Now I feel like I owe that boy an apology, and Robert Zemeckis owes me one.
It wasn’t until today, when ScreenCrush included it in a list of infamous movie legends, that I discovered that the original source of this rumor wasn’t a fourth grader from Central New Jersey — it was Back to the Future Part II director Robert Zemeckis.
While the version of the story I heard was embellished from here, it was clearly drawn from Zemeckis’ imaginary parental outrage.
No wonder enthusiastic fans took Zemeckis at his word; he never lets the audience in on the joke.