With women's soccer, Ted Lasso 4 talks about our society The fourth season shows the gears and difficulties that women face in fields usually considered male centered
After saying goodbye to viewers in 2023 with the third and, theoretically, last season, Ted Lasso returns to the Apple TV platform continuing his story and, as is inevitable in these cases, revolutionizing it. The reason is simple: after saying goodbye to everyone, to return with a new story you cannot pick up where you left off, but you must have the courage to keep the previous door closed and open another one. In this case, the turning point that the character undertakes together with the Richmond sports apparatus is no longer just the one that triggered the first season, namely the transition of the protagonist from American football to English football. But a gender change is applied, starting from scratch with the sports club's first female team.
Ted Lasso 4 on Apple TV, the women's soccer challenge
The difficulty that Ted Lasso 4 adds to his story is not indifferent, as is the task he decides to take charge of and that he plays reflexively both inside and outside the episodes of the Apple TV show. As can be seen from the first episodes of the fourth season, the challenge that executive Rebecca Welton sets forherself, once again played by Hannah Waddingham, is to make women's soccer popular and attractive. What should be just another of the various sports disciplines proves to be a real challenge made up of walls and prejudices to overcome. That this can be reflected in the enjoyment of the fourth season of Ted Lasso gives a measure of how significant and central the theme chosen by the series is in today's society. Are we really not ready yet to consider a female sport equal to a male one? And could what is told in the show have repercussions on public interest even beyond the screen?
A meta-narrative series, fans' doubts and the gender stereotype
It is as if the fourth season of Ted Lasso recounts itself as it stages the events of its new athletes, as if the doubts that Rebecca and her team have were the same that could push the public to desert the return of the show to the platform. That the series created by the protagonist Jason Sudeikis together with Bill Lawrence has a hard core of fans is a certainty, also demonstrated by the enthusiasm that accompanied the announcement of the continuation of the show, which, however, must be seen if it will then actually turn into people who will follow the new season. In fact, when it comes to what is considered an anomaly, in this case the combination of women and soccer, even the toughest fans could falter, which highlights exactly what the fourth season wants to demonstrate.
The vicious circle in sport and the public's response
In a world dominated by patriarchal systems, sport remains the preserve of men both for what concerns its implementation and for those who occupy the stands. What Ted Lasso and his new team will have to face is not only to begin to act as a whole, to show that they have their own value and that they can offer an exciting show like the male one. It is on the reception that the story thinks and of which it shows an a priori snobbery that can only negatively influence the performance that is then brought to the field. It is a dog that bites its tail: if there is no interest in women's football then the investments are not coming, if the investments do not arrive it cannot be improved, if it cannot be improved the quality will always seem lower and if the quality will always seem lower then no one will ever be interested in women's football.
From screen to reality: gender equality in culture and art
The machine set in motion by Ted Lasso reveals where the cogs in the functioning of our society are jammed and how there are still so many, too many setbacks we are faced with. And it's demoralizing to think that what you see in the series is not just a narrative device, but the reality of the facts. An incipit that is used to, we hope, have better results on the show, even though we know that it is not certain that this could lead to changes in the perception of women's sport outside. It is a utopian universe, which we hope will one day become real. But for this to happen, there must be as many enlightened people who do their best for the cause, as well as some in the higher ranks of the series.
Why Ted Lasso 4 is a necessary show to support
It is from above that a change must take place, which brings its influence within the system of which it is part, whether artistic, scientific or sporting. This is why Ted Lasso 4 becomes a show to be supported even more than it had been done with previous seasons and in which trust must be placed, hoping that it has done a good job balancing the sweetness that distinguishes the series with the authentic problems that women's sport involves. An outcome for which you have to wait until the end of the season to find out if he scored a goal or not, but which is already to be commended for having chosen to bring the theme to the screen.
