Is Cool Dead, or is it Just Hiding?

This morning I saw a post on social media from Tablet magazine about “The Death of Cool.”  It’s behind a paywall, so I didn’t read it, but I did swipe through the quotes they posted.  I was immediately reminded of something Chrissie Hynde posted some time back, herself somewhat questioning this, though for different reasons.  Tablet pointed towards the uncool puppet masters of our culture where even our pop stars are more brands than personalities.  Chrissie talked about a cultural shift between what’s “cool” and what’s “hot”.  

They’re both right, but cool is not dead, it’s just much harder to find.

As I’ve recently written, most people merely play at rebellion or individuality.  They don’t actually do it because it’s not worth the social cost.  Cool people, to use one of my favorite Nick Cave quotes, “live outside other people’s expectations.”  In 2025 (almost 2026 now), that means they’re probably not on social media.  How do you know someone is cool when you’re not seeing what they’re up to?

Staying with Nick Cave, he’s a great example of his own statement.  If you follow his Red Hand Files, as I do casually, you’ll see a pattern of people trying to get Nick to agree with their opinions about any number of things, though often politics and religion.  “Yeah, but don’t you think…” and “how can you…” are common phrases.  Nick stays true to himself, never bending to the pressure of his fans.  He, rightfully, knows that he only got the fans he has in the first place by being himself.  He’s focused on his art and his own set of beliefs.  In spite of the online bellyaching, no one is going to stop listening to, or going to a show of, an artist because they don’t have the same opinion on a conflict going on halfway around the world.  If this were true, Morrissey would be playing tiny clubs instead of selling out large theaters.

Now, to pull the lens back a bit and zoom out; what is the definition of cool?  We really don’t have one.  We see Steve McQueen and we say, “that dude was cool.”  But why?  We list traits but it’s not really a list of traits, it’s more the effortlessness of how they present those traits.  Steve McQueen spent most of his life feeling empty inside.  He was cool, but that in and of itself did not get him anywhere.  

In contrast, I don’t think most people would list Flannery O’Connor on a list of “cool” people.  I think she’d laugh at someone like me who would put her on that list, but she was as much of a unique artist as you’ll ever find.  She followed her own muse without care of fame, fortune or glamour.  She had her own personal insecurities, but as a writer worked confidently.  Which, in a nutshell, might be the simplest definition of an artist.  

Hell, I’d go so far as to say, that’s the definition of cool.  

The movie studio can care about market research and box office numbers, but the director shouldn’t.  If any artist is making creative decisions based on business reasoning, then they’re selling out.  Billy Bob Thornton is still pissed about the studio butchering his edit of All the Pretty Horses.  He should be.  His agenda was based on staying true to the story, that’s cool.  

When you lead and culture follows, that’s cool.  When you’re doing what your corporate masters tell you to do, no matter your level of success, you’re lame.  Bob Dylan did his thing, we followed.  He was cool and everyone knew it.  David Bowie, Clint Eastwood, just the same.  We didn’t need Madison Avenue to tell us they were cool.  It’s Madison Avenue’s job to manufacture cool in order to sell it to the sheep who want to be cool, but deep down inside, know they never will be.

If you’re not cool, that’s okay, just own it.  Be confident in your version of “not cool”.  People will gravitate towards your individuality and confidence.  You can’t try to be cool, people smell a fake a mile away.  Authenticity is cool.

If you can pull that off, in spite of everything else, you’ll be cool.  At least in my book.