COOL.

COOL. Back in the fifties, when I was in high school, all the kids suddenly started using two new slang words of praise: “cool” and “neat”. “Neat” fell out of use long ago, and is now as dated as the word “swell”. On the other hand, “cool” has become an increasingly important word—or concept. Three years ago, I posted here about a local Christmas show that is very popular and very sentimental. I argued that a realistic play or movie had to include sentiment. I said: “Daily life for most people is filled with sentimental feelings.” I recently saw reviews of Les Mis and Zero Dark Thirty by the same critic. The review of Les Mis had a lot of criticisms. The short review of Zero Dark Thirty said twice that it was “cool”. I can’t imagine anybody saying that Les Mis was cool—too much emotion, too much sentiment.

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1 Response to COOL.

  1. Pingback: SARTRE OR CAMUS—WHO IS COOLER? | Pater Familias

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