Being cool seems to be paramount within the social conforms of today's society. Whether you are cool, are uncool, desire to be either one or quite frankly dont care at all- you cannot deny the existence of "cool."
It is there around you everyday, even without people realising it. Why do people buy brand names, follow fashion, get pierced or tattood, post photos of drunken nights or exotic holidays on facebook? The answer is the need to be seen in society as "cool" (or whatever other word you want to call it.) Cool overlaps with technology too- the digital era has bought a whole host of tantalizing products including ipods, camera phones, HD TV, laptops etc... Those that own them are also seen as "cool"- the ones that are slightly ahead of the game, and completely immersed in their own private world of consumeristic pleasure & their own image.
As well as this kind of "cool"- there are also the anti-cools, another form of cool. These are the people who are uninterested in the technological advances of today- but are still happily stuck in a past era (commonly the 1960's or 70's) even if they werent actually there the first time. This kind of cool embraces public issue awareness and political/social activists (always left-wing.) They like drugs, rock & roll, peace and are always hate America. A favourite of mine who fits into this category is Bill Hicks. Now- in my eyes he was (and still is) VERY cool, but in the eyes of others he is just a pain in the arse, perhaps trying too hard to be cool.
It is there around you everyday, even without people realising it. Why do people buy brand names, follow fashion, get pierced or tattood, post photos of drunken nights or exotic holidays on facebook? The answer is the need to be seen in society as "cool" (or whatever other word you want to call it.) Cool overlaps with technology too- the digital era has bought a whole host of tantalizing products including ipods, camera phones, HD TV, laptops etc... Those that own them are also seen as "cool"- the ones that are slightly ahead of the game, and completely immersed in their own private world of consumeristic pleasure & their own image.
As well as this kind of "cool"- there are also the anti-cools, another form of cool. These are the people who are uninterested in the technological advances of today- but are still happily stuck in a past era (commonly the 1960's or 70's) even if they werent actually there the first time. This kind of cool embraces public issue awareness and political/social activists (always left-wing.) They like drugs, rock & roll, peace and are always hate America. A favourite of mine who fits into this category is Bill Hicks. Now- in my eyes he was (and still is) VERY cool, but in the eyes of others he is just a pain in the arse, perhaps trying too hard to be cool.
Its cool to like Che...his face belongs in every students wardrobe these days. But how many of those people actually know what he stands for and what he did?
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