# What if "Back to the Future" took place in 1990? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 15, 2020, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461 "2020-01-15T18:07:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/41 "2020-01-16T18:04:25Z")
The appeal of the original BTTF is how quaint life was compared to 1985. It really wasn’t about tech at all. You didn’t have Marty going “Hey doc, how do you use this rotary phone?” or anything like that. In “1985” they had the tech to build a time-travelling delorean that ran on plutonium, which obviously wasn’t even real. So a reboot focusing on technical differences between '90 and now would be quite tedious I think. In some ways I think race-relations are WORSE now than they were in 1990, so… awkward! Yeah, there’s plenty of room for gay jokes, Trump jokes, etc. but I think that would wear thin quickly. 1990 didn’t have a bunch of people with their faces in a phone calling eachother all sorts of nasty names. An improvement, really. But it wasn’t “quaint.” ---
**Author:** ![Garak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d78d45/32.png) [@Garak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garak)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/42 "2020-01-16T18:09:04Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In the original movie, I don’t think Doc Brown was particularly shocked by Marty’s camcorder. (He was a little taken aback to see footage of his own death, though.) he wasn’t shocked by the concept of a camera, but he was shocked by how small and portable it was (no wonder your President has to be an actor: he’s gotta look good on television!) ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/43 "2020-01-16T18:19:24Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Now, what would BTTF2 look like, with Marty jumping forward to 2050? Utopia, or dystopia? Would the coastal cities be underwater yet? How many millions of climate refugees would there be? BTTF2 was laughably “off” in many of it’s predictions, so it really doesn’t matter what they do. I don’t think dystopia (horror dystopia, not Idiocracy) would play well with a sci-fi comedy. I would think they’d be smart enough to realize flying cars running on garbage probably aren’t going to be a thing for regular folks anytime soon. I am cautiously optimistic we will have level 5 autonomous cars 30 years from now, but not flying ones. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/44 "2020-01-16T18:21:56Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Cosby was mentioned earlier in the thread. > > WHAT? SNL is still on the air? While SNL has been running longer, I think I’d be more surprised that _The Simpsons_ was still running in 2020. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/45 "2020-01-16T18:24:19Z")
Family watches TV around the dinner table Marty: “I remember this episode. We binge watched it on-demand after a meme about the ending went viral.” His ‘uncle’ as a kid: “What’s on-demand?” … Marty enters the coffee shop Marty (to the man behind the counter) “I’ll take a bottle of water, please.” The employee: “Look, I’ll give you water if you don’t want to pay for a drink, but it’s going to come in a cup like all of our beverages.” … Marty does the Floss dance; the entire auditorium stops and stares Marty: “I know it’s stupid, but your kids are going to love it.” ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/46 "2020-01-16T18:24:11Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > BTTF2 was laughably “off” in many of it’s predictions, so it really doesn’t matter what they do. I don’t think dystopia (horror dystopia, not Idiocracy) would play well with a sci-fi comedy. I was thinking more in terms of how much the movie would have to at least show some of the downsides, and how much it could get away with ignoring before all the critics called it out for a ridiculously Pollyana-ish view of the future. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/47 "2020-01-16T18:40:42Z")
It seems clear that unless you get a really clever screenwriter, a remake/reboot of the movie would be a mistake. Although Hot Tub Time Machine _was_ sort of a remake of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/48 "2020-01-16T18:46:14Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Marty enters the coffee shop > Marty (to the man behind the counter) “I’ll take a bottle of water, please.” > The employee: “Look, I’ll give you water if you don’t want to pay for a drink, but it’s going to come in a cup like all of our beverages.” What am I missing? They had bottled water since way before 1990. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/49 "2020-01-16T18:57:22Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > What am I missing? They had bottled water since way before 1990. What bottled water existed in 1990 was fancy imported stuff like Perrier and the like. I don’t believe bottle water as a product that ordinary people routinely drank was really popularized until maybe the mid to late 1990s. If anything someone who insisted on bottled water and refused to drink tap water in 1990 probably would have been viewed as a bit of a snob. ETA: Or to put it another way, while maybe bottled water existed, it’s not likely something a coffee shop would have kept stocked in the cooler in 1990. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/50 "2020-01-16T19:28:58Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > What bottled water existed in 1990 was fancy imported stuff like Perrier and the like. I don’t believe bottle water as a product that ordinary people routinely drank was really popularized until maybe the mid to late 1990s. If anything someone who insisted on bottled water and refused to drink tap water in 1990 probably would have been viewed as a bit of a snob. > > ETA: Or to put it another way, while maybe bottled water existed, it’s not likely something a coffee shop would have kept stocked in the cooler in 1990. That was in _Heathers_: > [@](#): > > J.D. reaches in both his coat pockets and triumphantly raises out two bottles of Perrier water. > > ``` > J.D. > Perrier water! > > VERONICA > Oh come on. Lots of people drink > Perrier. It's come a long way. > > J.D. > This is Ohio. If you don't have a > brewsky in your hand you might as > well be wearing a dress. > > ``` but even at the time we knew it was a satire. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/51 "2020-01-16T19:38:52Z")
