Taking Off Atomised Society’s Glasses ft. Default Friend

Two influential, distinct visions of romance and our social structures at the end of the 20th century, Michel Houellebecq’s Les Particules élémentaires and the romantic comedy She’s All That come out half a year and an ocean apart. In one, two isolated half-brothers struggle to find love and physical affection, while in the teen movie, the social outcast Laney Boggs is brought out to become one of the most attractive and popular girls at her school. With my guest, Default Friend, we explore the ways in which these two works each give a serious vision of some part of this late 20th century moment.