10 Popular Things That Should Never Have Become Popular

Popularity is a fickle thing. Anyone and anything can become famous for almost any reason. It is very unpredictable and difficult to organize or control. What makes a new type of cereal popular? Or a particular song? If anyone knew the exact recipe, nothing would ever be unpopular. However, sometimes things aren't really trying to become popular, but they happen anyway.

10. BMI was developed as a statistical tool to calculate the ideal man.

Obesity is a major problem worldwide, and in 2016 it was estimated that almost two billion people were obese. This has inspired many people on the other side of things to take their health seriously and worry about their weight. And people on both sides tend to be concerned about their BMI, or body mass index. Body mass index is a ratio that compares your weight to your height to determine what a person’s ideal weight should be. It is a standard measure used by many health professionals, including doctors and nutritionists.

BMI was invented by a statistician and mathematician named Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet in the 1930s. This ratio, then known as the Quetelet index, was not intended to help any random person find their ideal weight, but to identify the ideal average man.

Quetelet believed that mathematics could explain almost everything in the world. And he believed that he could use mathematics to figure out what the average man should look like. But the thing is, Quetelet's idea of the "average" man was based on everything being perfect. So, average actually meant perfect . No medical professional was involved in the index's creation, and it made no room for any of the countless variations that exist from one person to another, instead using a general number to classify all people. And of course, Quetelet never intended it to be used the way it was.

9. Slash's top hat was something he stole on a whim.

Having a signature look isn’t for everyone. There are surprisingly few people in the world who have a specific “thing” that is a physical calling card. You might consider the beards of the guys in ZZ Top or the makeup of the guys in KISS to fit that bill. And, continuing with the musical theme, there’s Slash, one of the most famous guitarists in the world, who has been known for his signature top hat for years.

For decades, Slash, also known by his real name Saul Hudson, could be identified by his shock of curly black hair underneath his black top hat. It turns out he never intended to do that with his gaze. In fact, the hat wasn't even his, technically speaking. He stole it .

Back in 1985, Slash saw a hat in a store and decided it would suit his look. He liked wearing hats, and it "spoke to him," as he once told Conan O'Brien. So he picked it up, wore it, and the rest is history.

8. PlayStation was intended as an optical drive for Nintendo

By July 2021 Sony sold 116 million PS4 units. The PS2 was the best-selling console of all time: it was nearly 158 million units sold . PS3 was sold almost 87 million , and the original PlayStation sold just over 104 million . Clearly, Sony has succeeded. And if you think about it, PlayStation was never even intended to be a standalone device.

Sony was once developing what would become the PlayStation as a accessories for Nintendo . Nintendo and Sony made a deal with Sony to make an additional optical drive so that Nintendo gamers could play CD-ROM games. Then out of nowhere, Nintendo pulled out double cross They were supposed to announce the partnership at the Consumer Electronics Show. But instead, Nintendo announced that they were working with Phillips NV, not Sony. No one at Sony knew what was going on. The public announcement was the first they heard about it.

It turns out that Nintendo was furious that the contract allowed Sony to make and sell its own games. So without talking to Sony, they ignored their deal and made a new one. Sony went on to make the most popular gaming console. Nintendo's N64 was a flop by comparison.

7. The term "Alpha Male" never meant a bully.

The term “alpha male” is a much-maligned term that conjures up very different images. Most people accept that the term “alpha male” means, at best, a man who is aggressive, domineering, and dominant, or, at worst, someone who exhibits what is commonly referred to as toxic masculinity. Neither necessarily gets to the heart of what the term is supposed to mean, although there is certainly some overlap.

The term “alpha male” comes from biology, and in particular from animal studies. Many animal societies live together in groups where one male appears to play the dominant or alpha role. This has been poorly reduced to the idea that the alpha male is the biggest, strongest male who takes charge and crushes any dissent. This is not true.

Primatologist Frans de Waal, who helped popularize the term "alpha male," explains what an alpha male actually is based on his years of research. To cut to the chase, an alpha male must be generous , sensitive and able to keep the peace. They are loved and respected, but not feared or hated. De Waal makes it clear that being a bully is not at all what an alpha male is, and that this is only a superficial understanding of the term.

6. Wolverine was never intended to be a mutant or a member of the X-Men.

Wolverine is one of the most famous comic book characters in the world, and he's not even in the MCU or DCEU, so that's quite a feat. Thanks to numerous film appearances played by Hugh Jackman, Wolverine has become a beloved character and the most famous of the X-Men. But that wasn't always in the cards for the little, shaggy-haired Canadian. When he was first introduced, he was just a supporting player in "The Incredible Hulk" , and not even a mutant.

