P3D Re: Back to the Future anachronism?

[roberts@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (John W Roberts)]

>Date: Fri, 16 Jan 1998 05:06:35 -0700
>From: Chuck Field-ECF004 <Chuck_Field-ECF004@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: P3D Back to the Future anachronism?

>   I recently watched, "Back to the Future," for about the third or forth 
>time.  One of the smaller roles was a character that was a part of the gang 
>that continually tormented Marty and his future father.  The guy is always 
>seen wearing red/green (or blue) anaglyph glasses.  In the credits, I 
>believe he is only refered by the name, 3-D.  
>   This part of the movie takes place in 1955.  

>    So... could this have been a reference to 3-D comic books?  If so, the 
>colored lenses would have made sense.

Good observation!

There are Sherlock Holmes fans who make a hobby of ironing out the
inconsistencies in the series - coming up with plausible explanations of how
the stories can be reconciled [Note]. So in that sense, because anaglyph 3D 
glasses existed at the time, we can give proper credit - the fellow must have 
been a comic book fan rather than a movie fan. 

Supporting evidence: if theaters back then (like present theaters) collected 
the glasses after the shows, then polarized glasses from the movies would be 
contraband outside the theaters. (Bob W's post supports this.)

"3-D" might not mind stealing polarized glasses, but he would be unlikely to
wear them openly where Mr. Strickland(?) might see them. 

More importantly - the modern-day audience would *expect* 3D glasses to be
anaglyph. Even more importantly - the colors of anaglyph glasses do show up
in the movie, but the polarization of polarized glasses would not! If the
fellow had been wearing polarized 3D glasses, to the audience they would just
look like sunglasses with cheap frames. [Don't they sometimes give glasses
like that to people who have just had eye exams?]

John R

[Note] As an example for the "Star Trek" series, a friend told me that in
the movie "Star Trek II", Khan immediately recognizes Mr. Checkov, but 
in the original TV episode that introduces Khan, Mr. Checkov never appears.
I pointed out that in the TV episode, Khan briefly had control of the ship's
computer - so given his superior brain and meticulous attention to detail,
Khan had undoubtedly taken advantage of the opportunity to view the records
of the entire Enterprise crew, and perhaps all of Star Fleet! My friend was
therefore able to watch the show with greater enjoyment. :-)


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