Back to the Future (w/ Jon Shelton)

Rivka and Frank are joined by Jon Shelton, professor of democracy and justice studies at University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, for a deep dive on the 1985 classic Back to the Future. According to a 2021 study, the United States trails behind nearly every country in the European Union when it comes to economic mobility and opportunity. Much of that disparity is systemic: Class, race, and gender contribute to whether a young person will become more or less financially prosperous than their parents. Almost 40 years ago, Robert Zemeckis' sci-fi comedy Back to the Future spoke to this phenomenon. In today’s episode, the MVC group discusses the film’s focus on hyper-individualism as it relates to economic mobility. They also critique the character of Doc Brown for his reckless “Silicon Valley-esque” scientific approach, and unpack the flawed sexual politics ascribed to the lead female character, Lorraine Baines McFly. A rough transcript of the episode is available here.
For next week’s movie, MVC will be watching Michael Cimino’s epic Western Heaven’s Gate.Links: The Education Myth: How Human Capital Trumped Social Democracy (Cornell University Press, 2023) The Goldie Wilson Conspiracy (Yo! Black Pop Culture) To get access to MVC PREMIUM episodes click here. 

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