Based on Friedman's lecture on the Psychology of Cool (12/8/09), giving others the power to determine your coolness makes you vulnerable, because teens are influenced by the idea of being cool, the vast majority of teens are insecure. Corporate companies take advantage of this and use it as a technique to target teenagers, "Teens are like Africa" (Merchants of Cool) they colonize our consciousness. We all want to be valued so the marketing companies use that and flatter the chosen audience (teens) to get their attention.
The film, Merchants of Cool, make me believe that the corporations are evil for manipulating teens because they are vulnerable. They take advantage of teens as an easy target for their profits. Capitalists find the easiest way to make the most profit, even if that means creating these roles and norms for teenagers and influencing them to be cool highly affecting their lives. But in addition to me being manipulated by advertisements, I am being manipulated by this film (another form of media). I am simply thinking what corporate media wants me to think even though those ideas are contradictory.
I think that because media holds such a big role in our lifestyles, the average teen in 2001 sees 3000 advertisements a day, we don't know what else to rely on. The media has become our main source for things, movies, television, advertisements, and second hand media from other people. I do think that advertisements for all ages should be limited, not necessarily banned but limited. For all ages I would believe that adults can be manipulated by the media as well as teenagers, probably not as easliy, but nonetheless manipulated, my parents still buy new digital items even when we do not really need them. I beleive that if we were not so influenced by ads we would find more reliable sources to be influenced by such as actual human beings who are not trying to get you to buy something (hopefully).
I think it should be limited and not banned because ads are in a cycle of capitalism and without ads that would mean people working with the ads would be out of jobs (I'm sure not all of them are evil, some of them are probably just stuck in that job), lots of actors other companies would be out or work, increasing poverty in the U.S. It would be harder to buy the things we need (food, water, etc) because we would have to figure out where to get what we need. I don't know if the US can handle not being told what to do all the time. We are so used to being tools we don't know what it is like to not be one.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Informal Research 28
Cool From Wikipedia:
This website talks about the definition of cool, its history, and how the definition of "cool" changes between countries and their cultures. The article then talks about the distinctions within the ideas of cool. An excerpt from the show, The Simpsons, is used as an example to show these distinctions.
Lisa: That song is so lame.
Homer: So lame that it's... cool?
Bart+Lisa: No.
Marge: Am I cool, kids?
Bart+Lisa: No.
Marge: Good. I'm glad. And that's what makes me cool, not caring,
right?
Bart+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?
It seems as though if you admit you're cool you are uncool because being cool is not caring. But if you're uncool, admitting that is cool--the song can be so lame that it's cool. But then how can you know if you're cool without asking and sounding like you're trying too hard? We all seem like we try so hard, trying different tactics of attaining coolness to get others to like you. Is your own perspective of yourself enough? Apparently not because we are always looking for approval of others. Why do trust other peoples' judgements of ourselves? My guess it is because we are so insecure with ourselves, we are so easy to trust what other people say about us.
The Breakfast Club:
In the movie The Breakfast Club, all of the general stereotypes are stuck in detention together, each of them playing the role that they fit into, "a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, a criminal...". They eventually become friends with each other despite the expectations of not associating with people outside of their social group.
This film showed the dominant views of what is cool in a typical high school, the jock, the princess, and the rebel, and what is uncool, the geek and the basket case. Each character fulfilled their archetype. In the beginning, "the princess," "the criminal" and "the athlete" think they are better than the others, "the brain" obediently sitting at his desk and "the basket case" in the back kind of just doing whatever she wants. Throughout the movie they escape these norms by admitting that they don't fit them.
The Brain:
I can't have an F, I can't have it
and I know my parents can't have it!
Even if I aced the rest of the
semester, I'm still only a B. And
everything's ruined for me!
The Princess:
I hate having to go
along with everything my friends say!...
You know, you just don't understand
the pressure that they can put on
you!
The Athlete:
it's all because of me and
my old man. Oh God, I fucking hate him!...
