# Question about BTTF 2 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 14, 2010, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140 "2010-06-14T14:50:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/21 "2010-06-15T01:11:12Z")
Orrrrr… since the joke wouldn’t work unless the rain stopped at that exact instant, the FX crew decided to assume we would understand that in 2015 the world hadn’t been taken over by some weather-controlling cabal. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/22 "2010-06-15T07:58:56Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Orrrrr… since the joke wouldn’t work unless the rain stopped at that exact instant, the FX crew decided to assume we would understand that in 2015 the world hadn’t been taken over by some weather-controlling cabal. Seriously. It never occured to me to think we were supposed to think that Ronald Reagan’s 2015 doppleganger has a weather controlling device. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/23 "2010-06-15T14:29:49Z")
I always assumed that it was #2. Doc Brown is the type that would make a note of the comings and goings of trains and how on schedule they were - that would easily transfer over to tracking the daily(?) scheduled rain showers. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/24 "2010-06-15T14:51:00Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Definitely #2. It’s scheduled. > > The rain doesn’t taper off–it cuts off like they turned off a tap (which, of course, is what the FX guys did), and the clouds roll away within seconds. It’s pretty clearly not a natural ending to a heavy rain, and the fact that the FX crew was perfectly capable of making it look reasonably natural argues that they did it this way deliberately. That has always been my take on it, and rewatching the scene just now only reinforced it. Uh, that’s the joke. That the weathermen are so precise at predicting the weather they can tell you the exact second it will end, unlike the present where it’s basically guesswork. It’s a quick gag. It wouldn’t be funny otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/25 "2010-06-15T14:53:28Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > Uh, that’s the joke. That the weathermen are so precise at predicting the weather they can tell you the exact second it will end, unlike the present where it’s basically guesswork. It’s a quick gag. It wouldn’t be funny otherwise. Uh, that’s not the joke. If the weather prediction capabilities of weathermen were to advance overnight to predict every slight breeze or cloud, it STILL wouldn’t change the fundamental nature of how it rains - i.e. it slowly tapers off from a heavy downpour over the course of about an hour. The joke is that the rain stopped abruptly, since it was on a set schedule. ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/26 "2010-06-15T15:57:04Z")
#2 seems more likely to me. ---
**Author:** ![Flying\_Saucer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9dc877/32.png) [@Flying\_Saucer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flying_Saucer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/27 "2010-06-15T16:09:58Z")
I vote for #1, based on dialogue elsewhere in the film. Later in BTTF 2, when Marty has again traveled back to 1955, he helps Doc set up the cables and rigging for the clock tower. Doc says rather sadly, “The weather man says there isn’t going to be any rain.” Marty replies, “Since when can weathermen predict the weather, let alone the future?” So many things connect in the BTTF films that I think this exchange is a callback to the 2015 rain joke. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/28 "2010-06-15T16:58:13Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Uh, that’s not the joke. If the weather prediction capabilities of weathermen were to advance overnight to predict every slight breeze or cloud, it STILL wouldn’t change the fundamental nature of how it rains - i.e. it slowly tapers off from a heavy downpour over the course of about an hour. The joke is that the rain stopped abruptly, since it was on a set schedule. You people voting for Number 2 are reading _way_ too much into the joke. Look, I’ve got the scene cued up right now. Doc says, “First we’ve got to get out and change clothes.”, then Marty says, “Right now? It’s pouring rain!”. Doc looks at his watch and says, “Wait five more seconds.” Five seconds pass; the rain stops and the clouds part. Doc gets out of the DeLorean and looks up at the sky. “Right on the tick. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Too bad the Post Office isn’t as efficient as the Weather Service.” So why would he say “Amazing” twice if it was scheduled? The only way the joke works is if the rain stops on that exact second. And I’m from Oklahoma and I can tell you that rainstorms don’t _always_ taper off. Some of them _do_ stop that abruptly. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/29 "2010-06-15T17:06:04Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > So why would he say “Amazing” twice if it was scheduled? The only way the joke works is if the rain stops on that exact second. And I’m from Oklahoma and I can tell you that rainstorms don’t _always_ taper off. Some of them _do_ stop that abruptly. Also, if it was scheduled, why would they have a pouring rain storm in the middle of the day anyway? Especially when tons of people are outside? Wouldn’t they avoid rain if it was scheduled and announced? You number 2s are all officially weird. