Discovering Cool
Yes, that was me. The very nadir of my youth. This was perhaps my boldest attempt at trying to be cool. I was 17.
The trouble is, this kind of haircut is supposed to shock, and cool is about rebellion. But I did this the night before going on a youth group canoe trip - not exactly the destination for a real rebel. There was no risk involved.
Plus, I got all sunburnt in a grid pattern.
And no, I didn't stop trying to be cool at that point. It took more years and more maturing and, most important, a greater understanding of who I was in God's eyes before I really stopped caring if people thought I was with it.
The earliest I was aware of cool, I believe, was second grade, when I noticed that the sixth graders at my school began to think they were cool. At the time, I realized, I am immature and might as well enjoy it while I’ve got it. When did you first become aware of cool? How have you tried, succeeded, or failed at being cool?
If your story is better told through pictures (like mine),
join the uncool group at Flickr, and show off your goods. But come back and drop a line here, too!
Source Material
Throughout the book I mentioned artists and historical events many people might not be familiar with. Hopefully you’re curious to find out more! Explore my primary sources, plus videos, pictures and more. Stay tuned this fall as I add feature articles, interviews and other supporting materials.
Chapter 1 - You Got To Wear Your SunglassesChapter 2 - Rebellion On StageChapter 3 - The Caucasian Storms HarlemChapter 4 - Faith-Based CoolChapter 5 - The Tao of Jesus
Chapter 6 - Re-Enchantment
Chapter 7 - Compassion
Chapter 8 - Deep Uncool
Chapter 9 - Beyond Cool
Chapter 1 - You Got To Wear Your Sunglasses
- This chapter's title comes from the Parliament song "P-Funk," off the
Mothership Connection album.
Written in the mid-seventies, the line goes:
Yeah, I dig!
Let me put my sunglasses on.
That's the law around here, you got to wear your sunglasses.
So you can feel cool.
This is a surprisingly honest description of the fragile nature of cool emotion. What was not cool one moment became cool with the addition of mere sunglasses. I find this a revealing comment, and it's a great song to boot.
- The book
Cool Rules: Anatomy of an Attitude
was very helpful in getting the historical basics together. I ultimately went a different direction in my definitions, but Dick Pountain's work is much more historically thorough than mine.
Pountain is English, so there is a more international awareness to the book than most books by Americans.
- On page 15 I quote Oscar Wilde.
The Picture of Dorian Gray
is a story of a 21st-century type in a nineteenth century world: the narcissist. Long before 25 year-olds started writing memoirs, Oscar Wilde did it.
Chapter 2 - Rebellion On Stage- Whenever I discuss boredom I am refering to Lars Svendsen's
A Philosophy of Boredom
. This is a really impressive, and very pop-culture-aware book.
Chapter 3 - The Caucasian Storms Harlem- The Economist story "The Shaming of America"
can be found here, but is premium content (for subscribers only).
- The Tom Skinner quote on Black Power and faith comes from his 1970 speech in Urbana, Illinois,
transcribed here.
Chapter 4 - Faith-Based Cool- John Jeremiah Sullivan's article in GQ,
"Upon This Rock," is here.
Chapter 5 - The Tao of Jesus- The book
Courage to Hope: From Black Suffering to Human Redemption
is an incredible collection of African-American theology of suffering.
Chapter 6 - Re- Enchantment- The Native-Born vs. Foreign Born numbers from the 1870 US census
can be found on PDF here.
Chapter 7 - Compassion- Corner Pocket's song "Stay in Step"
can be downloaded (for free) here, on download.com.
Chapter 8 - Deep Uncool- Philosophy Professor Claudia Card's
"The Case Against Marriage" is published in Hypatia, vol 11, no. 3.
Chapter 9 - Beyond Cool- Page 122: Bob Morris' discussion of hope
can be found here, at Urbana.org.
Author and Speaker