"Andrew, you've got to be number one! I
won't tolerate any losers in this
family... Win. Win! WIN!!!"...
sometimes, I wish... he
could forget all about me...
The Basket Case:
My home life is un...satisfying...
[my parents] ignore me...
The Criminal:
(as his father)
Stupid, worthless, no good, God
damned, freeloading, son of a bitch,
retarded, bigmouth, know it all,
asshole, jerk!
(as his mother)
You forgot ugly, lazy and
disrespectful.
They all come to the conclusion that,"we're all pretty bizarre! Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all." Which I agree with. We all have problems and being "cool" or trying to be, is just a way of pretending that we are happy and avoiding/denying the fact that our lives are not perfect.
By the end of the movie the audience is feeling pretty satisfied as the cool and the uncool become friends. They get the briain to write the essay to the principal for all the them (I guess not everything changed) saying, "you're crazy to make [us write] an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us...In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions.But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal..." The audience ends up believing all five of the students are cool regarless of the norms (arguably) because they all shyed away from what they were expected to be. Which is going againts the grain and being authentic, supporting those general ideas of cool, but they still fit themselves under their given lables.
How To Be Cool:
This website has ten tips of how to be cool, basically saying generally everything that we have talked about. Number one is not caring what others think. Being indifferent, but still having a general view of how others percieve you. You have to be confident, be different, say what you think, laugh at yourself. Individualism is also an important aspect, be relaxed, and be social without coming on to strong to other people. There seems to be many regulations in being cool.
When comparing this website to my interview with the hair stylists', their definition was much simpler, just be easy to get along with and that is it. But it seems as though there is more to it than just being easygoing, With regard to physical appearance, beware of bad breath, body odor, etc. "In terms of body language, stand/sit up straight, look and feel confident, smile generously, do not stare, etc." It seems like a lot to think about.
You always see in the movies or shows when the main character tries to make the transformation into someone who is cooler than they think they originally are. The general formula for this type of story is that they try to be cool, they fail because they are too subconscious about being cool. Then in the end someone is there to tell them, or they figure out on their own, that being themself is what makes you cool and what makes you unique. But unique isnt always "cool", The basket case in The Breakfast Club is someone you can call unique but she was not considered cool. And in one of my interviews, a girl is considerd cool but she was not unique. When is unique cool and when isnt it?
Works Cited:
Hughes, John. "The Breakfast Club." awesomefilm.com. 1985. WDBG@AOL.COM, Web. 7 Dec 2009..
"Theories of cool." wikipedia.org. 2000. Web. 7 Dec 2009..
"How To Be Cool ." iloveindia.com. Web. 7 Dec 2009..
This website talks about the definition of cool, its history, and how the definition of "cool" changes between countries and their cultures. The article then talks about the distinctions within the ideas of cool. An excerpt from the show, The Simpsons, is used as an example to show these distinctions.
Lisa: That song is so lame.
Homer: So lame that it's... cool?
Bart+Lisa: No.
Marge: Am I cool, kids?
Bart+Lisa: No.
Marge: Good. I'm glad. And that's what makes me cool, not caring,
right?
Bart+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?
It seems as though if you admit you're cool you are uncool because being cool is not caring. But if you're uncool, admitting that is cool--the song can be so lame that it's cool. But then how can you know if you're cool without asking and sounding like you're trying too hard? We all seem like we try so hard, trying different tactics of attaining coolness to get others to like you. Is your own perspective of yourself enough? Apparently not because we are always looking for approval of others. Why do trust other peoples' judgements of ourselves? My guess it is because we are so insecure with ourselves, we are so easy to trust what other people say about us.
The Breakfast Club:
In the movie The Breakfast Club, all of the general stereotypes are stuck in detention together, each of them playing the role that they fit into, "a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, a criminal...". They eventually become friends with each other despite the expectations of not associating with people outside of their social group.
