HW 31

PART A
The person I interviewed was my friend john. I aksed what methods he used to mask himself and portray a cool pose to others and also why he does so. His answer was that he does not try to be cool or seem cool to others. He said he simply does what he likes and although many things he likes come from things around that he sees as cool he does not do things because it is the cool thing to do at the moment. His basic answer was that what makes him cool is that he does things he likes and he does not follow others likes and therefore that is cool about him. I think that this is a pretty standard answer but I also think it is somewhat true. I do believe that some people do things because that is what they truly like but the image that you give off as being cool is something that you put out there for others to accept so in a sense you are doing it for others. I find the idea very confusing.

PART B
The different strategies I would say I use to be "cool" would be the way I dress, surronding myself with friends I view as cool, and I guess sports actvities or personal life/activities. I have a deep passion for music and I like to share the music I listen to or the music my friends and people I know make with others. It is something that I talk about alot and the people I am close with know about me. The way I dress would also be another strategy. I dress in a way that I think is cool and other people also like sometimes. I do pay somewhat attention to how I dress but I don't really obsses over it. Also things such as being good at sports, going out outside of school, making jokes, etc. Are other things that give me attention and give me a lok that is cool.

The reason that I do these things is partly because they are what I enjoy to do or at least at this point in time what I enjoy as well as because I am able to surround myself with and be accepted by other people that have similar interests as me and people who I view as cool. I think all of these strategies are about acceptance and a sense of importance.

HW 30

Cool is an idea that has overtaken our culture. Almost everyone is obsessed with being cool and the only thing that differs is the group that they want to appeal too. What is it about cool that makes us want to be it. What is it about ourselves that makes us so insecure that we have to fit in to other people’s standards. Why do we feel such a sense of emptiness? Maybe it is a lack of attention or love for simply being alive, or maybe it is fear of death, maybe we naturally want to feel important. All of these things play roles in the reasoning for insecurities but one of the biggest reasons we seek approval and importance is that our roles in society change as we get older and we get less attention as we grow. As a child one receives a large amount of attention from their parents, their family and many other adults around them. Little children are tended to most of the time and taken care of. They get attention just for being around and they get used to this attention. As children begin to get older and start going to school where they seek the same attention from their peers and therefore find ways to attract the attention of those around them and feel accepted and important in the same way they do at home. As we being to enter middle school and high school we become more independent and this is many times something we want, or think we want yet we still seek attention from others in school or from groups of friends outside of school. “The goal of being cool is feeling good about yourself, feeling valuable.” (Matt Freud, December 8th)

As we get older more is expected of us we handle more responsibilities and we are expected to care for ourselves. The change of roles we go through and “separation from the mother” both cause us to have a need to fill an emptiness with a feeling of importance and the easiest and most common way to do so is to give of an image that attracts other people and makes you seem important. People have a natural need to feel wanted and accepted however, in our society there is a desire for an unnatural and excessive amount of acceptance and importance. I think society has taken this idea and has turned it into an extreme hierarchy(which by the way goes hand in hand with a capitalist system)that leaves few feeling important and many feeling meaningless. Our need for acceptance has turned into a competition to see who can feel the most important of all. There are people who constantly obsess over feeling important and better then other and it's pathetic. I believe there is a difference between a longing for acceptance and what goes in our society today, specifically in pop culture. I don't think there is anything wrong with seeking acceptance however there is a problem with putting others down and competing obsessively to feel the most important.

HW 29

The connection between cool and teenagers is essential to the success of big businesses. Big businesses need to find ways to manipulate the feelings of teens to be able to sell products to them. "The Merchants of Cool" shows exactly how big businesses figure what is cool amongst teens and how the use that to sell their products to teens. I think that they are right we are used and our feelings are basically manipulated and if not we are at least influenced to a great extent. We are shown what is cool and what is not and even when sub-cultures pop up amongst teens they are basically infiltrated by big businesses and become part of their marketing strategy. This is very easy to prove in music as "The Merchants of Cool" showed with Limp Biscuit and Rage against The Machine. As teens constantly try to find things that are not mainstream and companies start to use these new sub cultures as marketing strategies teens are constantly changing their idea of cool. Teens are very focused on trying to be different but at the same time are trying to act different and 'cool' to fit in.

I think that big corporations and businesses cause much of the insecurities in teens because the control the mainstream ideas of cool. The constantly change what's cool and I think it comes off as confusing. It is rare for a teen to be truly comfortable with who they are more so in early teen years because the things that are cool are constantly changing around them. I think as people get older and mature they realize what is going on and are more confident but the same things still happen. The insecurities of people in general and their want to be cool is what makes the businesses rich and is the cycle of our society. It is what helps capitalism run and with out the exploitation of feelings a capitalist society would collapse completely. Although businesses play a major role in influencing peoples feelings the society it is tool of capitalism and the blame of the effects of businesses and corporations on our life belongs to the system in general and the people as well for going along with it and not being able to even see what is going on.

