I've always hated the cool kids, and even more so now, those who are now uncool to be cool. I feel that they are even crueler and more judgmental than the original beasts. I bought my sister a t-shirt recently that said 'I was uncool before uncool was cool" and she was. but she was also kind.
There’s a quote from a renowned acting coach called Larry Moss that truly speaks to me. “ The great icons of the past were not and are not cool, they were passionate, sophisticated, deeply wounded, brave, and idiosyncratic, and they blasted their way into the audience consciousness”… “For god’s sake, be hot! Be mad! Be witty! Be loving! Be heartfelt! Be sunny! Be fiercely cold! But, Jesus, don’t be cool!”
I feel that so much of our existence revolves around our ability to be ‘cool’. Whether or not we own THOSE items or interested in THAT lifestyle, it’s as though we are frightened to just exist.
Have you ever found yourself sitting alone at a bus stop or somewhere similar just idly playing with your phone? It’s as though you need to justify your right to be alone.
I urge all young men and women to refrain from using the word ‘cool’; it demeans a person and their true nature. ‘Cool’ indicates as though something is aloof, uncaring, lacking a sense of enthusiasm, lacking zest, lacking passion. ‘Cool’ comes with an underlying sense of undeserved importance.
I’ve been told time and time again that I’m not ‘cool’, by boyfriends, by friends, even by own sister! At first I was insulted, but then I realised how great a gift they’d given me, by giving up the pretentions of ‘cool’ you are given the opportunity to be quirky, interesting, eccentric, unpredictable, fun, funny, lovable and delightful!
So as a human being I vow to never be ‘cool’, to delve into the unusual and to never feel above a character or story. I ask the same from you, implement your aversion to ‘cool’ in all you do. Have an affect and be effective.
dear caitlin, I agree with you but I think there are two schools of 'cool'. on one side, we have the trendsetters who people love to hate while on the other side are the ones that just fit everywhere and seem to grab the attention of the room the moment they walk in. you'd never call the latter 'cool' because they're more than that, which, ironically, makes them the 'coolest' of all. or just generally nice people. congratulations on twtwb, gabriella
ReplyDeletewell in that case the latter of the two deserves recognition of a higher grade than 'cool'
ReplyDeleteeg. he/she is hillarious/likeable/personable/darling/lovely/dreamy/awesome (in the colloquial sense obviously)
And as you've just stated you'd never call them cool, if you were to you'd be very mistaken.
dream on dreamers
x
It's pretty subjective anyway; one person may be captivated by someone who is 'cool/cooler than cool' who just stepped into the room while another person might immediately think "poseur" or whatever. So it's a pretty throwaway concept that really has a variety of meanings, dependent on which social group is applying it. I always find it funny when my younger brother or his partner tell me how 'uncool' the music is that I listen to (ryan adams, bright eyes, paul dempsey, nirvana, whatever), when the stuff they listen to is very produced mass mainstream stuff that all MY friends consider the least cool music in the universe. And nobody is right, really...I will hold that there are good reasons for preferring the music I like over theirs haha - otherwise I wouldn't prefer it! - but arguing over which is 'cooler' is pretty silly. I think it's the basic myth of progress, where as you change as you get older you think that your tastes haven't just changed but rather have improved. And those whose haven't yet 'improved' must therefore be less sophistocated than you are. Maybe that's true in some ways, but it's a trap you can fall into, also.
ReplyDelete"Have you ever found yourself sitting alone at a bus stop or somewhere similar just idly playing with your phone? It’s as though you need to justify your right to be alone."
Only every single time I'm alone in public. Feeling so self conscious being alone that I'd better act like I'm busy, better act like even while alone I'm communicating somehow with someone, hah. A lot of people won't go see a movie on their own or something because they feel that way, which is pretty sad.
"rather be dead than cool" - 'Stay Away', Nirvana
p.s. er I just got an email from ACMI headed "The Rebirth Of Cool", so apparently the concept isn't disappearing any time soon! ;)
Simon
My brother and I wear our geek badges with pride. Because the geek is the funny one. The geek is the strange one. When you're with the geek, you know you're going to get something different, and not something "acceptable".
ReplyDeleteThere's a song called "Annihilation" (I only know the A Perfect Circle version but I'm sure it's a cover).. anyway, it has a line which is kind of my motto..
"Reject the system dictating the norms"
p.p.s I read someone the other day say something I thought was insightful, where they talked about how it's apparently 'cool' to be a 'geek' now - but it isn't really, it's just that 'cool' people, those who were always 'cool', have co-opted various brandings and elements of that culture because they're fashionable right now..
ReplyDeletepeople think 'emos' exist now, but didn't before. I think on some level, people really think that! No, you've just found another popular and shallow way to group people together and strip them of their 3-dimensionality.
don't even get me started on the internet arguments about whether Scott Pilgrim depicts 'hipsters' or is actually 'anti-hipster' or I don't even know lol
I dunno, it's an ever-changing landscape of bullshit manufactured by the unstoppable feedback-loop between the masses and the media - the ultimate arbiter of cool
Sorry, I've written a lot now, I should post a blog entry of my own somewhere ;)
Simon
ScoMan lol well, I guess that puts paid to what I just posted then about geeks being cool. It's nice that you feel 'cool' or legitimised as being a 'geek'. But personally while I like so-called 'geek' things, I don't want to be known as that because a) it's limiting, and b) it implies things about me that aren't necessarily true (so I like Buffy, or Firefly...doesn't mean I like any crap genre TV show simply because it has vampires or is set in space or whatever other scifi or fantasy trope it may have), or that that's all I like.
ReplyDeleteAnd the other thing is that wearing ANY badge - which is essentially a label - with pride is a quick slippery slope into looking down on other people just like more traditionally 'cool' people do
Labels are useful only as shorthand; I want to think of people in longhand ;)
I think if we look back at the film "Billy Madison", there is a line in there which sums up my thoughts on cool... "You aint cool unless you pee your pants".
ReplyDeleteCool is a subjective term anyhow, and whats "cool" to one person, is not always cool with the person standing next to them.
The simpsons explain it well.
Homer: So I realized that being with my family is more important than being cool.
Bart: Dad, what you just said was powerfully uncool.
Homer: You know what the song says: "It's hip to be square."
Lisa: That song is so lame.
Homer: So lame that it's... cool?
Bart and Lisa: No.
Marge: Am I cool, kids?
Bart and Lisa: No.
Marge: Good. I'm glad. And that's what makes me cool—not caring, right?
Bart and Lisa: No.
Marge: Well, how the hell do you be cool? I feel like we've tried everything here.
Homer: Wait, Marge. Maybe if you're truly cool, you don't need to be told you're cool.
Bart: Well, sure you do.
Lisa: How else would you know?
Oh I would love to Lucia, if you're ever in LA let me know! what lovely little pictures you take
ReplyDeletex
Honestly, this post inspired me. I've always felt out of place at school, feeling like I'm not good enough. I thank you for posting this, it made me feel a whole lot better.
ReplyDeleteWell this made me feel so much better i toatally dont feel cool as school im know as werido becuase i am hyper all the time and werid!
ReplyDeletei wish we could be friends calitin!
that would be awesome!
luv u!
xxx
I totally agree with jl I'm known as retarded and uncool I wish we could be friends that would be awesome
ReplyDeleteHi cinta
Ur so awesome!!!!!
Luv ya