This film showed the dominant views of what is cool in a typical high school, the jock, the princess, and the rebel, and what is uncool, the geek and the basket case. Each character fulfilled their archetype. In the beginning, "the princess," "the criminal" and "the athlete" think they are better than the others, "the brain" obediently sitting at his desk and "the basket case" in the back kind of just doing whatever she wants. Throughout the movie they escape these norms by admitting that they don't fit them.
The Brain:
I can't have an F, I can't have it
and I know my parents can't have it!
Even if I aced the rest of the
semester, I'm still only a B. And
everything's ruined for me!
The Princess:
I hate having to go
along with everything my friends say!...
You know, you just don't understand
the pressure that they can put on
you!
The Athlete:
it's all because of me and
my old man. Oh God, I fucking hate him!...
"Andrew, you've got to be number one! I
won't tolerate any losers in this
family... Win. Win! WIN!!!"...
sometimes, I wish... he
could forget all about me...
The Basket Case:
My home life is un...satisfying...
[my parents] ignore me...
The Criminal:
(as his father)
Stupid, worthless, no good, God
damned, freeloading, son of a bitch,
retarded, bigmouth, know it all,
asshole, jerk!
(as his mother)
You forgot ugly, lazy and
disrespectful.
They all come to the conclusion that,"we're all pretty bizarre! Some of us are just better at hiding it, that's all." Which I agree with. We all have problems and being "cool" or trying to be, is just a way of pretending that we are happy and avoiding/denying the fact that our lives are not perfect.
By the end of the movie the audience is feeling pretty satisfied as the cool and the uncool become friends. They get the briain to write the essay to the principal for all the them (I guess not everything changed) saying, "you're crazy to make [us write] an essay telling you who we think we are. You see us as you want to see us...In the simplest terms, in the most convenient definitions.But what we found out is that each one of us is a brain...and an athlete...and a basket case...a princess...and a criminal..." The audience ends up believing all five of the students are cool regarless of the norms (arguably) because they all shyed away from what they were expected to be. Which is going againts the grain and being authentic, supporting those general ideas of cool, but they still fit themselves under their given lables.
How To Be Cool:
This website has ten tips of how to be cool, basically saying generally everything that we have talked about. Number one is not caring what others think. Being indifferent, but still having a general view of how others percieve you. You have to be confident, be different, say what you think, laugh at yourself. Individualism is also an important aspect, be relaxed, and be social without coming on to strong to other people. There seems to be many regulations in being cool.
When comparing this website to my interview with the hair stylists', their definition was much simpler, just be easy to get along with and that is it. But it seems as though there is more to it than just being easygoing, With regard to physical appearance, beware of bad breath, body odor, etc. "In terms of body language, stand/sit up straight, look and feel confident, smile generously, do not stare, etc." It seems like a lot to think about.
You always see in the movies or shows when the main character tries to make the transformation into someone who is cooler than they think they originally are. The general formula for this type of story is that they try to be cool, they fail because they are too subconscious about being cool. Then in the end someone is there to tell them, or they figure out on their own, that being themself is what makes you cool and what makes you unique. But unique isnt always "cool", The basket case in The Breakfast Club is someone you can call unique but she was not considered cool. And in one of my interviews, a girl is considerd cool but she was not unique. When is unique cool and when isnt it?
Works Cited:
Hughes, John. "The Breakfast Club." awesomefilm.com. 1985. WDBG@AOL.COM, Web. 7 Dec 2009.
"Theories of cool." wikipedia.org. 2000. Web. 7 Dec 2009.
"How To Be Cool ." iloveindia.com. Web. 7 Dec 2009.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
27 Informal Research and Interviews
Street Interviews:
Esther and I leave the building but we don't know which way to go, John Li and Andy find us and we start to walk together in the direction of the hardware store. Andy and John walk ahead and a guy smoking outside a hair salon asks us, "you asking about 'cool'?, go ask her (he points to an asian lady inside the salon), she's cool" So we walk inside and ask the lady what she thinks is cool. she says someone who is easy to get along with who is openminded, and easygoing whether they are rich or not. Esther then asks her if she thinks she is cool. The asian lady says "I try my best to be cool" someone cool knows who they are they have to know how to "act it". She then got into how sometimes good people are not cool because they are not recognized but that doesn't mean that they are not good people.
