Ted Lasso Loves Ayn Rand

Er, because it doesn't?

I don't remember hearing that line, but the philosophy of the show is anything but Ayn Rand's. Was he being sarcastic?

Only highly impressionable people in college should say they like Ayn Rand.

Beyond that, you're an idiot.

Interesting claim, OP.

The article considers all book mentions. Fountainhead does not appear to be listed.

Which specific episode does he say that.

If the show's hero is pimping Ayn Rand, the show is pimping Ayn Rand. Even SOUTH PARK doesn't pimp Ayn Rand, and it's made by actual libertarians.

He said afterwards "I know, curveball, right? But I can explain" and then never explained. I'm sure Lasso will eventually explain why he likes The Fountainhead, and it'll make some kind of sense.

That one quote doesn't make the show a paean to radical capitalism.

He doesn't say it.

Yes, he says it, cut it out.

[quote]He doesn't say it.

He says it in S2E2 when talking to Dr. Sharon.

I don't see a problem. Many people can find something they like or find illuminating in something that doesn't strictly adhere to their own personal philosophy. As Ted quoted in series one, "Be curious, not judgmental."

He says it to the shrink, as others have pointed out. It really did ruin the show for me since he never explained why he would like such right wing drivel unless he’s a right winger himself.

Apparently Zach Snyder is so taken by Rand he wants to make a movie version of the book.

Will everybody please stop salivating over a show on a channel that I don't have access to?

Pick something on Amazon prime Netflix, or Network TV. Oh, and Acorn too. TIA!

As if anyone involved with pro-football can or does read high-concept fiction. Or, reads books at all, for that matter.

[quote]He says it to the shrink, as others have pointed out. It really did ruin the show for me since he never explained why he would like such right wing drivel unless he’s a right winger himself.

Well, he IS from Kansas ...

At least in The Fountainhead the hero is a creative person, not a businessman.

I don’t think Ted is portrayed as a big reader. Maybe he likes it because he derived some sports metaphor for it, or was given a copy by his grandpaw, or has never actually read it but adopted it as a favourite in the eighties when a penchant for avarice was de rigueur.

Never heard that line but Ted's supposed to be a country boy from Kansas who no doubt grew up surrounded by Republicans but has eclectic tastes in literature. Ted also quotes Tolstoy so figure that out.

Rand Paul's parents should've named their son using their idol's real last name: Rosenbaum. That would've done wonders for his political career.

I find Ted Lasso so annoying (fake nice with anger underneath). I wish the show was about Roy Kent instead.

I love Roy Kent.

The Ted Lasso universe where “winning is nice and all but being vulnerable enough to care about each other is the real victory” would be a living nightmare for Ayn Rand.

Oh for god's sake. What a stupid concern.

R20 maybe that’s the joke, and it just didn’t come off?

R18 I too dislike Ted and the entire show for its toxic positivity. It doesn’t represent the true gritty heart and soul and personality of English football cultural accurately.

R22 in the first season, when Ted’s wife came to visit, it seemed so obvious to me why she struggled to be happy with him. I would have been a runaway bride before that wedding.

Actually, I think a SNL sketch where Cecily Strong as Ayn Rand is brought in as a the new coach at FC Richmond could be a very funny “weird sketch after the second musical performance.”

Tbf Ayn would vibe with the financial model of the Premier League, and the war criminals who run it.

Ayn Rand is an intellectually lazy person's idea of a great writer/philosopher.

King Vidor's 1949 film effectively mines the novel for all its garish stupidity.

I find the show hard to watch as it's the same show every time. Ted meets someone new. They are not as nice as Ted. Ted is nice to them. They become a nice person, too.

To say that this formula is bland is an understatement. Perhaps this is why it appeals to so many people. There isn't a single challenging or interesting thought in the show. Perfect for America.

Like someone else said, the show should have been about Roy.

And I bet Roy doesn't love Ayn Rand. Which, btw, ended the show for me.

Ted said something much more in line with the show's values when he quoted Whitman: Be curious and do not judge.

Seems to me most people on this thread have already decided they don't like the show and are just looking for reasons to to dismiss it.

If he followed it with "Kind of a curveball, huh?" that means "You wouldn't expect me to say that given the way I always behave, would you?" So be curious to find out why he did say it.

Roy is too taciturn to carry a whole show. He's absolutely the breakout character, but in a sitcom the breakout character is NEVER the hero, and can never carry a spinoff.

