The best example of this is how I learned in school who some of the American “firsts” in space were, including Alan Shepherd, John Glenn, and Sally Ride. But names I never learned were Laika, Yuri Gagarin, and Valentina Tereshkova - Russians who did it before the Americans. That’s when I realized that the qualifiers were there to make me feel better as an American, since we weren’t actually the first. However, that distinction is never made with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin - they’re never listed as the first Americans on the moon, but as the first humans on the moon.
What brought up this shower thought? It’s been a bunch of things in recent pop culture history. It seems like everyone in politics and Hollywood (which, let’s face it, are almost the same thing these days) is racing to become the first at something. Since she wasn’t the first dwarf portrayed on screen, or even the first female dwarf as she claimed (that credit goes to some actresses in the Hobbit movies), Sophia Nomvete had to correct her statement to be the first female dwarf of color to be shown on screen. They’re just tripping over themselves to be the first at something, and each time the “accomplishments” get more and more insignificant with each qualifier, and they all seem to be centered around some identity characteristic - the first black person of Caribbean descent to host the New Year’s Eve countdown on NBC, the first Latino to dance the box step in the Ed Sullivan Theatre in the month of February, etc.
Instead of being just some interesting footnote in history that is destined to become the answer to a Jeopardy! or Trivial Pursuit question, they all but break their arms patting themselves on the back about this momentous occasion, thinking they’re basically the same as Jackie Robinson when it comes to breaking down barriers. Once I noticed this, it dawned on me that it was akin to the stupid stats that bored sports commentators bring up during a lull in the game, such as the fact that this team has never lost when playing on Halloween while wearing purple uniforms when there’s a full moon. So many qualifiers means that they’re reaching to make a big deal out of essentially nothing. In a world where justice "frontiers" are increasingly rare, everyone is clamoring over recognition of being the first to stand against vanishingly small incidents of "oppression," in other words.
But to really answer the question about what brought this on, it was Jennifer Lawrence’s statement about being the first female lead of an action movie (as if Aliens, Terminator 2, Red Sonja, Kill Bill, Charlie’s Angels, Underworld, Resident Evil, and Tomb Raider didn’t exist).
But putting politics and Hollywood aside, it did actually cause me to think about primacy when it comes to certain things in video games and other pop culture. The thing I realized after contemplating this is that sometimes being the first isn’t the best but it lingers because it makes an indelible mark on the human mind. It's called having a Primacy Bias.
There really are “original absolutists” who will argue till they’re blue in the face that no matter what, it’s better just because it came first. The Adam West Batman theme has been a staple in pop culture ever since it was on TV, but the upbeat, surf rock song pales in comparison to Danny Elfman’s far superior theme used in the Michael Keaton movies and the Animated Series. But solely due to being the first official Batman theme, the music from the 60’s has stuck around, even more so than the music used in the Nolan-directed movies. Basically the same argument can be made for the original animated Spider-Man theme ( . . . “does whatever a spider can” . . ) as being the default theme despite (again) the existence of a much better Elfman theme.
There were previous Superman themes from various radio and television productions, but John Williams’ composition for the 1978 Christopher Reeve movie was so perfect that it should have been the de facto theme for all things Superman going forward (and was for the Brandon Routh movie), but it has been replaced by inferior themes in animated series and the Snyder-directed movies. Not sure how much of it was ego and how much was copyright as far as reasons to not use those themes, but clips of Henry Cavill flying to John Williams’ music are much more inspiring.
Other examples of the first one not necessarily being the best are Terminator 2, Portal 2, Street Fighter 2, The Dark Knight, The Empire Strikes Back, Aliens, the aforementioned Danny Elfman Batman theme and John Williams Superman theme, John Ottman’s X2 theme (and while we’re at it, X2 as a movie), Spider-Man 2, and Mega Man 2.
I honestly think that if the Twilight Princess Hyrule Field music (which is iconic in its own right) had been the music for the original Legend of Zelda, that’s what would be called the “Zelda Theme” and have little musical references to it in future games. While I love the original theme song, I think future musical themes were objectively better (both in terms of composition and because of improved audio technology) but the original has stuck around just because it’s the original. The same can be said for the first Super Mario Bros. music and the Phoenix Wright music - the original ones are the ones that are thought of as THE theme for their respective franchises.
