Back to the Future is a perfect movie not only because it’s endlessly entertaining but because it also has numerous life lessons we can glean from it. I’d like to share one such lesson from Back to the Future and liken it to my eldest sister.

Marty’s Insecurities

Marty has major insecurities about playing music in front of people. His band is rejected at the start of the film, and he feels like he’ll never get another chance to play the guitar in a public setting.

However, later in the film, the lead guitarist for a band suffers a serious injury that prevents him from playing his instrument. This is detrimental to Marty’s very existence because that band is performing at a pivotal high school dance where Marty’s parents fall in love and kiss for the first time. If there’s no guitarist, they’ll have to end the dance early, depriving Marty’s parents of the opportunity to live happily ever after.

With no other option, Marty gets on stage despite his nervousness. However, it isn’t just stage fright that’s preventing him from playing to his full potential. Marty is also in danger of disappearing right in front of the crowd if his father doesn’t step up and kiss Marty’s mother. Thankfully, everything goes according to plan, and Marty celebrates by cutting loose and showing what he’s capable of by totally rocking out on his next song.

My Sister’s Tenacity

This entire story was recently recreated by my eldest sister. Much like Marty, if she sets her mind to it, she can accomplish anything. In April 2024, she decided to learn how to play the piano. By August, she was playing with both hands and doing a beautiful job at it, though she didn’t think she’d need to play in a public setting anytime soon.

That all changed just one month later. The lady who was in charge of playing the organ at my sister’s local church suffered a serious injury that prevented her from playing her instrument each Sunday. This wasn’t exactly threatening to make my sister cease to exist, but it was certainly a hardship to have no live music at her worship services.

After three weeks, my sister volunteered to play the piano, even though she only knew three songs. It was enough for that one Sunday. But she learned some others for the following Sunday and the one after that. After a few weeks, she tried her hand at the organ, and she was able to figure it out pretty quickly. Our parents helped her reach her full potential by stepping up and buying her an organ for her to practice at home.

Now she’s a proficient organist and getting better all the time. She’s not exactly rocking out like Marty (as far as I know), but she’s taking turns reverently playing with the other organist who’s made a full recovery.

Stepping Up

When no one else stood up to help, my sister had the courage to put herself out there and share a talent she had just gained. What tenacity! Her life might not be as flashy as a movie, but it’s at least as inspirational. All of my family members do things like that, and we have amazing parents who come to the rescue, too.

Overcoming stage fright can feel daunting. When we put ourselves on public display, we face the possibility of being embarrassed. But I hope we’ll take that chance and see what happens. Whether it’s music or courtship (like Marty and his parents, respectively), we need to take our shot. Even if we’re not ready for that quite yet, as Marty once said, our kids are gonna love it. How else would they exist without a little music, romance, and stepping into the limelight?

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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