She then calls over her co-worker, a lady with white spikey hair and asks her what she thinkgs is cool she paused to think and said "chill" calm and relaxed, not easily upset. She then says "we look cool, we're cool" gesturing to herself and the asian lady. She also says that there are lots of different opinions of what "cool."
Then she calls over another co-worker, a male hispanic looking guy, and asks he what he thinks is cool, he says "GQ is cool!" me and Esther didn't realize but they explained that GQ is his name, he thinks he is cool. He then said "Someone you can get along" and someone with a cool haircut (referring to the hair salon we were in). All three came down to the same answer that someone cool is someone you can get along with. I can agree with that but now that I think of it, it is a very vague answer. What makes them easy to get along with and how do you determine that?
After we left the hair place, we didnt really know where to go next. Esther said I had to pick since she started asking the asian lady. I decided we'd walk into duane reade and talk to one of the workers because they can't walk away from us. We were lucky because the lady at the cashier was't doing anything so I asked her, What do you think is cool. She thought for a minute and simply said "me" she seemed pretty confident but confused so she said "I dont really know, I don't use that term very much" so I asked, what do you think makes you cool? and she said that a lot of people like her, she had lots of friends and she had a funny personality. I asked her If she tried to be, she said "I don't try, I'm just me." Then Esther asked her how if she acted differently around her friends and her family, she responded, "No I act the same," I decided I didn't want to bother her anymore so the interview ended there. It seemed like the general idea of cool is someone easy to get along with, someone funny and well liked by a lot of people, and someone who knows who they are.
Family Interview:
I asked the first "cool" relative how she lives her life. She said that if she wants things she goes for it. Does what she can while shes young so she can learn from her mistakes now rather than later. From this I got that "cool" is doing your own thing and living your life in the moment.
I then asked a second "cool" relative what he thought was cool. He said "The Fonz, he's so cool he's like 'aye', he wears a leather jacket, and he doesn't really care." Going back to the indifferent and badass rebel coolness. Then he says "Beans are cool" referring to the phrase 'cool beans' trying to be cool while referring to that cool phrase. So I asked him if he thought he was cool, he said "Yes I model myself after the Fonz and I eat beans," then I responded, "But then you're not original" he said that was true and, "That's what makes beans and the Fonz so cool, they do their own thing." So this idea of unauthenticity is still not cool but its only not cool until they realize they are unoriginal. As long as they can go on believing they are cool and original, they are confident they are cool.
It seems as though unoriginality for cool people is almost taboo because people don't want to throw off their coolness. You probably won't hear someone question a celebrity's coolness because they idolized someone else. People seem so intimidated by cool people they don't want to question the 'authority' they think they have. For example, when Fall Out Boy the cool edgy alternative rock band did a cover of Beat it by Michael Jackson the classic king of pop. That cover was still cool, I'm pretty sure it made the top 10 on itunes for a while. Because Fall Out Boy already had status, they were still cool for doing that song even though they were clearly copying off of Michael Jackson and they got even more status for doing that song. If someone with low status in a typical high school copied off of someone else's style, they would be considered a poser or a fake and that would give them stigma.
Esther and I leave the building but we don't know which way to go, John Li and Andy find us and we start to walk together in the direction of the hardware store. Andy and John walk ahead and a guy smoking outside a hair salon asks us, "you asking about 'cool'?, go ask her (he points to an asian lady inside the salon), she's cool" So we walk inside and ask the lady what she thinks is cool. she says someone who is easy to get along with who is openminded, and easygoing whether they are rich or not. Esther then asks her if she thinks she is cool. The asian lady says "I try my best to be cool" someone cool knows who they are they have to know how to "act it". She then got into how sometimes good people are not cool because they are not recognized but that doesn't mean that they are not good people.
