HW 37: Cool Paper Draft

Introduction

The word "Cool" is an odd word that everyone uses but nobody defines. It can be used to express approval towards a situation, as in "okay, thats cool" or towards a person or object its hard to label what kind of positive reaction "cool" fits the best. No one knows the exact meaning behind the word because it's such a widely used term that there are hundreds of definitions for it. The only common factor between each definition is the idea of approval, people who are cool are accepted and feel good about themselves.

Subconsciously being "cool" is about fitting into people's lives, each person is the hero in their own story and needs companions and "supporting characters". To be cool people try to fill roles in multiple lives and fill certain archetypes, this gives them a sense of value. Because this is all subconscious, no one is aware that they're playing roles or that they're altering their roles to fit more easily into the lives of the people around them.

Social Cool

The majority of Americans see Cool as a fashion contest. The way people dress defines how cool they are, not only do people, mostly teens, have to wear the right clothes, they have to wear them at the right time. Not only do they have to wear the right clothes at the right time, but also in the right group. For example a kid wearing expensive clothes with name-brand tags and logos will be accepted by most teens, but that same teen won't be accepted by the "alternative hippy" crowd. Cool is different to different people, everyone has their own standards for how people should dress, act and look to be cool.

What's Cool is partly defined by corporations, some people are dedicated enough to brand names to find anything that brand sells to be cool. People then associate things about those products to be so certain "traits" become cool by association. Certain companies have focus groups that find out what teens find cool and use that information to create new products that teens will find cool. These products are inspired by archetypical roles, for men there are products that give off a masculine vibe which fits the role of "hero" and men who assume this role are cool. For women however, their products are designed to give off a feminine vibe which fits the role of "princess" or "damsel in distress". A man can't assume a woman's role accurately and vice versa, because of these roles we're limited to wearing and buying certain things to be accepted in our culture.

Psychological Cool

People try to be "Cool" to feel a sense of value. We need to feel valued to have self esteem and function well as human beings. Instead of working hard at a skill and contributing to society, which would actually be valuable, most people try to look cool and assume the "cool pose" to be liked. However subconsciously we perceive "like" and "value" to mean the same thing which isn't always the case. Being stylish and trendy will get you liked but there's no real value to someone who doesn't have any skills or real qualities as a person.

The "Cool Pose" is a way to assume a certain role. The classic James Dean attitude of apathy and competence is closest to the "hero" role. The role of "The hero" can be assumed in many ways the "Cool Pose" is used to assume the rebel hero. James Dean's performance in "Rebel Without a Cause" conveyed just that, a rebel without a cause. Because he was a rebel he had a sense of mystery and his aloofness and apathy made him seem as though he was better than other people making him the main character which gave him attention which made him cool.

Mythic Cool

Being "Cool" or accepted relies on filling a role in someone's life. This role is a mythic role, to be accepted the person must fill the role of "side-kick" or "mentor" etc. As social creatures we try to surround ourselves with people who will benefit us in life, this can happen consciously or subconsciously. The way we become accepted is by tailoring our characters to fit the expectations of the people around us, and there are different expectations we have to meet to assume different roles, the standards one has to meet to be someone's mentor are much different than the standards they have to meet.

Conclusion

People will always be filling roles and there's no way around it. To be cool everyone vies for the role of the hero, everyone wants to be the main character, which is impossible. This is impossible because A-In the grand scheme of the universe there is no main character, everything just "is" and B-psychologically everyone is their own main character (unless they have self-esteem issues) so there's no pint trying to outshine them in their own life. "Cool" people may get attention but they don't have true friends because the role of "the friend" is a supporting role that few people actively try to assume. Instead we should all try to be our own hero's in our own lives but assume supportive roles in the lives of other people and accept that. There's no value in outshining the people around you, value comes from what you contribute to people and assuming a supporting role is the way to do that.