Starting the "Cool" down

I have always had problems understanding the concept of cool. Personally, I have always believed that I am at the apex of uncoolness, and since hearing F. John's lecture on coolness, I still believe that I may as well invest all my money in the most square thing on the planet. Fortunately for me, listening to F. John has provided me with the tools to understand cool. According to him, the two primary forms of cool are dissident and transcendent. The cool dissident is the type of person that rebels against the mainstream culture and is accepted by a following of people. I specify that dissidents must have a following because not everyone who rebels is considered to be cool. An example of the dissident in American culture is Bender from the Breakfast Club. Although a rational mind would look at Bender and see that his future is one of either ditch-digging or weed peddling, an American teen in the 1980's would see Bender as a revolutionary who stands up against the prison of mainstream thought. Essentially, the type of dissidence that Bender portrays is cool because teenagers always want to dream about freeing themselves from adult tyranny and instilling their own brand of cool anarchy.

Almost opposed to dissident coolness, transcendent coolness is the kind of coolness that comes from being incredibly good at an ability that is valued by society. Again, there are some people who are incredibly talented but still uncool because of what they are talented at. One person who exemplifies transcendent coolness is Stephen Hawking. Hawking's sheer intellect and his ability to explain quantum physics on a level that almost anyone can understand has rightfully earned him the title of "Coolest Smart Guy on the Planet" in my mind. In addition, Hawking's handicap adds distinction to his achievements because he is able to reinvent physics while being practically paralyzed.

In addition to the ideas of coolness that we studied in class, I was very interested in the early history of film. I already knew about Edison's experiments with film and the nickelodeons, but I had no idea about the innovations made by the Lumiere brothers. I find the entire concept of early film very intriguing because of the transition that was made between pictures and movies. I find myself wondering what kind of new medium will take the place of the movies as the primary method of conveying coolness across America. While it is impossible to predict the future, I can only hope that the coolest piece of fictional technology in the history of television becomes reality before I die.