She then calls over her co-worker, a lady with white spikey hair and asks her what she thinkgs is cool she paused to think and said "chill" calm and relaxed, not easily upset. She then says "we look cool, we're cool" gesturing to herself and the asian lady. She also says that there are lots of different opinions of what "cool."
Then she calls over another co-worker, a male hispanic looking guy, and asks he what he thinks is cool, he says "GQ is cool!" me and Esther didn't realize but they explained that GQ is his name, he thinks he is cool. He then said "Someone you can get along" and someone with a cool haircut (referring to the hair salon we were in). All three came down to the same answer that someone cool is someone you can get along with. I can agree with that but now that I think of it, it is a very vague answer. What makes them easy to get along with and how do you determine that?
After we left the hair place, we didnt really know where to go next. Esther said I had to pick since she started asking the asian lady. I decided we'd walk into duane reade and talk to one of the workers because they can't walk away from us. We were lucky because the lady at the cashier was't doing anything so I asked her, What do you think is cool. She thought for a minute and simply said "me" she seemed pretty confident but confused so she said "I dont really know, I don't use that term very much" so I asked, what do you think makes you cool? and she said that a lot of people like her, she had lots of friends and she had a funny personality. I asked her If she tried to be, she said "I don't try, I'm just me." Then Esther asked her how if she acted differently around her friends and her family, she responded, "No I act the same," I decided I didn't want to bother her anymore so the interview ended there. It seemed like the general idea of cool is someone easy to get along with, someone funny and well liked by a lot of people, and someone who knows who they are.
Family Interview:
I asked the first "cool" relative how she lives her life. She said that if she wants things she goes for it. Does what she can while shes young so she can learn from her mistakes now rather than later. From this I got that "cool" is doing your own thing and living your life in the moment.
I then asked a second "cool" relative what he thought was cool. He said "The Fonz, he's so cool he's like 'aye', he wears a leather jacket, and he doesn't really care." Going back to the indifferent and badass rebel coolness. Then he says "Beans are cool" referring to the phrase 'cool beans' trying to be cool while referring to that cool phrase. So I asked him if he thought he was cool, he said "Yes I model myself after the Fonz and I eat beans," then I responded, "But then you're not original" he said that was true and, "That's what makes beans and the Fonz so cool, they do their own thing." So this idea of unauthenticity is still not cool but its only not cool until they realize they are unoriginal. As long as they can go on believing they are cool and original, they are confident they are cool.
It seems as though unoriginality for cool people is almost taboo because people don't want to throw off their coolness. You probably won't hear someone question a celebrity's coolness because they idolized someone else. People seem so intimidated by cool people they don't want to question the 'authority' they think they have. For example, when Fall Out Boy the cool edgy alternative rock band did a cover of Beat it by Michael Jackson the classic king of pop. That cover was still cool, I'm pretty sure it made the top 10 on itunes for a while. Because Fall Out Boy already had status, they were still cool for doing that song even though they were clearly copying off of Michael Jackson and they got even more status for doing that song. If someone with low status in a typical high school copied off of someone else's style, they would be considered a poser or a fake and that would give them stigma.
Monday, November 30, 2009
HW 26- Photos and Question
When I asked three people what they thought about their cool "look". The first response that I got was that they like the way they look and other people might not but that are confident in their own style. The other reaction that I got was that their look wasn't cool because they don't have the newest things or because their stype it isn't. Overall I got, "I dress how I wanna dress" (individuality).
I then asked what that thought of other people liking the way they look. They both said they like that they are approved by others. I then questioned if they are not approved. One said they would be self conscious and try to adapt to that opinion unless it is the opinion of someone they don't really care about. The other interviewee said as long as they like the way they look other people's opinion doesn't really matter to them. My last interviewee said "If they don't like my style, fuck off, I don't judge them so why judge me." On the contrary I believe we all judge people at least subconsciously, some people might just be more obvious about it. Thinking about the positive opinions, all three said are nice and they make you feel good because they give her confidence.
