Journal Entry #14: Merchants of Cool

          The documentary “Merchants of Cool” made complete sense to me because it broke down how various industries specifically market to the teenage demographic in strong and relevant ways. There’s a notion of popularity mixed into the situation, because whatever item was “in” at the time would determine if someone was cool enough within groups of kids. If you did not have access to that item, your popularity, or lack of, was automatically determined. I specifically remember as a middle schooler basically dying for a JanSport backpack because I knew all the cool kids wore the JanSport backpacks that were only one solid color. Of course, I never asked my parents knowing they would not waste the money for something as stupid as a cool backpack. Instead, I had this regular backpack that was probably half the price of the JanSport bag. I used to be really upset about it, but a short time later I realized how materialistically dumb I was being, and in hindsight, I am glad I never got the backpack. It is hard to think that these types of things will not matter when you get older, because as a kid these things consume your whole social life almost, but here I am in college, using what $10 bag I find at Target in the clearance section, and I honestly could care less.