Lorraine Baines McFly
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| Back to the Future character | |
Lea Thompson as Lorraine McFly |
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| Lorraine Baines McFly | |
|---|---|
| Role | Marty's Mother |
| Profession | Unknown |
| Original time | 1955 / 1985 / 2015 |
| Time traveler | No |
| Appeared in | Part I, Part II, Part III |
| Portrayed by | Lea Thompson |
Lorraine Baines McFly is a fictional character, a lead character in the Back to the Future motion picture trilogy, played by actress Lea Thompson. She did not appear in the animated series, though was mentioned.
Lorraine Baines was born in 1938 in Hill Valley, California, the eldest child of Sam and Stella Baines. She has 5 siblings; Milton (born 1942), Sally (born 1947), Toby (born 1949), Joey (born 1954), and one sibling born in 1956 whom we never hear any details of in the finished films. (However, Stella is pregnant in November 1955, and a draft script for the second film shows a 1967 dinner scene with "eleven-year-old Ellen".[1])
She married George McFly, and by 1985 they have three children; Dave, Linda and Marty McFly. Lorraine liked the attention of boys when she was in school, and lots of them were attracted to her, including both George and Biff Tannen. Lorraine was not afraid to get what she wanted and often parked in cars with them.
Lorraine can stand up for herself, yet despite this she likes her men to be strong and able to protect her. She likes thinking back to the "old days", often telling the story of how she met and fell in love with George. Lorraine likes to play tennis with her husband, and they have been tennis club champions for the past 6 years by 1985. Lorraine's best friends at school were Betty and Babs, and she could often be found in Lou's Cafe gossiping with them.
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[edit] Pre-Back to the Future
Little is known about Lorraine's life prior to 1955, which is when we first meet her chronologically. What is known is that she has been smoking and drinking for a while, and has "parked" in cars with a few boys before the events of the film. As such, George is probably not her first boyfriend.
[edit] Back to the Future (1985)
Lorraine originally met George on November 5, 1955 when her father almost ran him over with his car. She felt sorry for him, before falling in love with him. They had their first date a week later at the Enchantment Under The Sea dance at school. Lorraine and George married and had three kids: Dave, Linda, and Marty. By 1985, she was depressed at how her husband could not stand up for her or himself, and had turned smoking and drinking to an everyday habit. She told her children not to park in cars with members of the opposite sex, under the false pretense that she never did that when she was their age.
Her life changed in 1955, when "Calvin Klein" showed up in town. Unaware it was her future son, Marty, who had traveled back in time in Dr. Brown's De Lorean time machine and had accidentally interfered with her first meeting with George (Marty had pushed George out of the way of Sam Baines' car), she developed a crush on him. Marty knew he had to get his parents together to prevent himself from being erased from existence.
After finding out that Lorraine wanted a man who would stand up for her and protect her (qualities which George lacked), Marty came up with a plan where he would pretend to park in a car with Lorraine at the dance, and the wimpy George would "rescue" her from him. Marty was shocked when he found that Lorraine liked parking in cars with boys, as the adult Lorraine had always said it was terrible when girls did anything forward. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Biff Tannen showed up instead and tried to force his affection on Lorraine. George arrived and rescued her by standing up to Biff for the first time in his life. After initially being overpowered, George became angry when he saw a laughing Biff knock Lorraine to the ground when she tried to help him, and thus an enraged George punched Biff in the face, knocking him out, and Lorraine fell in love with the newly-confident George. During the dance, while Marty had to play the guitar for another band member, he had to keep on eye out for both George and Lorraine, as his existence would be erased. He had to watch George go back to his old and wimpy self again as another boy attempted to force his affection on Lorraine as he was slowly disappearing (and at the same time couldn't play the guitar any longer. Despite George momentarily relapsing back to his old self, he quickly rebounded; they kissed for the first time that night, and history was back on track. It is unknown what would've happened if they had kissed after Marty was gone. Some say he would've shown up in the future with no memory of what he had done. By 1985, she was much healthier and happier than she had been in the original 1985.
[edit] Back to the Future Part II (1989)
In 2015, Lorraine is still happily married to George. The couple have now retired and appear to be quite well off, possibly due to George's writing career taking off after 1985. Like most mothers, Lorraine still worries about her children even when they are adults and have left home. By 2015, Marty is stuck in a dead-end job and is having marriage problems with his wife Jennifer, and Lorraine wants to make sure everything is OK.
As much as she loves her son, though, she feels his life could have turned out much better, and wonders if Jennifer married Marty because she felt sorry for him. (Ironically this was why she originally fell in love with and married George McFly before the first film.) She blames a car accident, which broke his hand and destroyed a possible music career, 30 years ago for making Marty's life the way it is. During the course of the film, we also see a third version of Lorraine in an alternate 1985. In this timeline, Biff had received the sports almanac in 1955 from his 2015 self (who had "borrowed" the time machine to deliver it to his younger counterpart), and had become rich from betting on sports events. Biff had murdered George in 1973 (though the exact circumstances are not revealed - however it is known that a bullet was involved), but Lorraine was not yet aware by that time that it was Biff who had done so.
Biff and Lorraine married soon thereafter, and a likely theory assumed is that Lorraine only married him because he could provide for her children. The marriage was not a happy one - Lorraine missed George every day, and was often verbally and physically abused by Biff. Lorraine was usually alone - the kids were sent to boarding schools, and she was living mostly by herself on the 27th floor of their casino hotel (built on top of the Courthouse) with only alcohol for company. As she had in the original timeline, Lorraine became an alcoholic. She also had breast enlargements, which Biff had coerced her into getting. Lorraine has tried on numerous occasions to leave Biff, but stays with him purely so her kids will not suffer (Biff threatens to cut them off, get them sent to jail, etc).
In a scene cut from the film, Biff "disappears" in 2015 after he returns in the time machine following his delivery of the fateful sports almanac to his 1955 counterpart. It is speculated that Biff is shot and killed by Lorraine sometime in 1996, thereby "erasing" his existence come 2015. (This was suggested by Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, although not mentioned in the film itself.) However, the scene that appears in the film still shows Biff writhing in pain by a parked car (but not fading away). Various sources have explained this by speculating that Biff had a heart attack, or noting that Biff appears to (accidentally) jab himself in the chest with his cane as he gets out of the De Lorean.
[edit] Back to the Future Part III (1990)
Lorraine only appeared briefly at the end of the film, and she was "back to normal", how she appeared at the end of the first film. Lorraine's actress Lea Thompson, instead, portrayed Maggie McFly in the 1885 setting. Maggie is the great-grandmother of George and great-great-grandmother to Marty, Dave, and Linda. Despite looking alike Maggie and Lorraine are not known to be related by blood.
[edit] The Ride and Animated Series
Lorraine did not appear in the ride or animated series, though she was mentioned in the animated series by Marty in the episode, "Clara's Folks".
[edit] Trivia
- In an early draft script for the first film, Lorraine was named Eileen Baines McFly.
- In an early draft script, Eileen/Lorraine as an adult lives in the house she lived in as a teenager.
- In a draft script for the second movie, Lorraine was seen as a flower child during the Vietnam War.
- In a draft script for the second movie, Lorraine, in 2015, dedicates a hospital to a now-dead George. This does not take place in the finished film, as George is still alive, as opposed to dead for two years.
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