When it was just Maxfield and Wyatt I noticed it. Now that Jackson is here I notice it even more. When it comes to brothers, there is only so much cool to go around. It is like one brother is the cool magnet and the others look like dorks.
The cool factor can shift to another brother. The coolness passes from one to the other, but never does more than one brother have the same level of being cool. One dominates and the others just do not look as good.
In an effort to illustrate my theory that one brother is always cooler than the other brothers I will use famous brothers as examples.
Jimmy Carter and Billy Carter. Being the President of the United States is cool. Being a hard drinking partyer who pisses on a runway, like a rock star, in full view of the dignitaries and the press and having a beer named after you, cooler.
Beau and Jeff Bridges- Beau is an actor who does many supporting roles for both TV and film usually playing someones dad or hard ass neighbor. Being an actor is cool. Jeff Bridges is a four time Oscar nominated actor who has been in films like Iron Man and the Contender and he played the Dude in the Big Lebowski. Cooler.
Ron Howard and Clint Howard-Ron Howard is a famous actor and Oscar winning director who has directed films such as Night Shift (one of the best films of all time), Apollo 13 and The DaVinci Code. Very Cool. Clint Howard...well..is Clint Howard.
Peyton Manning and Eli Manning- This is a good example of the coolness shifting. Both brothers are NFL quarterbacks making millions of dollars. Cool right? Except that Eli always looked like a whiny dork and Peyton always looked real smooth and funny in his TV commercials. Peyton is a future hall of fame QB with great TV commercials and he won the Super Bowl in 2007. Then the coolness shifted. In 2008 Eli won the Superbowl while Peyton looked like a dork. Then there is the other brother Cooper. Who? Cooper. That's right, the other two brothers sucked up all the coolness.
Another good example of the coolness factor shifting from one brother to the next is Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez. While one has a breakout movie or hit TV show the other is floundering in hookers and drugs. The coolness shifts and then the other brother has a hit and the other falls off the face of the earth. It proves my theory.
There are many famous brothers and when you think of them, one sticks out in your mind over the others. Jackson 5, Osmonds, David and Shaun Cassidy, Ben and Casey Afleck, Luke and Owen Wilson, Baldwin brothers, Bacon brothers.
Looking at my own siblings the coolness theory holds true. Sure, some of us excelled at certain areas or have different talents but for the most part, only one of us was cooler than the others at any given time. There have been many shifts over the years from one brother to the next but never were any two just as cool as each other.
I know at some point, when sibling rivalry starts to get more intense, I am going to have to have this discussion with my kids.
No more than one brother can be equal cool as the other at any given time. Am I off base with this theory? I am looking for opinions and counter points.
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28 comments:
I watched Fonzi on TV
Mike Merck in Hello Dolly. Now that is cool.
William, Your theory holds true with brothers; however, add in a sister and the equasion always changes. Brothers are NEVER cool to sisters, they are just annoying! Very fun post. Elizabeth
PS. Examples: Julia Roberts, Eric
Shirley Mclain, Warren - Uggh
Marie Osmond, Donny - annoying + 8
Janet Jackson - need I say more!
First of all, Eli Manning has never been and will never be cool. He is a winey bastard.
Second, there is a chance that one brother will always be cooler, no matter what happens. Like you said, thre is only so much coolness to go around and sometimes it goes into a coolness vacumme and never comes out.
I know you're a bit tongue in cheek here, but from where I sit, your boys will already have to compete with their dad for coolness, they'll compete with each other naturally, and it will only make it worse if they really do think there's a limited amount of "cool" to go around. But maybe that's just me.
I agree Night Shift was a great film! I also agree with only so much cool to go around among siblings.
Being aloof is the new cool.
Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez are brothers?
Obviously I am in the not-cool category.
I'm definitely the cool one. And I always will be!
Congratulations! Jackson is a doll! Now you have to change your template again! Good luck with the terrible twos. Wyatt just needs some extra lovin' so he doesn't get the middle child syndrome.
You theory sounds accurate, but I always thought my brothers were just a couple of dweebs. :)
When i was younger there was levels of cool i never made it to the top.The different levels were made up by the cooler brother at the time (so he thought). from top to bottom 1.Ultra Super Cool 2.Super Cool 3.Cool and the bottom Lickity Split
LW on a riding mower with a miller lite. Ultra fingerlickin good COOL.
I have no brothers.
Ergo, I have all the cool.
Your theory makes sense to me.
I think cool has to do with timing. I believe each of your sons will reach a point where they come into their own "cool" period.
There's only so much cool to go around because you have a sister, she owns most of it, then you guys split the rest.
You mean ... I was supposed to get my brother's coolness when he died? Dammit. I knew we shouldn't have opted for cremation.
I agree with this theory. Take, for instance, the night that we met you. See... usually you're super cool, but when you were in a room with me - I obviously had all of the coolness. Solid theory.
There's another Bacon besides Kevin?
(maybe I just illustrated your point.)
By the way, I think Kevin Bacon is really hot.
Don't tell me, the lawn whisperer is the coolest, right?
I'm thinking let them figure out the "coolness" factor for themselves. Because they WILL at some point. ...You seem like a really great Dad, maybe it's just best to not even let them know that you see the shift.
...I don't have kids yet, so I guess I'm coming at this from the "Kid" POV... Plus I'm also from a "sister" POV as well. But, I remember being pretty well convinced of who my Dad's favorites were of the four of us kids. It was the two middle ones (a brother and a sister,) for a REALLY long time. They were into all the same things Dad was into, (like being great at sports, science & math.) Where as myself (the oldest) and the youngest (another brother,) were the two "dreamers". Dad couldn't relate to that side of us. For a really, really long time I found myself starved for his acceptance, to know he was as proud of me and my accomplishments. I think it's safe to say, my youngest brother went through the same thing for a long time as well. I'm in my 30's now and my relationship is different with my father, obviously. But it took a long time to come through that.
But I'm still thinking ...don't let them know, especially when they're young, that you notice when the cool factor is in play and who is holding it at that time. I think if they know you're aware of it, it will somehow make it even more important to be the "cool" one. Just be there to support them. ...I hope this helps, a little at least.
Kev is kive
having three nipples is never cool
foggy windows in the station wagon is cool.
You are so dead on balls accurate with this theory. That is why I am thankful to be an only child. 100% coolness, all the time.
Well, have fun with the sibling rivalry thing. My sister and I were never rivals but I certainly was cooler. Ha. My girls are at an age where they are starting to "compete" over little things with each other. I hate it. Their dad encourages it and then they come home to me and I dismantle it. When my little one compares herself to her big sister and gets worried about what she can or can't do, that's a problem for me. When they are older, I pray they don't fight over boys or compare themselves! But I do hope they are different from each other
I agree with you on almost everything you wrote, except that Clint Howard is so painfully uncool, that he pretty much comes back around to being cool.
"This is Chuck to remind Bill to shut up!"
Clint Howard is cool because he can get his little brother to put him into all his movies. But I agree with all the rest of it. My husband and I were just talking about the same thing with the Mannings as well.
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