In this episode, Dara examines the centrality of heart to his own personal philosophy. He recognises that his concept of the metaphorical heart is suffused with his natural idealism, and how that can lead him into situations where he can be easily wounded. He argues against the interpretation of open-heartedness being equal to naivete.
He talks about a recent incident that he believes was the catalyst for this line of enquiry, and then realises his subconscious had been directing him to things heart-related, including a couple of films featuring heart-battered male leads – Alexander Payne’s The Descendents (2011) and Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story (2019), as well a friend’s Instagram post about Claddagh rings.
On the lighter side of heart offerings, Dara and his daughter sat down to watch Penny Marshall’s Big (1988) which, apart from the enjoyment of a definitive Tom Hanks performance, gave an exciting glimpse to Dara of his daughter’s evolving cineaste brain.
Finally, Dara nails his colours to the mast and says why he’ll continue facing life with a full and open heart, in spite of the risk-reward ratio sometimes feeling stacked the wrong way. You’ll have to decide if he’s a sucker or not…
Ian O’Malley’s Irish culture tips and English as it’s spoken in Ireland Instagram page – https://www.instagram.com/ian_english_language/