Conformity Is The New Cool

Two women in front of me, one with a particularly nice ass, were discussing a recent purchase. One of them bought a pair of jeans at The Flatirons Mall. It was while eavesdropping on this conversation that it occurred to me. Doublespeak--distorts reality,creates incongruity between what is said and reality--thrives in our society as shown through a common word these two were using: cool.

Cool doesn't mean cool anymore.Cool used to mean something or someone is unaffected and unconcerned with accepted social conventions and institutions. James Dean, Marlon Brando, and the more contemporary Johnny Depp, Tyson Beckford and Megan Fox embody cool as traditionally defined. The traditional definition, however, has come to a different meaning.

Cool now means, or perhaps has become synonymous with, conformity. Something or someone becomes cool once accepted by the masses. Khakis,a particular style of haircut, black pants with blue shirts, polo shirts, or any sports apparel with its logo emblazoned on your body. These things are cool because the masses approve of them. You're cool because you wear masses approved garments, and behave in a masses approved manner.

That's not cool. That's conformity. We've morphed cool into conformity. Splicing the word cool with the definition of conformity; creating incongruity between what is said and reality, distorting reality. The reality is having mass acceptance isn't cool. It means a bowl of instant oatmeal is more interesting than you. I ain't making it up.