Ted Lasso
So we are finally watching Ted Lasso. It is as engaging as many described, with funny characters, good plots, and peppered with SALTY words and more than suggestive romps!
FYI: HOLY SMOKE . . . language alert! AND F-bombs are not the only incoming — yes, some things, however, have been left to the imagination — emphasis on some.
Still, the characters and their adventures appeal, even through midway of the second season. Except for episode 9 of Season Two — It felt like the writer’s from Stranger Things or Twilight Zone or the Outer Limits collaborated.
Before Ted
Then a friend reminded me of another collections of stories about engaging characters: The No.1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith. None of the characters described their relationships, lives, each other, or their problems with profane parts of speech. And the author did not shy away from some “hot-button” topics.
When PBS and HBO made some of those stories into a series first on PBS, they never generated the hype Ted Lasso has; maybe because Ted Lasso is covering oh so many more topics.
Culture Shifts?
It’s giving me pause to think my worldview may have more in common with that of Mma Precious Ramotswe from Botswana than those of the English women who are in the Ted Lasso series.
That’s a marker on how much life changed over two decades.
Or, how much more open we are about what we value.
As you binge your way through Ted Lasso you will warm to the ridiculously flawed characters, you will be surprised by the non-puff-pastry plots, and you will be quietly astounded by the presence of something that is practically non-existent in contemporary popular culture. A characteristic found in few other characters, in hardly any shows or movies—and almost never with the degree of centrality with which it features in this show. This characteristic is the love of one’s enemies, compassion in the face of hostility, kindness in the face of aggression; poise, calmness and grace in the face of nastiness, disdain and mockery. (Josh Apieczonek, There’s Something Unusually Christian About This TV Series )
Joe Apieczonek said Ted’s “plan” is accepting people as they are and seeking their best . . . [he] responds to hostility with love in a concrete way that is almost never seen in popular culture.
What Does This Have to Do with me?
Not quite binging on this series, Doug and I have have been chastened by the how well some characters love their enemies —characters that have done them harm — really harm; loved not with words, but deeds.
That’s quite a message, albeit wrapped up with really profane descriptive words — among other . . . choices.
Interesting that today’s Bible reading came from 1 Corinthians 1:17-31. I am still pondering the irony.
What do you think about this series? I understand the third series will be . . . challenging
BTW:
When I am not watching T.L., I paint, still.