Also called James Franco First Time · First Time Meme · The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Meme
One man is distressed; the other has apparently been through this before. Label the newcomer and the experienced person, then let James Franco’s printed “First time?” deliver the response.
The experienced person treats a bad surprise as a familiar routine. The comparison works when one person is discovering a problem that another group has learned to expect.
In ordinary captions, the dramatic film situation stands in for a smaller frustration: a late train, a difficult boss fight, or a project being revised again. The two labels should refer to the same experience.
The scene comes from the Coen brothers’ 2018 Western anthology The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. James Franco’s cowboy, standing on the gallows beside a distressed man, asks “First time?” The moment was included in Netflix’s trailer published on September 12, 2018. [1] [2]
Know Your Meme documents a widely shared screenshot posted to Twitter on November 25, 2018. Reposts and new captions followed on Reddit and Imgur, turning the line into a response to someone encountering a familiar problem. [2]
The trailer includes the gallows exchange used by the meme. [1] [2]
A documented Twitter post is followed by Reddit and Imgur reposts. [2]
The still becomes a way to contrast newcomers with people who have seen it before. [2]
Label the distressed man’s shirt in the top panel with the newcomer or first encounter. Put the experienced person’s label in the open sky beside Franco in the bottom panel.
Leave the printed “First time?” at the bottom. The labels should make it clear why the second person is already used to the situation.
Original captions to try with this template.
A first delay feels very different from one on a familiar daily route.
The experienced player recognizes the frustration immediately.
The team has already learned that a “final” version can still need revisions.
References for this template. Example captions are original.
Netflix’s September 12, 2018 trailer for the Coen brothers’ anthology.
Identifies the scene and documents the November 2018 screenshot and its early variations.