Finally, I asked them how it helps them in life/society being cool or looking cool. One interviewee said they get attention but then again "people don't really try to dig deeper or try to get to know you better because they're so stuck on appearance." The second girl I interviewed said that everyone has a different opinion about you. She says, but that "Doesn't mean I'm gonna go around shaping my look to what others want I dress the way I dress." These girls seem like pretty confident individuals.
Monday, November 23, 2009
25 Story Comments and Analysis
Maggie- Nice story, I like how you were very specific in your description of this cool person. Because this story is about a new girl who everyone is curious about because she is mysterious and different.
Esther- I like your story, I reminded me of you a lot. The character has a very calm attitude like he doesn't really care, he's just chill.
Omar- I liked the setting you chose, for the characters to be at a concert, that was pretty cool. And I like how you portrayed the protagonist as the nice guy, the medeator, mending a relationship between two of his friends.
Jacara- Your story seemed to be of an average girl and I like how in the end you show that she says what she feels to the man with the large bag, as you said in your title, she doesn't like to make a big deal out of it but she expresses her thoughts freely.
Kate- Your story is the popular girl who is hiding from herself and this is where she reveals who she wants to be and she is still pretty cool. She has a revalation and it is within a small amount of time, good job.
I noticed some patterns in these stories. In mine and Maggie's there is something mysterious about the character, you want to know more about them because there is something different about them. But, once you know more about the person, they are not as cool or interesting anymore. This is not shown in the stories specifically but in my own personal experiences, this is what I notice.
I also noticed that most of these characters are very confident, they know what they want and they are not afraid to be themselves. Specifically in Jacara's, the character in her story was not afraid to say what she felt. Also in Esther's story, the protagonist knew what he wanted to wear and did what he felt without much second thought.
Another recurring aspect of cool that I saw in these stories, is the person is generally a nice person. In my story, the protagonist helped the girl pick up papers, In Kate's story, her character defended another student, and in Omar's blog, he mediated a situation between his two friends. All showing that the "cool" person cares to some extent which sort of contradicts the whole idea of indifference is cool. They are different types of cool but is it cool to be both indifferent and nice?
Finally, another pattern I noticed was that the majority of the stories took place in school. That is generally where most people look for acceptance of being "cool" or that is where the person's "followers" take place. School is the where we see the same people every day and when there is something mysterious about someone in school (Maggie's) it sparks something and all of the sudden everyone is interested. School is also where we grow and develop our self esteem to then practice our confidence in front of an audience. It is also the place where we interact with people. It is the main common place for teenagers to fit people into achetypes.
Esther- I like your story, I reminded me of you a lot. The character has a very calm attitude like he doesn't really care, he's just chill.
Omar- I liked the setting you chose, for the characters to be at a concert, that was pretty cool. And I like how you portrayed the protagonist as the nice guy, the medeator, mending a relationship between two of his friends.
Jacara- Your story seemed to be of an average girl and I like how in the end you show that she says what she feels to the man with the large bag, as you said in your title, she doesn't like to make a big deal out of it but she expresses her thoughts freely.
Kate- Your story is the popular girl who is hiding from herself and this is where she reveals who she wants to be and she is still pretty cool. She has a revalation and it is within a small amount of time, good job.
I noticed some patterns in these stories. In mine and Maggie's there is something mysterious about the character, you want to know more about them because there is something different about them. But, once you know more about the person, they are not as cool or interesting anymore. This is not shown in the stories specifically but in my own personal experiences, this is what I notice.
I also noticed that most of these characters are very confident, they know what they want and they are not afraid to be themselves. Specifically in Jacara's, the character in her story was not afraid to say what she felt. Also in Esther's story, the protagonist knew what he wanted to wear and did what he felt without much second thought.
