Story: Cool Versus Happy

Some people think that to be cool, you have to be a little cynical, a little critical of everything. Seriously, earnestly appreciating something makes you seem naïve or uncool. Imagine a couple, Jack and Chris, who go out to see a movie together – maybe the 3D movie Gravity where Sandra Bullock and George Clooney’s space shuttle gets destroyed by an asteroid and they get stranded in outer space. So Jack and Chris get their popcorn, they go in and watch the movie, and they come out. Now it’s time to debrief. Jack, who thinks he’s really cool, says, “OMG. I think that has to be the worst movie ever made. The dialogue was so bad. The computer outer space effects were so stupid. And having that cheap gimmick of Sandra Bullock’s alienation from people on earth – get it? – alienation? I can’t believe we sat through that. And my 3D glasses were too tight the whole time. Can I get my $14 back? And, more importantly, do I get those 91 minutes back at the end of my life?”

Chris just stares at him while he rants and then says, “Um… I didn’t think it was that bad at all. And I just think it’s so cool that we live in a time when space travel is possible. And where it’s possible to go to a movie with a giant screen and see these incredible computer simulations, not in two dimensions but in three dimensions! I felt like the asteroids were coming right at us. Technology like this has never existed before. And we just happen to live now, when it does! I can just walk into a theatre and have this experience, crafted for me by armies of computer scientists, cinematographers, screenwriters, actors, directors, grips and “best boys.” And I feel so lucky that I have $14 to spend and that it’s 14 extra dollars that I don’t need for food or rent or medicine. And I’m grateful that I got to spend this 91 minutes sitting next to you and do something a little different from what we usually do and that we’re going to get to have a nice meal together now and talk about the wonder of it all. Life is so awesome.”

So we have Jack, who thinks he’s really cool because he’s trashing the movie and we have Chris who’s finding everything he can to be grateful about in the movie. So I put it out to you: these two people saw the same movie, but who do you think is happier, Jack or Chris? [Chris!] And who do you think is actually cooler? [Chris!] I think so too.