Postmodernism Shot First

(taking a brief break from the cosmology problem to deal with a more pressing one)

I've been obsessing lately for some reason over perhaps the most classic in the pantheon of classic geek controversies: the Han Shot First issue. Second only to the Batman v. Superman/Kirk v. Picard/Flintstones v. Jetsons battle-royale variety of hypotheticals, the Han Shot First issue really struck me as a really sweet way to deliniate a larger break between varying outlooks on the universe. (the answers, of course, are Superman -- though Batman would be way cooler about it --, Kirk, and the Flintstones -- by virtue of the Great Wazoo)

First, and most obviously, is that the Han Shot First controversy represents a split in a conception of the human condition on one hand as arising from a Judeo-Christian conception of Man beset by nature and rising above it (e.g. Greedo shooting first/Solo retaliating), and on the other as a postmodern, existential idea of Man as the aggresive motivating mechanism of existence. (e.g. Han shooting first).

Second, and probably more interesting, is the questions it raises about the larger Western outlook in fiction and art. I mean, why do we think that having Greedo Shoot First is way lame? Culturally, that hasn't always been the case. John Wayne, for example, in the 1950s. But now, 50 years later, we have the grittyness of Jack Bauer(I mean, to use another Harrison Ford character, even the President in Air Force One feels dated) or the explicitly criminal 50 Cent. In other words, Lucas isn't inherently a goofus for changing the scene, he's just had the misfortune in moving in a way counter to the cultural current. Are we just more jaded? Still, that's kind of non-unique. Life has ALWAYS been tough and unfortunate.

As a phrase though, "Han Shot First" is really great, since it touches on the deeper ambiguity of conflict itself. How do we know, in historical record, who is the aggressor in conflict? Is it a function of our perspective?

My new rallying cry in a conversation that has degenerated into a raw argument over who landed the first blow or who is perpetuating the conflict or who made a pre-emptive is "Han Shot First." It's a "Han Shot First" argument.(Cold War? "Han Shot First" Israel-Palestine? "Han Shot First" Troubled Romantic Relationship? "Han Shot First")