Theorizing of cool

Where does the source of our emptiness come from & the need to have meaning?

In everyday life we notice that alot of the worlds attention goes to the people who are "cool", either for what there wearing, the way they carry themselfs and how they look. I think the main source of feeling meaningless is the want to be approved of. we desperately want approval because it makes us feel more then just happy but like life would be perfect if we were liked by everyone.

when marketing compnaies show commericals and make teen magazines they play off of our insecurities and give us the idea of how we have to be in order to be "cool" and for some teenagers its really stressful physicially and mentally because they strive so hard to be just like that and when it doesnt happen it can send people into a state of even lower self asteem and it makes people want to try even harder. alot of teens ask themselfs why cant i be like that, why cant i look like her because she has the perfect life but we never really look at the person being marketed to us. that person might have the same exact problem that alot of other teenagers too. Either way no one FEELS perfect, everyone has some kind of insecurity.

Another source of our meaningless is the media. Theres movie constantly being made with the same stereotypical group of people. The jock,prep,prom queen and the vally chick. they set it up in a way where if you dont fit into one of those categories then there must be something wrong with you.

I aslo think that our extreme need for a sence of meaning comes from our families and friends who are the closest people to us (in most cases). we have the need to be accepted in both our social and cultural worlds. when one doesnt work the other seams alot harder to do because we know in our heads we cant do both.

We each have a hole were trying to fill with eaither a certain image or material things. but in the end its just a fight to keep up.

HW 29, merchant of cool

From watching "Merchants of cool" on PBS there were a few things that stood out to me the most. but first my overall thought about this documentry was that us teenagers are the center of attention to marketing companies and we dont even know it sometimes. Its like big brother and were being watched constantly to see how were changing so they can keep up with us.

Something i found intresting was from the video they said that they look for the underground trends to market. That the trends other marketers havent discoverd yet market them so they can have the latest trend and keep up with our genertation to make money. its like there helping us by making things we like but at the same time they just want our money and they cause conflict by making it a competition between teenagers.

The video mentioned a person called the "Mook" and i thouight this person was intresting because its like there creating a person that us teengers can look up to and someone we can become so they market a type of person for us to become and in order to become that person we need to buy things like clothes and accesories and just become cool by becoming that person.

The marketing companies try to target every category of teenagers they can think of. weather its Boys,girls,goth,prep,vally and jock they have set standards for us on how each one of these groups should look like and if we cant meet up to those standards then were not cool.

HW 28, Informal reasurch, Internet, magazines, TV shows

To start off my reasurch i started with the visual things like movies, TV shows and magazines.

Movies:
There is a movie called Odd Girl Out staring Alexa vega from Spy Kids, and she plays a teenage girl in high school whos world seams to be falling apart by event after event. Shes friends with the popular girl at school named Stacy. Stacy has money, clothes, a car and lots of friends. The main character on the other hand doesnt have everything that Stacy has so people see her as the sidekick who isnt really cool so shes being pittyed by stacy. by the middle of the movie the main character try's to kill herself because her freind stacy has used her popularity to spread rumors and turn everyone against her. She a bitch.

The Movie Twilight appeals to young adults because they think its cool that robert pattinson plays a vampire and is good looking. i think its all about appeal because if it doesnt appeal to you there is no desire or envy for it.

TV shows:
What i notice from TV shows is to become the MAIN character you have to be cool. There has to be something about you that EVERYONE likes so that people watch the show. It gives the idea that in order to be cool you have to appeal to everyones intrest, almost as if you can create a perfect person, which is impossible. TV shows for younger kids like Hannah montana or any show on disney channel each one of those characters has something "special" about them that makes kids want to be them cuz they want to be "cool" too. Hannah Montana Sings, Demi lovato's character on sony with a chance is working at an acting studio, the characters on Wizards of wavery place have magical powers and younger kids find that cool.

Internet Sources:
i went to goggle & i typed it "How To be a cool teenager" and they had one in perticular from wikihow http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Cool-(Teen-Girls) for How to be a cool teenage girl and what i thought was intresting about the whole list was that it contradicts itself. half the list is telling you what to wear and how to act and the other half is telling you just to be youself so i found that annoying.

" 4- Wear nice clothes. NEVER do all of your shopping at Wal- Mart or Target, you'll look cheap and unfashionable. Try stores like: Urban Outfitters, Kiwi Beach, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Abercrombie, Hollister, Delia's, Forever 21- try not to get loads of stuff with the brand's name on them- you'll look stupid plus you'll be a walking billboard---Although if you can't afford those kinds of clothes Target is very acceptable."

"11- Don't be fake. People won't like you or think you're cool if you try to be popular. JUST BE YOURSELF and HAVE FUN!"

The next website i looked for was " How to be a cool teenage boy" ans suprisingly there wasent a webite for that. it was mainly cool clothes for teenage boys so that they look cool. another thing i noticed if for the boys all they had to do was look cool but for girls they had to change who they were all together.

