probably a separate post, if not an entire book / compendium to “hip”, but i’m curious when or even if you agree that the term “cool” has been denatured into just shorthand for “i like this.” bc if we’re going by convention, lady gaga is the definition of not cool, no? almost everything she does is openly effortful, theatrical, bright and comprehensible and relatively unmysterious, deeply affected and not for lack of a better word “real”. i associate “cool” with there being a little bit more work on the part of the audience to “heat it up”/complete the circuit. i say all this with love — gaga is an undeniable talent, with many great songs, an incredible performer. being uncool you could argue has served her and the music all the better commercially too. i promise this isn’t nitpicky — more so if anything i find actually “cool” stuff to be a dying subspecies of culture. great post as always matthew!
that makes sense. i admire the commitment and confidence too. even when i love something, i tend to hold it at arm’s length — like i’ll sooner cop to liking something “i know is bad” before embracing it as part of my taste. needless to say, my algorithms are an absolute disaster.
probably a separate post, if not an entire book / compendium to “hip”, but i’m curious when or even if you agree that the term “cool” has been denatured into just shorthand for “i like this.” bc if we’re going by convention, lady gaga is the definition of not cool, no? almost everything she does is openly effortful, theatrical, bright and comprehensible and relatively unmysterious, deeply affected and not for lack of a better word “real”. i associate “cool” with there being a little bit more work on the part of the audience to “heat it up”/complete the circuit. i say all this with love — gaga is an undeniable talent, with many great songs, an incredible performer. being uncool you could argue has served her and the music all the better commercially too. i promise this isn’t nitpicky — more so if anything i find actually “cool” stuff to be a dying subspecies of culture. great post as always matthew!
I definitely think of cool as being largely about taste, which is perhaps self-serving and self-flattering since taste has always been my strong suit.
that makes sense. i admire the commitment and confidence too. even when i love something, i tend to hold it at arm’s length — like i’ll sooner cop to liking something “i know is bad” before embracing it as part of my taste. needless to say, my algorithms are an absolute disaster.