Analysis 3: Psychoanalysis and the Oedipus Complex

The above video is, I think, a great example of a well known film that uses a bit of the ol' Oedipus complex described in Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams". Marty McFly gets transported in a time machine to the past where he meets his mother and his father before they've been begun dating. The problem is that Marty takes the place of his father at a crucial point in which George (his father) and Lorraine (his mother) meet. So instead Marty and Lorraine meet and Lorraine instantly becomes smitten with him. Marty is so very obviously uncomfortable with this, however he doesn't realize how serious the problem is until it becomes obvious that his mother is no longer going to fall for his father and is even at risk of being taken by another guy entirely. Marty is uncomfortable at the idea of taking his father's place but is also completely against the idea of anyone else doing so. Certainly the difference here is that in since this deals with time travel Marty and his siblings would be erased from existence, but I think overall this is an interesting take, possibly not a conscious one, on Freud's theory. What does it mean that Marty is completely disgusted with being physical with his mother? Does he experience guilt in thinking she's pretty, as he mentions at one point in the film? What does it mean that at some point Lorraine too recognizes that something's off? Is it a way to show that relatives share an unseen connection that goes beyond blood and DNA that all of us can sense even through space and time? Or is it simply a way to ease Marty's guilt at wanting his mom? I won't say that Freud was right in his theory that people feel this rivalry with their fathers regarding their mothers, but I do think that people find it to be an interesting scenario to be stuck in. I think many of us want to shun times in which relatives married each other by showing how modern day people would reject such an idea on all levels. It's interesting to consider, all in all.

Works Cited
"Marty McFly in Lorraines house" 31 July 2007. YouTube. 22 March 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YVxzBR7xMo&feature=player_embedded