Act 2, Sequence 4: Back to the Future
Marty and Doc go to the high school, where Marty sees his parents as teenagers. George is more pathetic as a teen than he is as an adult and Lorraine is more of a flirt than she told her children that she was. The principal, who tells him he is a slacker, further demoralizes George. Doc cannot understand how Lorraine could fall in love with such a wimp. In fact, Lorraine is infatuated with Marty, while Marty encourages George to ask Lorraine out. But George does not have the self-confidence. As an example of his lack of self-esteem, George writes stories but will not show them to anyone for fear that they will ridicule him. Besides, George thinks that Lorraine wants to go with Biff. The bully is trying to force Lorraine into dating him with his bumbling attempts to grope her. Marty has to step in to protect his mother and is about to be pummeled by the bigger Biff when the principal’s presence saves him from a beating. The result is that Lorraine is even more in love with Marty. At this MIDPOINT, everything is worse than it was when Marty arrived, and the situation seems hopeless. In his FOURTH CRITICAL DECISION, Marty determines to take more drastic measures to convince George to ask Lorraine to the big dance.