If an 80’s person went back to the 50’s, they would stand because the culture, clothing styles, manner of interactions, etc. was so different. If a 2020’s person went back to the 90’s, I doubt anyone would really notice all that much. Even if they brought their phone with them to the 90’s, I don’t know that it would be in that “scifi” level of technology difference. In the 90’s there were laptops, hand-held TV’s, palm pilots, VCRs, wrist calculators, etc. A smartphone would be a big jump forward, but it wouldn’t be inconceivable in the same way that 80’s tech back in the 50’s would be. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/52 "2020-01-16T19:40:08Z")
I think it would be funny if a teen from today watched MTV in 1990: Today’s teen: “What’s with all the music videos? Don’t they have any reality shows to watch?” 1990 teen: “What the hell is a reality show?” ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/53 "2020-01-16T19:48:33Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > What bottled water existed in 1990 was fancy imported stuff like Perrier and the like. I don’t believe bottle water as a product that ordinary people routinely drank was really popularized until maybe the mid to late 1990s. If anything someone who insisted on bottled water and refused to drink tap water in 1990 probably would have been viewed as a bit of a snob. I’m not sure that bottled water as something you’d expect to find in a convenience store was that weird in 1990 - I remember buying bottled water when I was out riding my bike or stopping off from a camping trip in that time frame, but I could be misremembering. I know it wasn’t until the mid-late 90s that bottled water was seen as a common thing to get, but I’m not sure that in 1990 it would actually be that odd to look for bottled water. The Heathers reference mentioned above was a joke about high end mineral water, and was clearly exaggerated. > [@](#): > > ETA: Or to put it another way, while maybe bottled water existed, it’s not likely something a coffee shop would have kept stocked in the cooler in 1990. Going to a coffee shop for water would be weird, even to me today; usually there’s going to be a convenience store more conveniently located if you’re trying to get a drink even now, much less in 1990. If they included this scene I’d probably find it off for that reason, 2020 Marty going to a coffee shop instead of a convenience store for bottled water would just seem odd. Casually finding a coffee shop would also be a bit odd, in 1992 when Starbucks had their IPO they only had 140 locations nationwide, two orders of magnitude less than the 14000 they have today. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/54 "2020-01-16T19:55:50Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > If an 80’s person went back to the 50’s, they would stand because the culture, clothing styles, manner of interactions, etc. was so different. If a 2020’s person went back to the 90’s, I doubt anyone would really notice all that much. > > Even if they brought their phone with them to the 90’s, I don’t know that it would be in that “scifi” level of technology difference. In the 90’s there were laptops, hand-held TV’s, palm pilots, VCRs, wrist calculators, etc. A smartphone would be a big jump forward, but it wouldn’t be inconceivable in the same way that 80’s tech back in the 50’s would be. I found the Radio Shack ad someone referenced in regards to what a smartphone has replaced. Here is an article about it: [https://consumerist.com/2014/01/17/the-smartphone-has-effectively-replaced-all-the-technology-offered-in-this-1991-radio-shack-ad/](https://consumerist.com/2014/01/17/the-smartphone-has-effectively-replaced-all-the-technology-offered-in-this-1991-radio-shack-ad/) I think the average 1990 person would shocked how widespread cellphone use is in 2020 and how much technology has been converged into one device. ---
**Author:** ![Ashtura](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ashtura/32/2963_2.png) [@Ashtura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ashtura)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/55 "2020-01-16T20:20:48Z")
I would be freakin amazed at a smartphone in 1990. I remember watching a TV show (Time Trax, 1993) about a time-travelling cop who had a computer with AI disguised as a credit card that could do all sorts of crazy stuff. I remember at the time thinking that was utterly ridiculous, even though the “future” it came from was set in 2193. Honestly that seems quite believable now. You c` But just because I’d be amazed by a smartphone, doesn’t mean it’s gonna make for a lot of good material for a movie. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/56 "2020-01-16T20:34:30Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Going to a coffee shop for water would be weird, even to me today; usually there’s going to be a convenience store more conveniently located if you’re trying to get a drink even now, much less in 1990. If they included this scene I’d probably find it off for that reason, 2020 Marty going to a coffee shop instead of a convenience store for bottled water would just seem odd. Casually finding a coffee shop would also be a bit odd, in 1992 when Starbucks had their IPO they only had 140 locations nationwide, two orders of magnitude less than the 14000 they have today. By “coffee shop” I didn’t mean a place like Starbucks. I had always understood that term to be more or less synonymous with “diner” or “cafe”. See the Wikipedia page on [the place where Seinfeld and the gang hung out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk%27s_Caf%C3%A9) on the show for an example of the usage: > [@](#): > > Monk’s Café is a fictional **coffee shop** from the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/57 "2020-01-16T20:42:55Z")