Wolverine co-creator Roy Thomas said he imaginedWolverine as a hero , and… that was it. Not a mutant, not an X-Men, just a guy with claws in the Canadian wilderness. He told artist Len Wein that he was Canadian, his name was Wolverine, and he was short because a wolverine is a small animal. And from there, the legend of one of Marvel's biggest characters began.

When Marvel decided to retool the X-Men in 1975 to revive the floundering series for an international audience, they chose an international cast of mutants, and everyone's favorite Canadian made the list.

5. The President's speech in independence Day was just a placeholder

Towards the end of the film, independence Day " Bill Pullman's President Whitmore gives a rousing speech about the world uniting against the aliens. On many websites This was named one of the greatest speeches V history of cinema Despite the wide recognition of this motivational and patriotic speech, it was never intended to be a powerful piece or speech as no effort was put into writing it.

Co-writer Dean Devlin wrote the entire speech in five minutes, without even intending to use it in the film. He said he wanted to " to vomit something up very quickly " and then go back and fix it later. But the film had to be finished on time, and he and his co-writer forgot to replace the lazy speech. So what he thought was garbage ended up in the film, and everyone seemed to like it. It became so iconic that even the real white house used it.

4. Conveyors in "Star Trek" were merely a cost-cutting tool

It's hard to imagine a franchise "Star Trek" without transporter technology. Transporters, according to the show's plot, basically convert the matter of something into energy to instantly transport it to a distant location. This has been a staple of the show since the first series aired in the 1960s, and is perhaps the most famous example of the cool sci-fi technology the show was known for. It was also never intended to be part of the show.

The original series had a fairly low budget, and if the Enterprise crew wanted to visit a new planet, they had to fly in a shuttle each time. This meant using models and sets just to transition between scenes, which cost a lot of money. So the writers invented the transporter as a way to save money. money and cut corners. They added some fictitious restrictions , so it could not be a miraculous tool for solving problems, and it became central to many plots even to this day.

3. Saxophones were intended as orchestral instruments

Who doesn't love a saxophone? It sounds jazzy and fun and works well for sexy songs and movie fight scenes. But it was never designed for that kind of thing. The saxophone's history in rock and jazz can be partly attributed to the fact that it was originally designed for the orchestra.

As you probably know, if you like orchestral music, the devil's horn is not present. The reason for this is that Adolphe Sax introduced the saxophone in 1841, long before there was written many great symphonies . Basically, he missed the boat. The saxophone didn't fit into orchestras because all those big symphonies by famous composers like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven weren't written for the saxophone, and recomposing them would have taken a lot of time and effort. Worse, people hated the saxophone when it first came out. Sax's detractors tried to sabotage him by stealing his instrument and even killing him because of the threat they felt the saxophone posed to injury to the instrument due to the variety of sounds it could make.

So while the saxophone was pushed out of the world of classical music and symphonies, it was ripe for being picked up by jazz and then rock a few years later, and became one of the foundational instruments of their sound.

2. "Toy Story 2" it was never intended to be something grandiose

Movie "Toy Story" collected 244 million dollars, including nearly $30 million on its opening weekend in 1995. It was the film that put Pixar on the map and made them the animation powerhouse they are beloved today. The sequel was a nearly forgotten conclusion.

Continuation, "Toy Story 2" , it became Pixar's highest rated film . But it was never meant to be this big. In fact, it was intended to be a direct-to-video sequel, one of those lower-quality films that usually only appeal to hardcore fans and are considered successful if they make any money.

Instead, what happened was that the team behind the film really felt like they had something great, so Disney updated the film to full theatrical release The team was forced to update the film to this standard under a strict deadline and end up creating the biggest film they'd ever made, born from something no one planned to be huge.

1. Goya's Black Paintings

Francisco de Goya was a Spanish artist of the Romantic era. Today, he is perhaps best known for his 14 black paintings, which are stunning examples of horror in artistic form. Perhaps the most famous of these is Saturn , devouring his son , a disturbing image of the god Saturn or Cronus from Greek and Roman mythology, who ate his own children to prevent them from overthrowing him when they came of age.

Despite the painting's popularity, Goya never intended to show this or any other painting. We know this because he painted them on the walls. own home It was only years after Goya's death that Baron Frederic Emile d'Erlanger bought the artist's house and moved the paintings. on canvas They were exhibited at a Paris exhibition, where people found them decidedly objectionable. But if there's one thing people love, it's controversy, and the paintings' fame only grew from there to what it is today. Goya is widely considered one of the best paintings of the era.