HW 28

It is so obvious from this informal research that so many people try so hard to be cool and some are good at hiding it and some aren't. These articles basically state archetypes or mix some and say that that is what is cool.

http://alanwho.com/ask/how-to-be-cool/

So this guys definition of cool is to be independent and somewhat mystical yet friendly and ambitious. He also states that being relaxed is very important when being cool. It pretty much what we talked about in class. He does not state anything new.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080901214454AALDzPJ

So this is pretty interesting. The guy/girl asking the question is talking down on "cool" people saying there usually idiots and they are all fake. One of the responses says some "cool" people are being themselves(but does not go in to what "being yourself" means) and a third person says they want to be cool to fit in and be happy and avoid loneliness.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/129878-Study_Friends_Determine_What_Is_Cool_Among_Young_People.php

This article is a survey on what young kids and teenagers think are cool. They show a big change in whats cool from 13 and 14 years old to 15-18 year olds and show that kids priorities change and their ideas of cool change. Digital things are shown to be very cool amongst all ages but more social activities such as hanging out with friends become more popular in older kids.

http://www.loganwhitehurst.com/becool.html

This is an essay or at least thats what he is calling. He is pretty much making fun of cool, or at least I hope he is. He ridicules things that some people may think are cool and names ways to be cool in a sarcastic way.

http://www.mindfields.org.uk/blog/?p=140

This article is similar to the first one. The idea of cool here is mystical yet friendly. Also doing your own thing is a big part of it...kinda like the cowboy. All the articles about how to be cool say the same thing. Make people think you don't care, dress nice, be funny, etc.

HW 27

DAD:
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE COOL?
"It means to be your own unique person, be confident and special. At least to be able to pretend that you believe those things about yourself."

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COOL?
"Cool is everything(joke)...The significance of cool is that it gives meaning to empty lives."

WHAT MAKES SOMEONE NOT COOL?
"you know what makes someone not cool, trying to be cool. Trying hard to be cool is the most uncool thing you could do."

John(friend):
1. What makes you cool?
"Because I do what I want, by wearing what I want, singing when I want, dancing when I want and people follow. Sometimes I make people come out their 'shell'.

2. How long to get ready?
30 mins not including shower

3.What makes somebody not cool?
"When people follow. When they follow trends and whats going on at the moment. Oh and when people hate and give criticisms that are not constructive. If your not helping you have no reason to criticize."

Hw 26

JAVON


1. What makes you cool?
"My swagga" (He then sings the chorus to the song 'swagga like us' and adds his name at the end) He explains that it is your demeanor that determines your coolness. "It's the way I carry myself; be confident about yourself and act how you act."
He then explains expensive things are not necessary when trying to be cool. "It depends on how you put things together and your character."

2. How long does it take you to get ready when your going out usually?
"10 minutes at most, wait nah about 20 maybe 30 minutes. I have a huge closet!"

3.What makes somebody NOT cool?
"everything I said but the opposite, like I said it depends on how you carry yourself."

JOHN


1. What makes you cool?
"Because I do what I want, by wearing what I want, singing when I want, dancing when I want and people follow. Sometimes I make people come out their 'shell'.

2. How long to get ready?
30 mins not including shower

3.What makes somebody not cool?
"When people follow. When they follow trends and whats going on at the moment. Oh and when people hate and give criticisms that are not constructive. If your not helping you have no reason to criticize."


MAX


What makes you cool?
"The white tuxedo jacket sorta gets the looks. It comes off as clean but not trying to hard.

What made you go with this look?
"After seeing James Bond "Goldeneye" I was inspired to pull of the white suit."

What makes someone not cool?
"When it's clear to public that he is trying to hard. It becomes obvious that he wants to be cool."

Hw 25 (part 2)

In all stories cool was one of two things,and sometimes both. The main character was either cool in a very superficial way (fashion, wealth, looks, etc.) or the character was cool because he/she played the role of the nice guy/girl. Of course there were many variations of this but essentially all the stories came down to one of the two. I also read alot of stories about kids who are extremely self concious on the inside and try extremely hard to not show it and succede and therefore are considered cool.

Some of the archtypes in the stories I read were: The jock(basketball player), The popular pretty girl, and the jerk. One of the theme that I noticed were in almost all of the stories was a sense of secretism. Almost all the characters has issues with themselves or with other people outside their group of immidiate friends or the people they act cool in front of. They also hid these problems from the people who viewed them as cool. I guess one thing people were trying to portray was that people who try to act cool(which i guess is everyone) have more problems then you think and are much more complicated than what you see although they don't show it. All the stories were the typical ideas of what is viewed as cool in our society.