Ted Lasso: An Analysis of the Representation of Cultural Differences and how they are Handled

Abstract

The comedy series Ted Lasso has won many awards and is highly praised by critics. Thematically, it is about a US-American-football coach leading a British football club and dealing with cultural differences. This thesis combined two different qualitative content analyses using the Linguistic Awareness of Cultures Model (Müller-Jacquier, 2000) and the Four Factor Model of Intercultural Competence (Livermore & Van Dyne, 2004). Firstly, it was examined how Ted - as an US-American - is represented, how he differs from the Brits and what this says about the respective national characters. A second analysis substantiated these results by looking into the way how Ted manages handling these cultural differences. The main result is, that even though Ted is distinguished from the British characters, the analysed series creates an atmosphere of unity in which cultural differences can be laughed about but not at people themselves. In combination with the representation of Ted as a strong, empathic and culturally intelligent leader, such series can be an opportunity to create awareness of the benefits and opportunities of cultural differences. Moreover, Ted Lasso is an example on how a comedy series can promote cultural intelligence and the associated skill set to educate people about this competence.