Something similar happens to movies/games that are changed or updated - a debate over original or “new and improved” inevitably ensues. I kinda hate when changes are made to something and I like the new one better, because it makes me wish they had just done it right the first time so there wouldn’t be a debate over original vs. improved versions. A great example of this is the Gerudo symbol in the Zelda series. It was first introduced in Ocarina of Time along with other symbols for the various tribes like Deku, Zora, and Goron. But what made it more prominent was its including on all of the various floor switches that Link presses to open doors or whatever. The original symbol had a crescent moon and a 4-pointed star. However, because of its similarity to the Turkish Flag it was changed to avoid drawing the ire of the Islam nation (along with the Fire Temple music). I like the new symbol just as much as the original, but it bugs me that it wasn’t made right the first time. I did like the original Fire Temple music better, however, and the updated version that uses a re-worked version of the Shadow Temple music is inferior.
Another example is the Special Edition of Star Wars: A New Hope. There were at least 15 major changes, and quite a few other minor tweaks made to the movie. Most of them are ones I agree with, but a few I would leave out (Han shot first, in other words). But I have the choice of watching the original theatrical version, or the one that has enhanced visuals and sound but includes Greedo’s badly aimed shot. Many people prefer the original theatrical cut of the film and consider it to be the superior product despite its flaws/limitations just because it was first/original.
Even Tolkien went back and revised the story originally told in the Hobbit about how Bilbo acquired the ring so it would work better for the Lord of the Rings, and basically just made the original story (where he won the ring fair and square) the one that Bilbo told people in order to hide the truth and make his claim on the ring stronger. It just also happens that a publisher made the corrections to the manuscript and the Hobbit has been published with the updated story ever since, and only the first couple of printings had the original tale.
Ultimately, being a fan of something means that we’ll get into pointless internet debates over which version of something is better, can an elevator lift Thor’s hammer, etc. But I weary of the weight given to something just for being the first (sometimes also called the Anchoring cognitive bias) over all of the other characteristics that would otherwise make comparisons easy and straight-forward.
Other examples of the first one not necessarily being the best are Terminator 2, Portal 2, Street Fighter 2, The Dark Knight, The Empire Strikes Back, Aliens, the aforementioned Danny Elfman Batman theme and John Williams Superman theme, John Ottman’s X2 theme (and while we’re at it, X2 as a movie), Spider-Man 2, and Mega Man 2.
I honestly think that if the Twilight Princess Hyrule Field music (which is iconic in its own right) had been the music for the original Legend of Zelda, that’s what would be called the “Zelda Theme” and have little musical references to it in future games. While I love the original theme song, I think future musical themes were objectively better (both in terms of composition and because of improved audio technology) but the original has stuck around just because it’s the original. The same can be said for the first Super Mario Bros. music and the Phoenix Wright music - the original ones are the ones that are thought of as THE theme for their respective franchises.
Another example is the Special Edition of Star Wars: A New Hope. There were at least 15 major changes, and quite a few other minor tweaks made to the movie. Most of them are ones I agree with, but a few I would leave out (Han shot first, in other words). But I have the choice of watching the original theatrical version, or the one that has enhanced visuals and sound but includes Greedo’s badly aimed shot. Many people prefer the original theatrical cut of the film and consider it to be the superior product despite its flaws/limitations just because it was first/original.
Even Tolkien went back and revised the story originally told in the Hobbit about how Bilbo acquired the ring so it would work better for the Lord of the Rings, and basically just made the original story (where he won the ring fair and square) the one that Bilbo told people in order to hide the truth and make his claim on the ring stronger. It just also happens that a publisher made the corrections to the manuscript and the Hobbit has been published with the updated story ever since, and only the first couple of printings had the original tale.
Ultimately, being a fan of something means that we’ll get into pointless internet debates over which version of something is better, can an elevator lift Thor’s hammer, etc. But I weary of the weight given to something just for being the first (sometimes also called the Anchoring cognitive bias) over all of the other characteristics that would otherwise make comparisons easy and straight-forward.
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