Biff Tannen Is Based On Donald Trump, Confirms A ‘Back To The Future’ Writer
Deep down, you always knew this.
Back to the Future didn’t get everything right; we don’t have hoverboards, Jaws 19 is at least three franchise reboots away, and late-stage capitalism has made everything terrible.
But the BttF writers got one thing bang on. When they needed inspiration for series villain Biff Tannen — an arrogant, brash, loud-mouthed bully who stumbles into wealth and power through sheer dumb luck — they took their cues from real-life would-be President Donald Trump.
Like Tannen, back in the ’80s Trump was a humble business mogul who’s since parleyed his persona and money into gatecrashing politics in the mid-2010s. The similarities are uncanny; watching a highlight reel of Biff calling people “butthead” is basically indistinguishable from Trump in either of the Republican debates.
Speaking to the Daily Beast, writer Bob Gale explained how they drew inspiration from Trump’s legendary hideousness when trying to make Biff as over-the-top awful as possible.
“We thought about it when we made the movie! Are you kidding?” Gale said. “You watch Part II again and there’s a scene where Marty confronts Biff in his office and there’s a huge portrait of Biff on the wall behind Biff, and there’s one moment where Biff kind of stands up and he takes exactly the same pose as the portrait? Yeah.”
If the Tannen-dominated Hill Valley of 2015 is any indication, America quickly becomes a lawless lycra wasteland if Trump wins next year. So look forward to that I guess.
–
Via the Daily Beast.