History TearJerker / BackToTheFuture

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/scnet_bttf1_4146.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:'''Doc:''' In about 30 years?\\
'''Marty:''' I hope so...]]

[[folder:''Back to the Future Part I'']]
* Marty's family situation in the beginning of the movie.
** While they all love one another, they're all dysfunctional and it's clear both parents are clinically depressed, and Marty is told repeatedly that no one in his family ever amounted to anything.
** Even in his late 40s, George is still the bullied doormat he was in high school. Biff continues to dominate and control his life, demean him in front of his family, and take advantage of him to drink and drive in his own car which he wrecks. When Marty calls him out, George can't really muster a response.
** Lorraine is not in good shape either: she's a bitter prude, out of shape, and hits the bottle. Her conversation at dinner implies that she regrets marrying George.
* The movie doesn't dwell on it much, but Doc's situation is far from ideal either. He's a smart, good-natured guy living with years of failed projects and malicious gossip. In terms of human relationships, [[OnlyFriend Marty is all he has]].
* Marty, while sitting in the cafe, shortly after arriving in 1955, witnesses his father's younger self getting bullied and harassed by his longtime nemesis, Biff, who still does so in the present. While PlayedForLaughs, imagine how it would feel to see something like this happen to your parent when he was younger, and realize it's been going on nonstop for over 30 years.
* Both times that Doc gets shot. Imagine seeing your best friend killed in cold blood, ''twice'', and not being able to do a damn thing about it in either case.
-->'''Marty:''' [[BigNo NOOOOOOOOO!]] ''BASTARDS!''
** And the second time, Marty's reaction to thinking that Doc is dead is ''heartbreaking''. He just slumps back on the pavement and cries. He then looks up with an expression that screams "What am I going to ''do?''" ([[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments not knowing, of course, that Doc is alive behind him]]).
** You can also hear Einstein howling in the background the first time Doc gets shot. Marty isn't the only one who had to watch their best friend get killed.
* It's subtle, but after the skateboard scene where Biff and his goons chase down Marty, he heads back to 1955 Doc's lab... and finds that he made it to the end of the 1985 tape.
-->'''1985 Doc''': ''[on tape]'' Oh my God... They found me. I don't know how, but they found me... RUN FOR IT, MARTY!!! ''[tape rewinds]'' Oh my God... They found me. I don't know how, but they found me... RUN FOR IT, MARTY!!! ''[tape rewinds]''
** Despite this, Doc refuses to hear Marty explain what happens that night, believing it'll just make the situation worse.
* The scene when Biff corners Marty [[AttemptedRape and finds Lorraine in the car...]] At that point, Marty sums up Biff's character in two simple words.
-->'''Marty:''' Leave her alone, ''you bastard!''
** And when George finds Biff with her instead of Marty, the fact that she sounds so ''terrified''.
--->'''Lorraine:''' ''[tearfully]'' George, help me! ''Please!''
* The moment where Marty starts fading away and George looks like he's about to give up on Lorraine after a {{Jerkass}} steals her away during the dance, and Marty weakly, inaudibly pleads with George not to do so as he starts to collapse. It's less than a minute, but the intensity of that moment makes it feel so much longer.
* Marty hugging 1955 Doc goodbye before trying to get back to 1985. Now more than ever, his mind is on whether his friend will get the message. If he doesn't, this will be the last time he'll see him alive, and Marty knows it.
-->'''1955 Doc:''' In about 30 years?
-->'''Marty:''' ''[briefly looks like he's about to cry]'' ...I hope so.
** And Marty can't even give 1955 Doc a proper goodbye, in case it really is the last time he'll see his friend alive, since 1955 Doc steadfastly refuses to listen to anything Marty has to say about his future!
* The moment right after Doc has torn up the letter and Marty is forced to climb into the [=DeLorean=]. Hitting the dashboard in grief-stricken frustration, Marty questions why Doc had to do such a thing and laments not having more time. The more poetic version from ''Get Thee Back to the Future'' possibly makes it worse: Marty refers to it as Doc tearing his chances of survival to pieces and tearing Marty's heart, because without some way to warn him, he'll lose his best friend again once he returns to the present.
* TearsOfJoy version: The "Earth Angel" sequence where Marty plays the guitar among the band in order to make Lorraine and George kiss. And he succeeds.
* This small exchange, after George excitedly tells Marty about his short stories -- since Marty is probably the only person to show any interest in George's hobby -- but refuses to let Marty see them:
-->'''George:''' Well, what if they didn't like them? What if they told me I was no good? I don't think i could take that kind of a rejection. ''[{{beat}}]'' I guess that would be pretty hard for somebody to understand.\\
'''Marty:''' ''[sadly]'' Uh, no. No, not hard at all.
** Doubly so as it's almost (and the last line before the beat) exactly the same thing he said to Jennifer about send his demo tape to a record label. Marty realizes he and his dad are not so different, and Marty might end up like George.
[[/folder]]

-->'''George:''' Well, what if they didn't like them? What if they told me I was no good? ''[{{beat}}]'' I guess that would be pretty hard for somebody to understand.\\

** The events of "Continuum Conundrum" and "Who Is Marty [=McFly=]?" happen in such quick succession that Marty's parents, [[AdultFear who have no idea what's bothering him]], become increasingly worried about him and wonder if they should send him to see a therapist.

-->'''1985 Doc''': ''[on tape]'' Oh my God... They found me. I don't know how, but they found me... RUN FOR IT, MARTY! ''[tape rewinds]'' Oh my God... They found me. I don't know how, but they found me... RUN FOR IT, MARTY! ''[tape rewinds]''

* Marty's family situation in the beginning of the movie. While they all love one another, they're all dysfunctional and it's clear both parents are clinically depressed, and Marty is told repeatedly that no one in his family ever amounted to anything.

'''Marty:''' ''[sadly]'' Uh, no. No, [[NotSoDifferent not hard at all]].

* Marty, while sitting in the cafe, shortly after arriving in 1955, witnesses his father's younger self getting bullied and harassed by his longtime nemesis, Biff, who still does so in the present. While [[PlayedForLaughs]], imagine how it would feel to see something like this happen to your parent when he was younger, and realize it's been going on nonstop for over 30 years.

* Marty's family situation in the beginning of the movie. While they all love one another, they're all dysfunctional and unhappy in some way, and Marty is told repeatedly that no one in his family ever amounted to anything.

'''WARNING:''' Spoilers are unmarked.

* Both times that Doc gets shot. Marty's reaction might be a little {{Narm}}y to some, but imagine seeing your best friend killed in cold blood, ''twice'', and not being able to do a damn thing about it in either case.

* The entire concept of the "Who is Marty [=McFly=]" arc. Marty's own memories from the first movie doesn't seem to match with the memories of the timeline he's living in. He starts to question if his [[FakeMemories are not real after all]]. Not only is he given a scare by Marcus Irving, a fellow scientist who also invented TimeTravel but for the wrong reasons saying that Marty would disappear because he was originally the Marty of Twin Pines Mall, not Lone Pines.