In this episode, Dara considers the power of defying expectations. Partly prompted by a conversation with his dementia-affected father, his thoughts are also informed by a New York psychologist who worked with first responders to World Trade Center attacks. Role-reversal can be both destabilising and disarming, but it rarely goes unnoticed, and it often provokes both consternation and resentment.

To explore it further, Dara looks at a handful of female-centred films where the protagonists fail to behave as expected, or in a couple of cases, the lead actresses don't conform to their previous character types. One such film is Jane Campion's In the Cut (2003), in which Meg Ryan gave a performance that obliterated her image as America's sweetheart that she had so firmly established in the romantic comedies of her earlier career. Films like Olivia Wilde's Booksmart (2019) and Emma Seligman's Bottoms (2023) present female characters who had historically been on the fringes of the story, not at its heart.

Also - the right to keep a flame alive, affirming unseen victories, men's need to speak, and decorating your internal house exactly as you see fit!

My 2023 Christmas story, which touches on the right to self-identify and defy expectations: https://theclearout.com/short-story/mrs-hennessey-and-the-womens-christmas/

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