HW 27- Informal reasurch, Intreviews and Surveys

From interviweing people on the street, my friends and my family and my reaction is that someone of the answers were typical, dipicting someone who is cool as being somene who has money and wears nice clothing and has alot of self confidence. someone of the better answers came from people who were closer to me like my family. im guessing so because they want me to find the coolness within me and not create it on the outside. my aunts definition of someone who is cool was someone who is sucessful, inteligent, confident, reliable. my friends idea of being cool is being yourself. haveing people notice you for the right reasons like being well dressed and well put together. like andy was saying in class not being socially clumsy.

The family member I chose was my cousin and i think hes cool because hes sucsessful and inteligent. hes always buying the latest electronice to stay updated and he has to sides to him, he can be serious and funny. hes always willing to help someone and i always make fun of him and say hes Rico Suave because of how hes always meticulous about how he looks.

Short Story

Kennith fixed his eyes on her, going through each part of her, her hair, her eyes, her skin and her smile. Feeling a strong need to talk to her she stands up from his chair and sits next to her. He says "i couldnt help but notice you had something in your hair, let me take it out for you" feeling the soft strands of her hair and inhaling the sweet smell.

Girl: "Oh really, thanks alot" She smiles and from that day they are inseprible.

(a few weeks later)

Kennith: " we need to talk, i feel like we havent been the same latley, one minute your happy and the next your mad and you take it out on me. i feel like your not the same girl i met a few weeks ago."

Girl: "(deep breath) things have just been rough latley (rolling her eyes in fustration) you cant expect me to tell you everything that goes on in my life."

Kennith: "im the person in your life that you tell everything to, your supposed to trust me." (sensing something bad is about to happen he prepares himself

Girl: "To tell you the truth i just dont like you as much anymore, it wasent what i thought it was going to be and im dissapointed."

Kennith: " why didnt you tell me this before? (picking up his backpack gettin ready to walk out of the conversation."

Girl: "because ithought things would get better and they didnt!(raising her voice) i dont understand why your so upset, we were never serious to begin with."

Kennith: "How the fuck are you gonna do this to me, ive done so much for you and this is wat i get...you were just fucking around with my head werent you...well you know what i dont need a girl like you, a bitch who thinks the world revolves around her only. never call or text me again"

Kennith takes his bag and walks away realizing that this girl is only a lesson to helping him find a better girl for him. He cant help but feel heartbroken on the inisde but knows that theres a girl out there who's gonna appreciate him.

Constructive Exploration of Cool

We just started our new unit of "Cool" which i find to be an intresting topic that everyone can participate in.

when i think about "being cool" some questions that came to mind werehow can we define someone as cool when we all have different ideas of wat cool is? Who came up with the refrence that someone is cool? is there a limit to how cool you can be? is being cool a good or bad thing? is there even such a thing as being cool? what does it mean to be uncool? can you be cool in moderation?

my thoughts about being cool is that yes we may notice a certain person gettin more attention then other people butthat doesnt make them any better then anyone else were all on a equal level. the typical thought of what it means to be cool is someone that everyone likes and theperson who has all the friends and that all the boys or girls like, has the lastest things in clothing and electronics and lastly is physically attractive a large percentage of the time. i think 100 percent of the time being cool is based off of what people see on the outside.

from my point of view someone who is cool is somebody who shares the same intrest as me, someone whos really funny and smells cleean. 2 out of 3 isnt based of looks so kudos to me (lol)

I think there deffinitly different types of cool because everyone has a different idea of what is cool to them. i think that the things we see in other people that we like and wish we had in ourselfs is what we find cool.

I wouldnt say that im cool and i wouldnt say that im uncool. im just myself, i dont base my life off of trying to be cool or uncool. i act the way i please and if people find it cool them great and if people dont find it cool thats fine to, i cant please everyone, mainly to be happy with myself.

Digital Art

I got my first sidekick LX in 10th grade two years ago. It was my very first big digital device...my Reaction is a creepy but my from Katherine Velasquez on Vimeo.

I believe my art is a ,mirror and a hammer because im showing that every way we turn we see digital, with our friends, family and our parents. we cant avoid it so might as well accept it but on the other hand these pictures and videos are just proof of how consumed we are in the digital world.

My reaction to my own art was i laughed at first because i looked like a loser in my video (lol) but also because i realized how worked up i got in my video over one digital device. the amount of joy this one item brought me suprised me. seeing the video was much different then experiencing it. my rection to pictures i had taken in the past was wow i have maybe 100 more pictures of me and other people doing digital things and the pictures themselfs come from a digital item so that didnt come as a suprise to me.

The most intresting part of making my art was that i found it really fun to go throught pictures and videos. i like being digital personally. i know that if i was stranded on a desert island that my digital items wouldnt help me but i like it and i guess im part of those group of people who cant live without there phone and xBox but that doesnt make me a defective person