Superfan with Down syndrome watched ‘Back to the Future’ 50,000 times — then he met Doc Brown himself

Meeting a favorite celebrity or artist can be a life-changing moment for any fan, creating a true full-circle experience. That’s exactly what happened to a man with Down Syndrome when he got to meet Christopher Lloyd, who played Emmett Brown in the "Back to the Future" series, as reported by TODAY. According to his brother-in-law, the man had watched the movies countless times. He shared a photo of the special moment on X, where he goes by @Freedum_Fries, and the post was later reshared on Reddit by u/kenistod.

The man with Down syndrome wore a "Back to the Future" T-shirt as he shook hands with Christopher Lloyd. "My brother-in-law is 41 years old and he has Down Syndrome. He has watched 'Back to the Future' movies about 50,000+ times," his brother-in-law shared. He added that the fan watches the film at least once a day, sometimes even more. "He is very routined. He got to meet Christopher Lloyd." Lloyd greeted him with a warm smile, held his hand and posed for a heartwarming photo.

The post's caption read, "His work has influenced people's lives." Released in 1985, "Back to the Future" features a teenager who travels to 1955 in a time machine created by Christopher Lloyd’s character, as per the movie's official website. A series of time-altering events threaten to erase his future, leaving him trapped in the past. The beloved adventure film has remained a classic for decades. The Reddit post received over 92K upvotes, with many users sharing their own experiences with similar routines and cherished movie traditions.

u/ghost_n_the_shell wrote, "I once helped my girlfriend babysit her autistic cousin. His thing was that he would watch Disney VHS tapes, pretty much his whole waking hours and pause them in seemingly random spots, with nothing in particular of interest to those around him and would laugh and get very excited. He would rewind the tape, again and again, to roughly the same spot for hours. His mother would buy up tapes because he would wear them out." u/EllipticPeach commented, "Little kids like to watch things over and over because they find the predictability comforting. I watch TV shows over and over because I’m autistic and hyper-fixate until the serotonin runs out and I have to have a few months’ break to recharge my interest in them."

u/elphin remarked, "I believe the 50,000 number is hyperbole, but the 'literally at least once a day...' is not. The writer makes this clear and people shouldn't get hung up on it. This repetitive focus is normal for many people who have Down Syndrome. The awesome part of the story is meeting Christopher Lloyd. I'm sure the photographic record will become a very meaningful keepsake." u/PrestigiousEvent7933 shared, "My sister with Down Syndrome was this way with 'Beauty and the Beast' back in the 90s. Literally, wore out two VHS tapes. To this day, I can still almost quote that whole movie line for the line because we only had one TV."