Alex P. Keaton - Character Arc

Character Arc

Alex (Michael J. Fox) is the oldest child of Elyse and Steven Keaton (Meredith Baxter-Birney and Michael Gross), who were Baby Boomers and Democrats during the early years of the Reagan administration. Married in 1964, Elyse, an independent architect, and Steven, a manager in a local public television station, were hippies during the 1960s. According to the episode, "A Christmas Story" in Season One, Alex was born in 1965 while his parents were on assignment in Africa, having been influenced by John F. Kennedy to participate in the Peace Corps. Although rarely mentioned, Alex's full middle name is "Proctor" but would normally be referred to its first initial. Alex has two younger sisters, Mallory (Justine Bateman) and Jennifer (Tina Yothers). Mallory was born while her parents were students at the University of California, Berkeley in 1967, and Jennifer was born the night Richard Nixon won his second term in 1972. The family lives in suburban Columbus, Ohio.

In the beginning of the series, Alex is a high-school student who has a passion for economics and wealth. In particular, he is a proponent of supply-side economics. His heroes are Richard Nixon (going so far as to have a lunchbox with Nixon's likeness), William F. Buckley, Jr., Ronald Reagan, and Milton Friedman. His favorite television show is Wall $treet Week and he is an avid reader of The Wall Street Journal. He also enjoys music of the big band and swing era, but secretly enjoys rock music (as seen in the episode, "A, My Name is Alex"). Alex spends the first two seasons of the series preparing to attend Princeton University. While attending an on-campus interview, Mallory, who tagged along to pay a surprise visit to her boyfriend Jeff who was attending Princeton, has an emotional crisis when she finds Jeff is seeing another woman. Ultimately, Alex chooses to tend to Mallory rather than complete his interview, thus destroying any possibility of attending Princeton and getting into the Ivy League.

Alex receives a scholarship to fictional Leland University, which is located close enough for Alex to continue to live at home and commute. Keaton excels at Leland University and teaches an economics course as a teaching assistant. Alex also holds a disdain for nearby Grant College (which Mallory later attends), and goes as far as mocking their classes. While attending Leland, he has two serious girlfriends. His first was artist/feminist, Ellen Reed (Tracy Pollan, whom Fox later married). After they break up, Keaton pursues a liberal psychology student with feminist leanings, Lauren Miller, who was played by Courteney Cox. This relationship ends when he has an affair with music major Martie Brodie (played by Jane Adams) while Lauren is out of town. After graduation, Alex accepts a job on Wall Street.