So Yesterday, by Scott Westerfeld
In 2001, social commentator Douglas Rushkoff did a show called Merchants of Cool for Frontline. This program takes an in-depth look at marketing to teens, specifically a phenomenon called cool hunting. It’s a great and disturbing program. A few years later—and I don’t know if there’s a direct connection—Scott Westerfeld, author of the wondrous (and disturbing in its own right) Uglies Trilogy, wrote this book: So Yesterday. This novel takes on the very same topics, and wraps them in a tale of… industrial espionage? delusional youth? It’s hard to tell till the last few pages, and that’s a good deal of the charm. Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Westerfeld is a master of packing and youthful characterization. Hunter, our narrator, is a 17-year-old Cool Hunter, a focus-group veteran, a Trendsetter but not an Innovator. (Caps are Westerfeld's, not mine.) He meets Jen, a cooler teen, on the street, takes a picture of her shoelaces to send to his boss, and then takes her along to a focus group on a new ad for "the client" (a thinly disguised Nike). Jen makes a brilliant observation that Hunter's boss, Mandy, does not pass along to the client because it would mean they'd have to reshoot the million-dollar ad. (I won't ruin it, but it's a demographic comment, a pithy observation about representation.) Everyone is impressed with Jen's brilliance—and her cool. Jen is an Innovator, and it is near this point in the novel that Hunter explains the layers and levels of consumers, observers, and doers. Clever, very clever. In any case, Mandy later calls Hunter and asks him and Jen to meet her the next morning. The problem is, she never shows. It seems that Mandy has disappeared. Part teen adventure, part romance, part social satire, and all neatly presented by an appealingly self-deprecating and self-doubting narrator, So Yesterday is a fun, finely packaged exploration of consumerism and cool hunting. And this media educator has been wondering how in the world he might use it in class (given that the media course doesn’t feature novels).
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13 comments:
Not dissin your post dude, but the idea of marketing cool is complete $hi7. Cool is not a fashion or a thing you buy, cool is an attitude you have. I learned the hard way that if you try to buy into cool, you will get pwned. Cool is something you need to earn. Nice work on your pseudo-review on the show or article or whatever is it, it brings up something that should be looked into and the people who try to sell "COOL" should be hunted down and hug with their pants.
I had the choice to read this book last semester for my honors English 2 class. I didn't have time to start or even finish it, but I've been thinking about actually reading it. I've heard from friends that So Yesterday was a good book and this blog (book review) has only made me want to read it more. I think that after reading the series I'm on now I will definetely read this book.
I think this seems like an interesting book and reminds me of a movie on media that i watched in psychology. What is cool though? i think that is an interesting concept. Becoming an innovator on coolness is also interesting in itself.
Last semester I had a choice between two books to read. One of the books was So Yesterday and the other was Snow In August. I chose Snow In August, but I realized, after reading this blog, that I should have read So Yesterday. This book sounds very appealing and it catches my attention. The plot sounds more like something that I would be interested in reading and a book that I would actually want to finish. I like books that are more about the youth and things that I can relate to. This blog gave me a good reaction because it made me want to read the book. =)
The book So Yesturday sounds like it has a very positive outlook on life for Hunter and Jen. I can connect to this book and i don't doubt it that half of the people who do read it connect as well.
...that is the question isn't it? I have to say that the book captures the idea of ever-evolving "cool" very well. Of course, like technology, cool is more defined by the moment we are in, leaving the rest of us behind humming along to the tune of last week. I guess there is always relevence to Elvis Costello's "This Year's Model." In the end, my hope is to be a timeless hunter.
NicoleLea, I read part of the book but never got a chance to finish it. it was a pretty good book, what I read of it at least. If i had a chance to read it again i would probably spend more time reading it. honors english was a lot of work though, not enough time to finish everything. I would suggest the book to any teenage girl, or guy.
I agree strongly with marshpoop and catcherchik. They both think that this book seems interesting and something they would like to read. My response to this blog was the same as their response, just worded slighty different. After reading these comments, I think you did a great job blogging about this book because it has made some people choose to read it.
To darkathy:
I don't think mrb is really saying cool is something that people buy. He's just talking about the book. so technically, you are not "dissing" him, you are "dissing" the book. Yes it's a book, not a show, it's called so yesterday.
But, I also have to say that I disagree with the point you are trying to make. Cool is something you buy, how do we get cool? it's not really an attitude it's what we look like, what we wear, what we are good at, and what we say.
People don't get cool because they have an attitude they have, people get cool because they have things and do things that make them cool.
also, "hug with their pants." I don't understand.
Here are my two pennies. I will have to respectfully disagree with part of your opinion good sir darkathy. Though I do see your point about cool being an attitude or a persona, i.e. Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Kanye West, etc. Let us not forget about the machines in motion that send us the movies, TV shows and albums these "cool" gentlemen have done. To me, it's all part of a plan that's much bigger than any one "cool" actor or musician, certainly bigger than you or I. Indeed, that "cool" attitude may be where some ad exec's idea has come from, but how else can we explain trends in popular music, film or television?
to todaysthedayforhomerj...
I agree with what you had to say about "cool". It doesn't stay the same. What is cool today, may not be cool in a few weeks. The reference to "cool" being like technology was a good analogy. Much like technology, the idea of what is cool is always changing and evolving. I think that "cool" is basically society's perception of what they find hip, new, exciting, etc.
Why does cool have to be one or the other? I think your both right. Cool is an attitude, but it's also an image being sold to the public. In fact, it's an ever evolving image that doesn't just provide money for corporations selling the products, but it also provides jobs for people in advertising. If cool wasn't partly about material objects then why is there an entire industry built around it?
After reading the comments left about this post, I was left wondering whether or not the word "cool" can really be defined. Who defines what cool is? Does the majority of the youth population define it? If so, can cool really exist if it does not appeal to those in the minority? I think that everyone has their own, personalized definition of what cool is to them, and everyone has their own subconscious dictionary of which they are the authors.
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