Class and Cool

It’s time to tackle more vague and esoteric topics: “class” and “cool”.

 Class.  By this I mean that nebulous but nevertheless discernable quality people either possess or lack.  Its absence is often ostentatiously demonstrated by various elements:  excessive “bling bling”, NASCAR memorabilia, WWE/WWF fandom, primer paint job, low-riders, and other noxious and objectionable displays of poor judgment.  No race has a monopoly on class or its absence, but I’ve noticed that the races converge in appearance, style and behavior (possibly emulating each other) at the high end and diverge towards the low end.  Much of what we’d consider racism is probably better described as “classism”, as we have considerably more tolerance for people of other races who we can clearly ascertain possess genuine class, and look down on those who clearly don’t.  And I’ve noticed that classy people of whatever race are sincerely ashamed of their racial brethren of the no-class variety; the class-related contempt for those who clearly lack it can be shared across racial lines.  I’ve also noticed that classless people sometimes attempt to appear to have class (when they momentarily come into any sizable amount of cash) but it doesn’t fool anyone except themselves.  Sometimes, however, the classlessness is deliberate and conscious: Kid Rock, Larry the Cable Guy, anyone who claims to be “proud to be a redneck”.  I suppose the black equivalent is “ghetto”, but to me that often seems like guys trying to look and act tougher than they really are – as if a lack of class should intimidate anyone by itself.  “Don’t mess with me, I own a mesh tank top!”

            It’s not necessarily about money: some people of modest means can carry themselves with style and make an impressive statement on a minimal budget.  I think of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character in “Titanic”, holding his own in a borrowed tuxedo among the rich and famous, neither ashamed of himself nor trying to pretend to be anything more than what he was, which was good enough for anyone.

            Myself, I am no worse, nor any better, than bourgeois, for whatever tackiness or class that entails.  I never buy the cheapest stuff (which is almost invariably crap) nor do I see any status in overpaying (assuming I could afford to do so anyway). 

 Cool.  There is an aging alumni colleague from the University of Maryland who sometimes shows up my local Gold’s Gym.  Just as he did at College Park, he wears sunglasses 24/7, even indoors at night.  He has a common name, but back in college he expropriated for himself the one-word nickname of a metal guitarist (who is still popular, 20 years later) to enhance his coolness, as if the perpetual sunglasses were not quite cool enough.  To me, if you have to TRY, if it’s that obvious, it’s not cool.  Coolness, like class, is something you possess naturally and not by some concerted effort or campaign.  I like to think one example is NOT being an arrogant asshole when you have every right to be.  One of the coolest persons ever is Burt Reynolds.  He’s seen better days, of course, but he’s been aging fairly well.  Clint Eastwood is another, as is Bruce Willis. 

 In fact, it’s difficult to separate the two: most people who are classy are also cool, and most of the cool are also classy.  The exceptions are rare:  no doubt Martha Stewart and the Queen of England have class, but neither could truly be considered cool.  To the extent Kid Rock or Tommy Lee are cool, yet lack class, those are more examples of the difference.