Grow Up Heather, Bulimia's So '87

In class, we watched another Frontline episode called Merchants of Cool. The episode went deep into how media and advertisers find out what is "cool." The hard thing about that is, cool is always changing. That means the "cool hunters" are always hunting for what is popular amongst teens. These correspondents are always looking for what is cool before it is cool. They walk on the street, they have focus groups, and they even pay kids to hang out for their brand.

While we, as teens, seem to think we control "cool," it is media that maintains a certain level of it for us. Without media, how would anyone knows that I was cool? One representation that cool is always changing is the movie, The Heathers. All of the 80s lingo like, "That's so very." or "What's your damage?" is never said now. If we heard that, we would find them weird. This weirdness comes from idea that the are different than what is cool. But what confuses me is that, if being cool isn't what a small amount of people are doing, then does that mean it is a large group of people? And then doesn't that make it not cool?



In Merchants of Cool, we also found out about something that has always been in our media. Mooks and Midriffs. Mooks are the dirty, dumb, flatulent-filled characters who make stupid jokes for you to laugh. Midriffs are the sexy, sultry characters who push the whole "sex sells" idea. Although these two ideas seem like they would fade, they haven't and they seem to keep media going strong. Britney Spears has lasted for a long time as a midriff. And right now she doesn't look like she is going anywhere.