How Does Ted Lasso's Halftime Speech Encapsulate the Theme of the Show?

Any time I need motivation in my life or my writing, I look for clips from movies or TV shows that help inspire me. This last year, I was served with a doozy. It seems like the entirety of Ted Lasso could pump anyone up, but I found that his halftime speech was the antidote to feeling down and to getting writer's block. 

Part of the reason I think this show is so successful is that it has a wonderful theme. So what is Ted Lasso's theme? And what makes the halftime speech so special? 

Watch it, and let's talk after. 

How Does Ted Lasso's Halftime Speech Encapsulate the Theme of the Show?

Don't you just feel refreshed and reinvigorated after watching that clip? Now, let's look into the themes of the show so we can see how this really plays upon them. 

To do that, I want to look at what one of the creators and the star of the show, Jason Sudeikis, has to say about it.

In an interview with Indian Express, Jason Sudeikis shared that even though “we are different culturally,” we are all “similar on a macro” level as “we all go through a lot of the same stuff.”

Sudeikis went on to say that since we are all on this planet feeling the same things, the show was able to touch people all over the world, not just the American audience. He continued, “Because life and death, good and evil are ubiquitous and there are themes of Ted Lasso that are more on a human level, although it is all pulled through the prism of an American eye. But yes, we took on the international challenges willfully.”

So how does this tie into the speech? 

A lot of times in sports movies and TV shows, the audience is asked to see the situation in sports and apply things to their own lives. The burden of the metaphor is on us. But because Ted Lasso is a show about people and universal humanity, the metaphor is given to us. And it applies to people across the globe. 

The speech is about embracing change and being brave. These are universal themes that also get at the core of the show. Ted is a guy sent from America to coach a sport where he's not an expert. He's losing his wife, working through feeling alienated, and also trying to earn the respect of his players and the town. Since all that is delivered through the show, we know that when he gives that pep talk, it's really about him. 

But it's also about what each player needs to hear. Who doesn't believe in themselves? Who has to put ego and age aside to do what's best for the team? 

It also poses that question to the audience, not in the metaphorical sense, but asking us what changes affected us and what keeps us going. And it does it all in under two minutes.

This kind of brevity in writing packs a punch because the ethos, or theme of the show, is what makes us all human. The universal emotions we go through just to survive. 

This speech hits that on the head and centers it for the audience, no matter where they are in the world. 

Let me know what you think in the comments.