Another recurring aspect of cool that I saw in these stories, is the person is generally a nice person. In my story, the protagonist helped the girl pick up papers, In Kate's story, her character defended another student, and in Omar's blog, he mediated a situation between his two friends. All showing that the "cool" person cares to some extent which sort of contradicts the whole idea of indifference is cool. They are different types of cool but is it cool to be both indifferent and nice?
Finally, another pattern I noticed was that the majority of the stories took place in school. That is generally where most people look for acceptance of being "cool" or that is where the person's "followers" take place. School is the where we see the same people every day and when there is something mysterious about someone in school (Maggie's) it sparks something and all of the sudden everyone is interested. School is also where we grow and develop our self esteem to then practice our confidence in front of an audience. It is also the place where we interact with people. It is the main common place for teenagers to fit people into achetypes.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Cool Short Story- HW 24
Lynette Walks through the hall keeping her fidgeting to a minimal she'd been doing pretty well since she had all morning to practice going to her first four classes. She still feels eyes darting at her and says to herself, "Its not you they're looking at, its the person behind you, and even if they are looking at you, so what?" she trusted herself but fixes her shirt and rustles her hair anyway.
In the corner of her eye she notices a younger student with an unnecessarily large backpack drop several of their papers, she thinks to herself, "The first day of school has barely started, how can you have so much work already?," she rushes to the younger student and helps her.
She hands the papers back to her, "Here you go, cool necklace by the way"
"Oh, thanks" she responds.
"No problem."
She continued to walk while humming her favorite show tune going through the notes in her head. Suddenly she hears a collection of voices calling her name from behind her. She casually turns around to see her friends standing by the stair case cautiously waiting for a response, Lynette runs up to them with a huge smile on her face and fits into a group hug with her friends, "You guys look so grown up and its only been two months, what happened?," they all giggled in response. Jamie says, "Okay so where are we going for lunch?" they all respond the same way, with shrugs and "I don't knows." Lynette says "Let's just walk and see where we end up."
As they walk to lunch, she overhears most students chit chatting about their summers. April joins in and asks, "So how was your summer Lyn?" she replies, "Pretty good, can't complain" she knew it was a lie but she didn't really want to get into the details.
At that very moment she just happened to see Jason walk by, he knew about her summer and he knew what was wrong. Jason looked at her worridly, he came up to her and asked, "Hey Lyn is everything okay?" April looks at Lynette questioningly, thousands of questions building up. Lynette sighs and says under her breath, "I knew this day was too good to be true."
In the corner of her eye she notices a younger student with an unnecessarily large backpack drop several of their papers, she thinks to herself, "The first day of school has barely started, how can you have so much work already?," she rushes to the younger student and helps her.
She hands the papers back to her, "Here you go, cool necklace by the way"
"Oh, thanks" she responds.
"No problem."
She continued to walk while humming her favorite show tune going through the notes in her head. Suddenly she hears a collection of voices calling her name from behind her. She casually turns around to see her friends standing by the stair case cautiously waiting for a response, Lynette runs up to them with a huge smile on her face and fits into a group hug with her friends, "You guys look so grown up and its only been two months, what happened?," they all giggled in response. Jamie says, "Okay so where are we going for lunch?" they all respond the same way, with shrugs and "I don't knows." Lynette says "Let's just walk and see where we end up."
As they walk to lunch, she overhears most students chit chatting about their summers. April joins in and asks, "So how was your summer Lyn?" she replies, "Pretty good, can't complain" she knew it was a lie but she didn't really want to get into the details.
At that very moment she just happened to see Jason walk by, he knew about her summer and he knew what was wrong. Jason looked at her worridly, he came up to her and asked, "Hey Lyn is everything okay?" April looks at Lynette questioningly, thousands of questions building up. Lynette sighs and says under her breath, "I knew this day was too good to be true."
