Hot & Cold Media

This reading was somewhat perplexing for me, because I understood the idea of splitting 2 similar aspects of culture into 2 separate categories, but in my mind, the categories of "hot" and "cold" media are switched. When he was talking about cool media, I imagined the specifics for the category would be uninvolved, primitive, and ineffective when it comes to changing culture. And when I thought of hot media, I thought of engaging, sophistocated, and revolutionary objects/ideas.
I couldn't get past my own bias of these categories to understand what his specifications were, so I ended up being confused for most the article. Like when he categorized the waltz as "hot," I thought "no, that's a very mellow, formula-driven dance, whereas the Twist is more engaging, more enjoyable, and helped spark a dance movement that challenged past formulas." In my mind, the Twist/Charleston/Lindy Hop were hot dance movements, and the waltz/tango/traditional dances were cool.
I also felt bad while reading this, because he claimed that "backwards countries" were cool, and here in western civilization, we were hot. That part of the article seemed very elitist; I understand that the United States has been helping lead the world in the production of new ideas, but that's no grounds to call all other non-western countries "backwards." Thankfully since this was written, we have taken up a more accepting mindset when it comes to other countries in comparison to the United States.