James Franco “First Time?”

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About

James Franco "First Time?" is a memorable quote by an unnamed cowboy character about to be executed on the gallows in the 2018 Western film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, portrayed by American actor James Franco. Since the film's release in November 2018, a screen-captured image of the scene has been used in image macros as the punchline to jokes about one's inexperience usually to emphasize an uncommon or ridiculous occurrence in normal society that has become a regular occurrence in a community.

Origin

On September 12th, 2018, Netflix uploaded a trailer for the film The Ballad of Buster Scruggs to YouTube. At the end of the trailer, there is a clip of James Franco's character asking a crying man on the gallows, "First time?" The post received more than 1.7 million views in less than three months.^[1]

Two months later, on November 25th, Twitter ^[2] user @Ayub_dz posted a screenshot of the moment with the caption, "When you're hiding from a school shooter and the foreign exchange student starts crying." The tweet received more than 37,000 retweets and 131,000 likes in five days (shown below).

Spread

That day, November 25th, 2018, a version of the tweet was then shared on Imgur, ^[3] receiving more than 5,800 points and 158,000 views in five days, and on Reddit, where it garnered more than 58,000 points (87% upvoted) in four days.^[4]

Following the post, others on Reddit began sharing variations, particularly in the /r/dankmemes subreddit. On November 26th, Redditor^[5] Dako_01 posted a version about the anti-vaccination movement. The post received more than 15,000 points (97% upvoted) and 130 comments in four days (shown below, left).

On November 27th, 2018, Redditor^[6] hunchoivs posted a version with the caption "When you're watching the new Lion King film and a six year old starts crying when Mufasa dies." The post received more than 9,00 points (98% upvoted) and 70 comments (shown below, center).

On November 30th, Redditor^[7] vk1198 posted an object-labeling version of the meme, referencing various video game developers. The post received more than 2,700 points (97% upvoted) and 95 comments in 24 hours (shown below, right).