To Be or Not to Be "Cool"

Have you ever wanted something so badly that you'd sacrifice anything for it? Have you been so desperate to fit in that you'd break the law to be considered "cool"? In the book Be More Chill by Ned Vizzini, a teenage boy named Jeremy struggles to fit in and be accepted into the popularity-obsessed world of high school. In his school, Jeremy’s labeled as a nerd and a loser. But when Jeremy illegally buys a mini supercomputer called a squip that tells him how to act and what to say, Jeremy's whole life turns around. From new friends, to girls, to parties, the squip guides Jeremy through the exciting world of high school popularity and being "cool". The squip is always in Jeremy's brain, reading his thoughts and gathering information to figure out how to make Jeremy “cool”. But as Jeremy learns, having the squip and being “cool” comes at a price. The book Be More Chill is meaningful to teens because it discusses the common high school ideal of being "cool".

One way Be More Chill discusses the idea of being "cool" is through what the squip tells Jeremy to do. For example, the squip tells Jeremy who to be friends with and who to be on bad terms with in order to boost his social status. In the text, the squip tells Jeremy not to be friends with his best friend Michael, who is considered very "un-cool" and weird. To make him more “cool”, the squip helps Jeremy get on good terms with the popular kids such as the football quarterback Brock, who's one of the most popular guys in school. Furthermore, the squip also gives Jeremy advice on how to act around the popular girls because having a girlfriend is considered a big part of being "cool" in high school. The squip tells Jeremy what to say to Chloe, the "hottest girl in school". With the squip telling him what to say, Jeremy gets Chloe to like him, making him very “cool” to his peers. Chloe invites Jeremy to go to a party with her where they do drugs and Jeremy drinks to look "cool" in front of the other kids at the party. This shows how teens believe that drinking and doing drugs and having girlfriends are all what make teens think each other are “cool” whether they’re intelligent and kind people or not. Overall, the things Jeremy does and says and the way he acts and what he does under the squip’s instruction shows and discusses what the typical high school ideal of being "cool" really means to teenagers.

Another way Be More Chill discusses the meaningful idea of being "cool" is by showing the controversy of whether the people the squip made Jeremy hangout with were really his true friends. When Jeremy gets the squip and becomes super popular and "cool" at his school, many kids suddenly decide to become his friend and everyone is much nicer to him. For example, Chloe decides that she likes Jeremy when she sees how he's acting more "cool" even though she didn't even know who he was before he was popular. But Chloe wasn't Jeremy's true friend because she didn't like him  for who he really was before he was "cool". Some people truly liked Jeremy for who he was. For example, Jeremy's best friend Michael didn't like Jeremy for his squip. Michael liked Jeremy when he was considered a dork and acted like his true self, not when he let the squip tell him how to act "cool". Also, under the squip’s influence, Jeremy was unable to impress Christine, the girl he liked. Christine had liked Jeremy before he had the squip telling him what to do. She actually liked Jeremy for his true personality and not the personality the squip created for him. This shows how making a sacrifice to be "cool" isn't necessarily worth it because you’re true friends will like you even if you’re not popular. I know that my friends are true friends because they like me for who I am inside and they don’t care if I’m popular or “cool”. Overall, this book discusses the idea of being "cool" and that you're true friends are the ones that like you for your true personality and not because you're popular.

In conclusion, Be More Chill is meaningful to 8^th graders and teenagers because it discusses the common high school ideal of being "cool". The book discusses what being "cool" means to teens and that you're true friends are the ones that like you whether you're popular or not. This book connects to teens in real life because many teens want to fit in and be popular. Some teens do things like drinking and smoking to look "cool" in front of their classmates. I know that I've had times in school where I just felt like I didn't fit and thought that being popular and having lots of friends was the most important thing in the world. I remember in 6^th grade, I didn’t know anyone in my homeroom though many other kids already had friends in the class. But I knew I should be myself and I made lots of friends in only the first week. No one cared that I didn’t know anyone else or was smaller than everybody else. I made true friends who didn’t care if I was “cool” or not. Jeremy had true friends that didn’t care if he was “cool”. Christine and Michael didn't like Jeremy because he was popular, they liked him for his true self and he didn't need the squip to impress them. Overall, Be More Chill discusses what the idea of being "cool" is to teens and that you’re true friends are the ones that will stick by you, popular or not. This book spreads the message that life shouldn't be about being "cool", it should be about accepting and embracing who you are.