Cool is an aesthetic of attitude, behavior, comportment, appearance, style and Zeitgeist [Wikipedia]. But because of the varied and ever changing understandings of cool, as well as its very subjective nature, the word has no apparent single meaning. It has associations of composure and self-control (cf. the OED definition) and often is used as an expression of admiration or approval. The following writings will address and identify our perception of the word “cool”, before and after the research session.
At a glance, it was thought that cool is determined by certain form of personality, “cool” attitude, appearance, personal style, trends setters or lifestyle – mostly concerned about the superficial – what we can see and observe just by looking. It was thought that those are what make up the coolness of people. And the factors that affect one’s perception of what is cool are determined by his/her friends, country, family, media and school – anything the particular person are living in and with. Above all these can be the influence that influences them to what they perceive as cool.
For example, some people would think that having the latest technology, owning a sports car, branded bags or following a trend are what makes them cool. And sometimes, places that they go to would also affect their own definitions of cool. Night clubs, pubs, skateboard parks are few examples of where you think you would find these cool people. Occupations would also take its role as the cool-factor. Bartenders, DJs, rock stars, break dancers or graffiti artists – are just few examples of things that people do and are perceived as cool. Some young people may as well think that doing crazy stuffs or adventurous sports make them cool. They may feel the excitement and the thrill of experiencing it.
The way and how they speak could also reflect one’s coolness. These ‘cool’ people would prefer short and sweet phrases to express their inspirations combined with clever choices of vocabulary. It is also not uncommon that slangs and foul words are often used (especially in teenagers) as a medium to express their identity as a cool person. They make up their own slang and abuse it among their peers who speak the same language. But all of these were thoughts before we get into the field to do some cool hunting!
After several cool hours of hunting, we came to realize that there are more than what meets the eye.
“What is cool” might appear to be something superficial at first; something we can see or look – the way they dress up etc. This is proven as well by how fellow classmates thought the same way as we do in our first class session – they mentioned more on the superficial things more than anything else, when the issue was brought up for the first time. But we find out that it is not necessarily so. People that we’ve interviewed – they weren’t the people that fall hard into the image of cool we have in mind. We figured out that while appearance is what kicks in for the first impression, in the end what is cool is just more than that. Most of the people we interacted with, for example – are not really people with the most toys. They are just simply normal people that present themselves as the way they are. No expensive gadgets, no branded bag, no fancy clothes – no nothing. It is their attitude – their brilliant smiles, warmth, friendly attitude, their openness – are what makes us think that they are “cool”. And what is interesting – we find that we are able to meet more “cool” people outside, on the streets rather than the proposed place of interest (cafés like tcc, Starbucks, etc).
We came across this middle age lady on the hunting session. Although we were a bit hesitating to approach her, in the end we find out that she is an unusually friendly person, and did not show any coldness towards strangers like some people do. From the interaction we had, we were surprised about how “young” this lady is. She is very energetic, smiles a lot and was actually familiar with current technology (when we wanted to take picture of her, her initial reaction was questioning if it is going to be on Facebook). Although she might be on the old side and not being overly fancy about her appearance, we as a group agreed that she is a cool person only for the fact that she is very approachable and likeable person. We think that is one example of subtle form of coolness. It is also how people at certain age group would act as if they are on different ones. We believe that being cool, age does not really matter. You can bee teen or middle aged people but still being cool.
In fact, most people we interviewed did not expect anything like being cool. In other words, they are not the kind of people who think they are cool because they belong to the trend. They are just normal people that show themselves as they are.
And that being said, it proves the theory we have after our discussion: more often than not, the “real” deal of being cool comes naturally. You do not have to try to be cool or do something you do not want to do just to make people think you are cool. Being you and only you is the best thing. Everyone can be cool the way they are. It is just the mass media, over the time, has harmed the very essence of “cool being yourself” and “cool the way you are” far too severe that nowadays being cool does not come cheap.
And all in all, what people perceive as cool no other than a creation of what is going around people themselves. Cool is not a science. It is not universal, nor exclusive. Having a latest gadget? Sure, it is cool to the tech geeks; but it might just means nothing to night clubbers. Had your very first sex at a very young age? That will probably make you someone to look up to in more westernized countries, but is disastrous in Asian culture.
Editorial by Teguh Limantoro
