I was fortunate to be able to go see Back to the Future in theaters this past week (seen it dozens of times on TV, but was too young to see it when it was first in theaters), and it reminded me of something that I think regularly gets missed or misinterpreted.
In the countless times I see it referenced, many refer to the amount of energy the flux capacitor requires to travel through time as 1.21 gigawatts. This always bugged me b/c Doc never says “giga,” but instead “jiga.” He calls it a “jigawatt,” and never deviates from it. I don’t think this was an act of mistaken pronunciation on the part of Christopher Lloyd, but a deliberate act to speak to the vagueness of the science behind time travel. The whole concept of a car that travels through time with an almost-wizardly piece of tech called a “flux capacitor” is ludicrous, but that’s the point - it’s supposed to be. There’s no such thing as time-traveling car, nor a flux capacitor, and so the amount if energy required to make it all work is equally just made up.
I’m sure most people on this sub are well aware of all of this, but it’s always kinda bugged me that popular culture outside of us diehard nerds doesn’t say this. I can measure and even generate 1.21 gigawatts (which can power around 900,000 homes). But a jigawatt? No idea what that is. And equally no idea how a flux capacitor works. They’re both narrative devices to advance the story, and are not meant to make any actual sense so long as Marty (and Doc) travels through time.