Who do we have to thank for being born when we were?
We don’t thank ourselves (or our parents or grandparents) or should it be to some God that we were born when we were born? It is purely an accident of fate and destiny. What is fate and what is destiny? Fate often implies a predetermined course of events beyond a person’s control, shaped by external forces and factors. It’s like a grand script written for you by persons or powers unknown. Destiny, on the other hand, suggests a set of outcomes that align with a person’s choices and actions—more about the journey you create for yourself, even if there’s a sense of an ultimate purpose. Fate is like a river’s current pulling you along; destiny is the route you paddle on that river. Which perhaps perfectly illustrates the difference between these two concepts of the universe.
The chances are greater than winning the National Lottery in the United Kingdom (which only began on 19 November 1994—three days before I officially became a teenager). With the passing of each year, I reminisce, thanking my lucky stars that I was born at the start of the 1980s and, therefore, benefited from an analogue childhood. Heading into my teens, I experienced a world slowly but surely switching to digital.
Therefore I grew up with a movie soundtrack by one of the greatest composers the world has ever heard. His partnership with filmmaking visionary Steven Spielberg is probably the main reason but I must not overlook the influence of George Lucas and the score of the Star Wars trilogy. The list itself is perhaps undisputable – Jaws, Superman, ET, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Hook and Schindler’s List.
Yes I know for most people there is only one answer. It has to be the incomparable, unstoppable juggernaut that is John Williams but my rather left-field personal choice would be Alan Silvestri. You, dear reader will of course, fully understand why. Back To The Future is probably both my favourite film of all time and my favourite trilogy of all time.
When I turned 15, my Dad told me to give myself a signature that I would use for the rest of my life. As with most things as a teenager, I took little notice of how much of a significant decision this would be. As Doc Brown would say I was failing to think “third dimensionally”. It took me a while to settle on an autograph I was comfortable with in terms of signing quickly but also being fully aesthetically happy with. Not a simple feat. I decided to not go down the full name route (although that would perhaps have in a strange twist of fate made life easier – how many brown Andrew’s do you know?) and settled on my first initial and surname. For reasons unknown to me then I decided to create what you may now know as the Avengers “A”. There was of course no arrow pointing right. Instead, the cross of the A went to cross the T for my surname. This is difficult to express in words so perhaps a sample is called for. When I get rich and famous – maybe I will share my autograph online in some collection.
[Image courtesy of Elena Leong]
It was a masterstroke by Marvel to select Alan Silvestri as their composer for the first Capital America: The First Avenger followed by such a key film – the tent pole event to bring Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One to a close. Why is Alan better than John? It is not necessarily about competition – it is more about who appeals and pulls on my heartstrings a little harder than the other. Williams will always have a very special place in my heart but the man who always takes me on a greater emotional rollercoaster is Silvestri. Yet to think his score for the original Mission Impossible in 1996 was rejected for him to be replaced at the eleventh hour by Danny Elfman by someone stepping into the producing hot seat for the first time. I do wonder if things had worked out differently, would Alan have been available to score multiple films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? God Only Knows…