I missed the edit window, but since you brought it up, maybe Marty trying to order a fancy latte in 1990 would make a better joke than him trying to buy bottled water. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/58 "2020-01-16T21:25:59Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > By “coffee shop” I didn’t mean a place like Starbucks. I had always understood that term to be more or less synonymous with “diner” or “cafe”. > > See the Wikipedia page on [the place where Seinfeld and the gang hung out](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk%27s_Caf%C3%A9) on the show for an example of the usage: I wouldn’t expect a diner to have bottled water either, and again going in to order bottled water would just seem strange and make it look like 2020 Marty is just not that bright instead of registering as something about changing times. Do diners where you are have bottled drinks? That’s something I associate with fast food and fast casual places, not somewhere with table service. Also, if 2020 Marty called a diner a ‘coffee shop’ I’d think he was just being dumb or making some kind of regional joke, not making a ‘my things have changed’ joke, I’ve never heard ‘coffee shop’ used as a synonym for ‘diner’ and would just find it odd. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/59 "2020-01-16T22:03:15Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > I wouldn’t expect a diner to have bottled water either, and again going in to order bottled water would just seem strange and make it look like 2020 Marty is just not that bright instead of registering as something about changing times. Do diners where you are have bottled drinks? That’s something I associate with fast food and fast casual places, not somewhere with table service. _shrug_ I’m not the one who first suggested Marty would walk into a coffee shop (or diner or whatever you want to call the place) and order a bottle of water. That was Moriarty in post #46. I assume he made that the setting to mirror the scene in the original BTTF where Marty enters such an establishment and tries to order a Pepsi Free. (“If you want a Pepsi you’re gonna have to pay for it!”) > [@](#): > > Also, if 2020 Marty called a diner a ‘coffee shop’ I’d think he was just being dumb or making some kind of regional joke, not making a ‘my things have changed’ joke, I’ve never heard ‘coffee shop’ used as a synonym for ‘diner’ and would just find it odd. No one said Marty called it that. It’s just the phrase we were using to describe the setting. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2020, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461/60 "2020-01-16T22:17:01Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Trump was well known in the 80s. Both _Doonesbury_ and _Bloom County_ regularly lampooned him. I’m from the Midwest and learned about Trump from MAD magazine, probably somewhere around 1990ish. > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The Cybertruck would be good for this. > > And perhaps instead of needing 1.21 gigawatts, perhaps the latter-day equivalent needs some amount of computing power that is easily achieved today but would be difficult in 1990. 10 gigabits per second! Great Scott! > [@Balthisar](#): > > Yeah, can confirm. I was a young tween living in a trailer with only a rooftop antenna and no cable in the mid-80s. It’s always strange to me that people refer to him as a “reality TV star,” because that’s **not** the foundation of his celebrity. It was his celebrity that led to his casting as a reality TV star. The biggest reality star of all time is Ozzy Osbourne. Donny T is probably number 2. Most people don’t get to be reality stars without being famous first. I mean, maybe a couple American Idols count? What other reality TV stars are there that didn’t have name recognition before they ended up on reality TV? > [@pulykamell](#): > > I do think technologically the differences between 2020 and 1990 are vast and often underappreciated, but I personally don’t find that there’s as stark a contrast in the pop culture realm. Like I said, take a top ten pop hit from today and transport it back to 1990. I don’t think it will strike anyone as too odd. All that framework had been laid down and explored. I think the hard rock, rap, dance, synth pop, etc. hits from 1990 simply have very little pop cultural framework and would be far more disconcerting than 1990s me (when I was a teenager) encountering 2020s music. And opera hasn’t changed much in a century, either. You’re considering the wrong pop culture. Send back some absurd, super ironic shitpost meme with nine levels of contrivance that references a decade’s worth of previous memes and see what the mullet heads in 1990 think of _that_. Or hell, just try to explain “loss” to them. For that matter, try showing one of them Fortnite or GTA V. > [@WildaBeast](#): > > ETA: Or to put it another way, while maybe bottled water existed, it’s not likely something a coffee shop would have kept stocked in the cooler in 1990. Going from memory I’d agree with you but I rewatched Cheers recently and all through the 80s Sam Malone is drinking bottled water behind the bar because he’s a former alcoholic. So it must have been more common than I remember. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-back-to-the-future-took-place-in-1990/846461.md?page=4)