The Future in 1989

Presenter: Jordan Jungwirth

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 20-21

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Anne-Louise Dierkes

Department: Art

Funding Source/Sponsor: SYRCE Symposium

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1hcdOw003Ld1bZIiveWdx9baGaq2FZ1_C

Abstract:
In my project “The Future in 1989,” I discuss what people in the 1980s thought the future would hold for them, particularly in 2015. I write from the perspective of the film makes of “Back to the Future II,” which was produced in 1989. In this film, the protagonist, Marty McFly travels to the future (October 15, 2015) and sees a world where his rival, Biff, controls the town. In his adventure to 2015, we see a completely different world than the 1980s and even the present day. Some of the predictions they made were accurate, such as the use of Biofuels to power cars, but other predictions seem futurist by today’s standards. Flying cars and hoverboards are only some of the wacky visions theorized by the producers of “Back to the Future II.”