Monday, November 16, 2009
Exploration of Cool- HW 23
I would guess the definition of cool is being accepted and well liked by the majority of the people in your life. Which sounds sort of a lot like popularity. So I wonder, is being cool the same as being popular? I think it is possible for someone to be cool but not popular, they are cool but not many people are aware of it. And it is also possible that someone is popular but not very cool at all, it is just that a lot of people know them. But I think in our society this distinction is not very defined. Depending on where one conforms to, different people find different things "cool," so the definition changes from group to group. I thing the general view of cool, is someone who is confident, attractive, athletic, and assertive. Thus, the quiet and insecure people remain "uncool."
I think the concept of cool is kind of a double standard. "The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care"- Hugh Macleod. So you can either be cool and have lots of friends but be bored all the time because of the stereotypical and materialistic routine you go by or you can be alone but have some sort of meaning in your life.
In our society, we are all trying to reach "cool." We all want acceptance so we don't feel alone, and according to Macleod's quote, we all would rather be bored than alone. "I kept buying these things to be cool, but cool was always flying just ahead of me, and I could never exactly catch up to it. I felt like I'd been running toward it for a long time."(279) M. T. Anderson. This makes me wonder, is it worth being cool if it forces you to have a meaningless life? Is it possible to be cool and have a meaningful life? We are constantly waiting for the approval of others in everything we do but does that really make us happy? or just content and satisfied?
Today in class we determined several of the main aspects that make a person "cool." Some of the most interesting ones or the "coolest" ones I thought were careless, talents/passions, "living the dream," independence but still connection with people, heroic, organic, and attention. In the stories we came up with today, most of the characters were cool but were natural careless about it.
In our story in particular, the two main characters had talents, one liked to write and the other was into music and we thought that was cool. We also find it cool when someone is thriving to do what they want, they have something going on in their life. Also referring to our story, the main girl was independent because she had to be separated from the guy she was with but it was still cool that they kept in contact with each other.
Heroism is also interesting I thought because its cool in the movies but I don't think we really see it that much on our every day lives, everyone just seems to be everybody for themselves. Finally, cool people have to grab your attention. I think we all have these subconscious ideas in our heads and we try to fit the criteria of "cool" without even realizing it. We try to fit in based on what we see other people doing, then wait for the approval of others, and decide what to do next based on that. This seems to be the cycle of achieving coolness.
I think the concept of cool is kind of a double standard. "The price of being a sheep is boredom. The price of being a wolf is loneliness. Choose one or the other with great care"- Hugh Macleod. So you can either be cool and have lots of friends but be bored all the time because of the stereotypical and materialistic routine you go by or you can be alone but have some sort of meaning in your life.
In our society, we are all trying to reach "cool." We all want acceptance so we don't feel alone, and according to Macleod's quote, we all would rather be bored than alone. "I kept buying these things to be cool, but cool was always flying just ahead of me, and I could never exactly catch up to it. I felt like I'd been running toward it for a long time."(279) M. T. Anderson. This makes me wonder, is it worth being cool if it forces you to have a meaningless life? Is it possible to be cool and have a meaningful life? We are constantly waiting for the approval of others in everything we do but does that really make us happy? or just content and satisfied?
Today in class we determined several of the main aspects that make a person "cool." Some of the most interesting ones or the "coolest" ones I thought were careless, talents/passions, "living the dream," independence but still connection with people, heroic, organic, and attention. In the stories we came up with today, most of the characters were cool but were natural careless about it.
In our story in particular, the two main characters had talents, one liked to write and the other was into music and we thought that was cool. We also find it cool when someone is thriving to do what they want, they have something going on in their life. Also referring to our story, the main girl was independent because she had to be separated from the guy she was with but it was still cool that they kept in contact with each other.
Heroism is also interesting I thought because its cool in the movies but I don't think we really see it that much on our every day lives, everyone just seems to be everybody for themselves. Finally, cool people have to grab your attention. I think we all have these subconscious ideas in our heads and we try to fit the criteria of "cool" without even realizing it. We try to fit in based on what we see other people doing, then wait for the approval of others, and decide what to do next based on that. This seems to be the cycle of achieving coolness.
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