HW 34

In class, we were learning about the "cool pose" which is what determines how we are considered "cool" in society. It also means if being or acting cool can backfire and contribute to a persons misfortune in leading a good life? I think that yes, it sometimes can because everyone wants to fit in and have friends or people around them who enjoy them and some people would do anything to be considered "cool." Friends pressure friends to act or dress in a "cool" way so that not only the friend will feel cool, but also so that the "friends" could feel like they fit in and don't want to be seen with a "loser". But the first person who contributes to all of this is the corporations/media who tell us what the latest cool thing is to do and if you don't do it, you're not cool.
I think this cool pose is also influenced by the people or location a person was brought up in and obviously, parents influence this. But this also causes a dilemma for some people: do the "cool" thing with friends or be less cool and follow a good path in life and make something of yourself. For example, a person can cut school 24/7 and do absolutely no work but still appear cool and the "badass" or a person can stay in school, get good grades, go to college, and then get a good, well-playing job. An even more drastic example is someone who is pressured into doing coke and all sorts of other lethal drugs even though they know how harmful it can be or he can go to school and get a better life ahead of him or her. If he/she thinks to him or herself "I want to be liked by the "cool" popular kids in school I'll do the drugs", they can become a huge drug addict or die instead of evidently living a full life. The person just died and sacrificed their life on the sake of wanting to be accepted by other people. A good example is the movie, The Blind Side which is a true story about a boy, Michael Oher, who is great at sports but does awfully at school but he came from the projects and had a very bad home life. A white family adopts him and they want to help him become great at football, which is the character's passion but get even better at school so that he can graduate. They want him to lead a better life because he is a good kid. All the other white people in the neighborhood disagree with what they are doing but they don't care and keep helping him. In the end, he graduates after doing countless hours of tutoring, goes to his dream college to play football, and then he got drafted this year in real life to the Baltimore Ravens. This shows how going against the grain on being "cool" pays off when you have the oppurtunity to live a good, safe life instead of in danger or even worse, dead.
Another huge example is the corporate culture who show us through magazine, TV shows, movies, etc. what is cool and what everyone should do to seem cool. Obviously, cool changes very frequently in this fast-paced world and the idea of what cool means changes daily, especially with clothing and trends. The corporate media essentially says: you won't be cool if you don't act or dress this way. People fall for it, including me at times, and try to become "cooler." Also, in the "Learning to Labour" article, the "lads" want to do what they want and instead of being a doctor or lawyer or a proffession like that, they end up working in a factory like their dad which isn't terrible, but it isn't very satisfying work, in my opinion not to mention it being very hard work. All these examples show how the cool pose influence everyone.