The Losing Battle of COOL

Introduction:
Writing about cool would be a lot easier if its definition were not so elusive.. Webster’s dictionary defines “cool” as being collected, exciting, calm, self-disciplined, highly skilled, or clever and sophisticated. It is a word everyone has heard and mostly likely has used. However, although cool is used as a universal term by all ages, the meaning of the word still remains undefined and can change depending upon the situation in which it is used. In spite its lack of a definite meaning, we all strive to be cool to make us feel important. Unfortunately, by trying so hard to be cool to define ourselves, we actually fail at both meeting its definition and having a meaningful life.

Culture of Cool
We are stuck in a culture where being cool holds high importance. Although cool is defined in all different ways, the more dominant, standard definition of cool is that set by society. According to Front Line Video, we face 3000 advertisements a day and 10 million by the time we reach the age of 18. The media provides teens with an image of cool to copy. Commercials are made to send out a message and influence the minds of teens. Advertising is tricky and has its own agenda, yet we buy into it to feel more important or better about ourselves. We define cool, therefore, as what we see. We try to be like celebrities who are famous and rich and are always wearing the newest fashion trends. today the goal is to have success and fame. To be a part of it, teens mimic what they see and try to associate with it by following celebrities. In this way we somehow feel that we are as important and successful as they are. We are surrounded and trapped by this lifestyle.
We also follow the culture map and all live the same way. We go to school and get our education in order to have a good job and enter the same common rat race. This makes us seem more important. By getting that job you make money. With that money a person can buy shit, take exotic vacations, and be just like the people we look up to on our big flat screens. In the end it is all one big attempt to make us look cool. That way we think we can feel valued and have a sense of importance in the world.

Playing Cool
There are many ways we play at being cool. We mask, manipulate, costume, adore and aggrandize ourselves as a way to seem significant and appealing to others and to ourselves. The main concern is how we appear in other people’s eyes. We are on an endeavor to make ourselves attractive. People play a role to put out an image of them that they want other people to see. We do what we need to do in order to make ourselves appealing to others. Our self-presentation is massively important to us. It is something we take very seriously. The fact is we will do whatever we need to in order to fit in. It is top priority to be accepted. It is the reasoning behind the actions people take.
As a result, we all play a role. Sometimes we act to get attention. Someone might play the goofball: the one people rely on for cracking jokes. Some try to be the badass characters: pretending to think highly of themselves, and generally try not to care what anyone thinks. However, being loud, or funny, or rebellious is not always enough. We need to look the part as well. It’s the distinctive clothes and edgy haircuts that are used as key signifiers of cool. Wearing makeup, getting tattoos, staying fit are the things people do to their body in order to create the image by which they wish to be perceived. Sometimes, doing so associates them with other things as well. John fanning described himself as a child who was an outcast, someone who didn’t fit the identity that was expected from him. He took action in rebellion to form his own identity associated with the punk rock bands he liked, “able to be apart of another world.” Linking ourselves to others can provide us with a sense of meaning. A friend of mine recently got a tattoo. It was the first letter of all her sisters names inked on her hip, forever. Her reasoning was that although it may not have much importance or any meaning to anyone else, "I will always know what it means, it will always mean a great deal to me." This marking on her body was a sign that linked her with something else: her family. We use these tactics as a attempt to give our lives some importance. The ways we chose to present ourselves is what makes us feel cool and brings acceptance. This is the feeling we rely on to fill the emptiness in our lives.

The Losing Battle of Cool
Cool is never the same. It changes according to the lifestyle someone lives. Whatever the surroundings are will determine its definition and its impact. Anatomy of an Attitude states, “Cool is not inherent in objects but in people, then what is seen as cool will change from place to place from time to time and from generation to generation.” (Pountain, and Robins).What is cool is always changing, and people continually adapt to it. Being cool is a burden we carry with us. Accomplishing cool requires perfect balance. You cannot try too hard to become cool because then you are immediately not cool. On the other hand, if you don’t try at all you are just weird. It has to be somewhere in the middle. It is comparable and as dangerous as walking the tightrope. In order to make it across you need to stay calm. Any sudden movements will lead you to come crashing down; the stress builds and the fight against the internal panic becomes harder. Because cool has grown to be such an important thing in our lives, it is like we never stop. The end result is we lose who we really are by constantly trying to meet the changing definition of cool.
While conducting street interviews, I came across man with a leather jacket. He gave off an image of the badass who really did not let anything get in his way. I approached him after he crossed the street before everyone else. He strutted my way with his hand in his pocket and a cigarette in this mouth. I did my best to get his attention, hoping he would give me a chance to say what I had to say. He was very relaxed as he stopped. I asked him about cool. In no rush to answer he said "People are cool when they are comfortable with themselves. You gotta be confident with the person you are. And yeah don’t sweat the small stuff.” Most people these days will answer that question in the same way, because the cool defined by society is generally the dominating one.

Conclusion
Reconsidering cool using the above definition, we are not the cool ones at all. In reality the people we consider to be "uncool" are the one who are truly cool. They are the one who do not try as hard as the rest of us to fit in. We are all playing these roles trying to look or act like someone else, while those who are really cool are just being themselves. They are different and not afraid to go against the norm, which follows the originally definition of cool. With less energy spent on the losing battle of being cool, perhaps we can actually find the energy to fulfill our own lives and even have time to be nice to one another!

Pountain, Dick, and David Robins. Cool rules: anatomy of an attitude. London : 2000. 12-33. Print.