was their vision before their death, their personal hell or paradise.
Marty’s visions were in the first and second films. He had got into hell. As for Emmett Brown, his paradise was shown in the third film. Doc got into that blessed place because of his character and personality. He had an image of a victim martyr that had sacrificed his personal life, family, professional career for scientific explorations. Nevertheless, Doc Brown was a great friend, because he had always put Marty’s safety as a priority. So, Doc got into paradise: he was in his favorite era, he became a recognized scientist, he met the woman of his life, built a family, his friend was saved. In this part of the film Emmett became the main character, too.
Speaking of Doc’s personality, we should mention psychological typologies. One of the most famous ones is MBTI, or Myers–Briggs Type Indicator. This psychological typology is pseudoscientific, but it helps to understand characters’ personalities. It is based on four pairs of opposite characteristics. Questions in MBTI tests are divided into four categories and take into consideration two dichotomous pairs of cognitive functions. In concordance with this typology Emmett Brown is INTP, logic (introversion, intuition, thinking and perceiving). His Dominate Function is Introverted Thinking. Doc Brown is logical and makes choices based on facts. He is curious, always interested in new information, experience. He approaches a problem from a variety of perspectives before finding the best decision. Doc has not had a long trail of prototypes before his time machine makes a successful test run. Emmett Brown’s Auxiliary Function is Extroverted Intuition. Doc Brown has a great imagination that generates new ideas faster than he can implement his previous ones. He rarely continues old projects, preferring just to start something new. Doc’s Tertiary Function is Introverted Sensing. Emmett Brown has a habit of not noticing the world around him. He is often absorbed in his ideas and investigation. Doc has a brilliant memory and loves history, that is why he chooses to go back to the old west and remain there. Emmett Brown’s Inferior Function is Extroverted Feeling. Doc does not subject to expressing raw emotion, as seemed by his reluctance to start a relationship. That is why it is difficult for Emmett to fit into society. He tries to avoid conflicts and emotional moments, he is eccentric, however, he is honest and caring for people, who can make peace with Doc’s oddity.
In some sources Doc Brown is shown as a ENTP, debater (extraversion, intuition, thinking and perceiving). According to this idea, his Dominant Function is Extraverted Intuition. So, he is constantly chasing the next great idea, it is easy for him to understand all the paradoxes of time-travel and to explain it to Marty. Doc’s Auxiliary Function is Introverted Thinking. To say Doc Brown is a problem solver undersells it. As Christopher Lloyd said, he is always in conflict and have to solve not only his own problems, but his friend’s too. This Function helps Doc to find a potential in everything around and makes him prosper at any time. Well, Emmett’s Tertiary Function is Extraverted Feeling, that means that he does not care what people think about his work, he just continues making his ideas. Finally, Doc’s Inferior Function is Introverted Sensing. He is forgetful and careless despite his brilliance—he almost goes on his first time-traveling trip without extra plutonium.
By the way, this MBTI types are quite similar, so Emmett Brown has same characteristics in it, what helps viewers and readers to understand him better.
All in all, while analyzing characters, any of us broadens our horizons and sharpens our vision of the world. Emmett Brown with his genius, sense of purpose, need for achievements, is in each of us, as well as with his irresponsibility and inattention.
Fictional characters are made inspired by people to inspire people. As Doc Brown does.
By: Selivanova Maria Yaroslavovna
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