Ep 22. Praise for Peculiar Protagonists and the Importance of Shared Experience

Before Brunch

Eleanor Oliphant and Keiko Furukura are misfits. By all means, the two protagonists live mundane lives on the outskirts of society. Eleanor is more than peculiar. She skirts social norms and convention, she seemingly lacks empathy and connection and she appears rude and judgemental. But we all fell in love with her when Gaily Honeymoon introduced her into her lives. Eleanor is the all-too-relatable character we needed. Gail Honeymoon gave us the antithesis of a hero. Eleanor is boring and safe and we want her to stay that way. In this week’s podcast we examine why we feel so strongly for peculiar protagonists and why it’s more important than ever to celebrate them. That leads us to a discussion on shared experience and a study from Harvard Decision Science Laboratory first published in 2014. The study relays the impact of shared experience on our feelings of inclusion or exclusion and highlights the effect of groupthink. Before Brunch Podcast is the perfect Sunday morning hangover cure. Megan and Cassie chew over all the biggest stories of the week, from the frivolous to the meaningful and everything in between. It's the same dirt you talk about at Brunch, we're just digging a little deeper. If you like the podcast, please do subscribe, rate and review to help other brunchers find us! Get in touch on twitter @meganmcassidy @cassielorraine @lovindublin @lovindotie or [e-mail]