Geek-A-Long
2015 Geek-A-Long: Doc Brown
Good evening. I’m Doctor Emmett Brown and I’m standing here in the parking lot at Twin Pines Mall. It is Saturday morning, October 26, 1985, 1:18 A.M. and this is temporal experiment number one. Please note that Einstein’s clock is in precise synchronization with my control watch.
The Back To The Future movies are some of my all time favorites. Marty is so approachable. Teenage me simultaneously wanted to date him, and be him. I was a complicated kid. Anyways, as great as Marty was, the movies wouldn’t be worth showing up for if it hadn’t been for Doctor Emmett Brown. So this week we honor the incomparable Doc, and his Delorean.
Before we started the GAL, I naively believed that “most people” have been exposed to the majority of the fandoms we cover. Some are pretty obscure, but for the most part I remain surprised every time I meet an adult that hasn’t seen Star Wars. The way I see it, some of this stuff is so much a part of our culture that I would put it in the “required viewing” category. Prior to reaching that magical moment in a young adult’s life where they are now legally permitted to make their own decisions regarding presidential candidates and consuming booze, I think there ought to be some mandatory cultural education. I would include books, music, shows and movies on the list, and I would start it out with Back to the Future
Doc’s character is handled differently than most “absent minded older scientists” in fiction. Although his ideas are pretty far left of center, and his personality is over the top, he is shown as a respected scientist within the scientific community (one scene shows a newspaper clipping where he had won an award for his work). The other people in town regard him as a bit of a joke, but he seems to be able to complete his experiments with impunity. OK, I suppose that may be an overstatement, he did have to “cheat some Libyan terrorists out of stolen plutonium,” but I think we can all agree that made the world a better place anyhow.
The writers pay quiet homage to several real world scientists through Doc’s character, and he’s a strong and affectionate role model for Marty. All too often, I see TV scientists portrayed as either cold and respectable, or upbeat, “zany” characters ignored by the scientific community. One of the things that really drew me in to the series when I was a kid was that Doc is approachable, fun, AND scientifically successful all at once.
This week’s square features the front grill of the Delorean, because Doc wouldn’t have it any other way.
The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?
Additionally, I included the iconic “Back To The Future Arrow” that was seen in the title of all 3 movies. Oh, and just in case you happen to be a hoverboard aficionado like myself, this is happening.
Whether you’re knitting, crocheting, or cross stitching this square, you can download the Doc Brown pattern here. When you’re finished making it, don’t forget to tweet or instagram your squares at me @Doctor_Llama or Jac @jac_attacking with the hashtag #geekalong, so we can all oooh and ah at it together.
~Megan-Anne
Fun fact: my spell check is DYING to change “Delorean” to “Delawarean”.
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