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/30 "2010-06-15T17:28:41Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > You people voting for Number 2 are reading _way_ too much into the joke. Look, I’ve got the scene cued up right now. Doc says, “First we’ve got to get out and change clothes.”, then Marty says, “Right now? It’s pouring rain!”. Doc looks at his watch and says, “Wait five more seconds.” Five seconds pass; the rain stops and the clouds part. Doc gets out of the DeLorean and looks up at the sky. “Right on the tick. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Too bad the Post Office isn’t as efficient as the Weather Service.” > > So why would he say “Amazing” twice if it was scheduled? The only way the joke works is if the rain stops on that exact second. And I’m from Oklahoma and I can tell you that rainstorms don’t _always_ taper off. Some of them _do_ stop that abruptly. He would say “Amazing” because it would be pretty bloody amazing to someone from 1985 (or from 2010) if we had a system capable of instantly ending a heavy rain and clearing all the clouds from the sky in less than 15 seconds. Also note that he doesn’t praise the Weather Service for being “accurate”; he says they’re “efficient”, and he compares them to the Post Office, which is in the business of delivering things, not making predictions. Yes, the joke only works if the rain stops that exact second…because it’s _scheduled_. 😃 > [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Also, if it was scheduled, why would they have a pouring rain storm in the middle of the day anyway? Especially when tons of people are outside? Wouldn’t they avoid rain if it was scheduled and announced? Cooling and/or pollution control, maybe. Or some other reason that makes sense in BttF 2015 that we know nothing about. Also, we didn’t see anyone outside in the rain, as I recall, though there were lots of people walking around after it ended. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/31 "2010-06-15T17:49:23Z")
You people who think #2 is correct remind me of those who think there were aliens at the end of **AI**. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/32 "2010-06-15T17:54:10Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > “Right on the tick. Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Too bad the Post Office isn’t as efficient as the Weather Service.” > > So why would he say “Amazing” twice if it was scheduled? The only way the joke works is if the rain stops on that exact second. And I’m from Oklahoma and I can tell you that rainstorms don’t _always_ taper off. Some of them _do_ stop that abruptly. You’re missing the obvious. What does the Post Office do? It \*delivers \*mail on an unpredictable schedule. If the mail got to me on a to-the-minute basis, I’d think that’d be amazing as well. ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/33 "2010-06-15T17:58:44Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Uh, that’s not the joke. If the weather prediction capabilities of weathermen were to advance overnight to predict every slight breeze or cloud, it STILL wouldn’t change the fundamental nature of how it rains - i.e. it slowly tapers off from a heavy downpour over the course of about an hour. The joke is that the rain stopped abruptly, since it was on a set schedule. Some of you have never been to Florida during the rainy season. Rain can not only turn on and off like a spigot, it can have a clear boundary where the front of my car is in pouring rain and the rear of my car is not getting hit at all. ETA: It could be that he is referring to the weather **control** service, the weather **prediction** service, or (him having a future newspaper in his hands at the time) a weather **recording** service. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/34 "2010-06-15T18:00:27Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > Some of you have never been to Florida during the rainy season. Rain can not only turn on and off like a spigot, it can have a clear boundary where the front of my car is in pouring rain and the rear of my car is not getting hit at all. No - I’ve experienced rain like that. But rain like that is not typical, nor predictable. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/35 "2010-06-15T18:39:58Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > ETA: It could be that he is referring to the weather **control** service, the weather **prediction** service, or (him having a future newspaper in his hands at the time) a weather **recording** service. :smack: I forgot all about that. Yeah, #2ers are definitely nuts. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/36 "2010-06-15T18:49:43Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > …Also note that he doesn’t praise the Weather Service for being “accurate”; he says they’re “efficient”, and he compares them to the Post Office, which is in the business of delivering things, not making predictions. He compares them to the Post Office because they’re the most logical target for inefficiency jokes, after the Weather Service. It’s a COMEDY, people. Weathermen and mail deliverers are the two most made-fun-of jobs out there, in terms of always being wrong/late/sucky/whatever. He said “efficient” because it wouldn’t make sense to say, “Too bad the Post Office isn’t as accurate as the Weather Service”. That would imply the PO’s main problem is putting mail in wrong boxes, not simply being slow or unreliable, which is the running gag for, you know, most of America. [QUOTE=Munch] You’re missing the obvious. What does the Post Office do? It delivers mail on an unpredictable schedule. If the mail got to me on a to-the-minute basis, I’d think that’d be amazing as well. [/QUOTE] Dude. Seriously? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/37 "2010-06-15T19:01:01Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Dude. Seriously? Yeah, seriously. A few questions: Does Doc Brown seem like the type of guy that watches the weatherman on TV, or does he seem like the type of guy that memorizes train schedules? Which is a more fantastical vision of the future: predicting the weather or controlling the weather? ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/38 "2010-06-15T20:10:30Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Which is a more fantastical vision of the future: predicting the weather or controlling the weather? Especially given that the movie devotes FX time/budget to a shot of the clouds rolling away from the sun at a rate you normally find only in time-lapse videos. Seriously, Doo. You keep saying, “It’s a joke!” We’re _agreeing_–we’re just convinced it’s a slightly different joke, and we’re presenting arguments and evidence to that effect. “It’s a joke!” is not a particularly compelling counterargument. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/39 "2010-06-15T20:40:07Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > “It’s a joke!” is not a particularly compelling counterargument. I would agree with that sentence if that were the only thing I had submitted. But I’ve posted like four times now with my arguments and you guys keep coming back with really bizarre metaphors and illogical conclusions. Allow me to reiterate my arguments one more time: [ul]Doc says, “Right on the tick”, which implies it was scheduled to stop at a certain time and it did. [/ul] [ul]Doc says, “Amazing. Absolutely amazing.”, which implies he’s in awe of something they predicted. If it were scheduled, why would he be so impressed?[/ul] [ul][S]ince the joke wouldn’t work unless the rain stopped at that exact instant, the FX crew decided to assume we would understand that in 2015 the world hadn’t been taken over by some weather-controlling cabal. [/ul] [ul]I’m from Oklahoma and I can tell you that rainstorms don’t always taper off. Some of them do stop that abruptly.[/ul] [ul]He compares them to the Post Office because they’re the most logical target for inefficiency jokes, after the Weather Service.[/ul] [ul]It’s a joke.[/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140/40 "2010-06-15T21:27:49Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Doc says, “Right on the tick”, which implies it was scheduled to stop at a certain time and it did. This supports our contention, not yours. Are you sure you want to enter it in evidence? 😉 > [@](#): > > Doc says, “Amazing. Absolutely amazing.”, which implies he’s in awe of something they predicted. If it were scheduled, why would he be so impressed? I already addressed this one, but I’ll repeat it: Because weather control with such scale and precision would be pretty damn amazing. Even more so than _predicting_ the weather. > [@](#): > > [S]ince the joke wouldn’t work unless the rain stopped at that exact instant, the FX crew decided to assume we would understand that in 2015 the world hadn’t been taken over by some weather-controlling cabal. Your base contention–that the joke only works if the rain stops that instant–is equally applicable to either version. As for your assumption that the FX crew would assume that we would assume that weather control was impossible (but flying cars, hoverboards, and universally integrated biometric identification tech are perfectly plausible)…what in the FX leads you to think that? The things I’ve pointed out in the FX, specifically the abrupt cessation of rain over a large area and the unnaturally rapid clearance of heavy cloud cover (which received a dedicated FX shot to showcase it) point the other way. Why do the FX lead you to the opposite conclusion? If you can’t provide some reasoning based on the FX actually show, your contention is simply an assertion, not an argument. > [@](#): > > I’m from Oklahoma and I can tell you that rainstorms don’t always taper off. Some of them do stop that abruptly. And I’m from Louisiana, and I’ve seen quite a few shops–er, rainstorms–in my time. Abrupt cessation of heavy precipitation is unusual, and still more so if the storm cell is a big one, as the storm in the movie appeared to be. I’ll still grant that it’s not impossible, though it would be quite unusual. The clearance of heavy full-sky overcast in a matter of seconds, on the other hand, is not plausible in my opinion. > [@](#): > > He compares them to the Post Office because they’re the most logical target for inefficiency jokes, after the Weather Service. Yes, they are…which in no way contradicts my position or supports yours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-bttf-2/543140.md?page=3)