Haven't read anything by Rand. I think I have to read her to get these freaks. They are awful people and I don't understand them.

The only show abut British football worth watching is "Footballers' Wives".

Is Ayn Rand widely read and taken seriously outside of the United States? Of course Libertarian asshats consider her to be a fount of wisdom in this country, which makes sense with her message of selfishness. I can’t recall ever hearing of her outside of this sort of American context.

No.

She's known, though. I think she was read throughout the English speaking world at the time, but has been largely forgotten everywhere except the Land of the Individual.

Ayn Rand was a proud athiest. She was proudly pro-choice. She hated Reagan. She believed Reagan himself was a threat to capitalism. I don't think this represents the Republican party, whatever they would like to say. Most Repeubs would actually say the Bible is they're biggest influence, but we would never equate them with every other person who has ever read or appreciated the Bible. I liked The Fountainhead, and it really shows that the media and activist class works similarly in the 30s as it does now. Instead of the Wynand Papers, we have sites like Buzzfeed and Refinery29 that posts similar drivel. A point that the book makes is that projects created with committees and focus groups usually suck, and that greatness comes from artistic integrity. Look at the difference between a show like White Lotus vs whatever new is coming to NBC in the fall. Mike White got a lot of flack because he created, wrote, and directed the whole thing himself. The backlash might harm his career going forward, as these streaming services don't want to be accused of hiring a racist/misogynist.

That's a whole lot of verbal diarrhea, dear Libertarian Idiot Troll™ @R33.

R34 You're right, it's a lot of thoughts smashed into one paragraph. But I'm not a libertarian or a troll lol

R34 -- you do sound like a libertarian and you do sound like a troll, but more so, you sound like you've taken far too many drugs tonight.

[quote] He's absolutely the breakout character, but in a sitcom the breakout character is NEVER the hero, and can never carry a spinoff.

Frasier and Rhoda would beg to differ.

What a child you are OP. Perhaps you should go pout in a shit diaper and piss off. If you’re too simple-minded to dislike this show based on an obvious joke it’s not for you. Now, shoo…I got a man waiting’ for me.

Maybe he meant the porn: The Fountainhead

Wasn't that ugly cunt on welfare? As was Paul Ryan's grandmother? As is the state of fucking KY which Rand Paul represents? And that motherfucker went to socialist healthcare system-having CANADA for his surgery. Curt Schilling took tax money from the people of RI to bail out his loser ass because his business venture failed.

Are there any fucking libertarians who aren't hypocritical douchebags?

R38 wonders why he doesn't have any friends.

But the rest of us know.

Jamie Tartt’s favourite book is THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR. But he finds the cartoon film easier to understand.

OP, the idea you won’t watch a show because the character mentions in one episode that he likes a book you find personally offensive is the post pearl clutching, frau, Karen, Tipper Gore thing I have ever heard.

And, there are many reasons why someone would enjoy The Fountainhead that has nothing to do with Rand’s personal philosophy. Atlas Shrug really is propaganda and dribble. But, The Fountainhead has a great story, interesting characters, and a message that was at that time and still to this day unheard of.

You don’t have to like Ayn Rand. But, to this day she has not gotten her due respect. She was a refugee who came to the US with nothing. And yet she was able to become a best selling novelist and one of the few female philosophers.

Few people who dislike Ayn Rand are ever able to say why.

Ayn Rand gets a lot of hate, but that is sorta the reason why I respect her. She wasn't trying to get everyone to adore her, and she stuck to her own beliefs. Do I agree with all of those beliefs? No, I believe that we should have a safety net for the poor. I actually believe that capitalism causes most of the problems we have today. The brand of capitalism that she prized and envisioned did not previously exist nor could possibly ever exist spontaneously without government regulation. Capitalism as we know it will fall, and we're beginning to see the cracks form given the new circumstances arising from globalism, climate change, and the pandemic.

R43 Also the "pear clutching frau" were characters in The Fountainhead. They were often offended by any of the buildings that Roark designed or the art he commissioned, and wanted it bulldozed. They're hysterical behavior and blind hatred was imo the actual antagonist.

[quote]Few people who dislike Ayn Rand are ever able to say why.

Patently untrue. Ayn Rand is widely disliked and many have made substantial, significant points as to why. Wikipedia lists over 20 in the "Criticisms" subheader alone, and it's probably well into the hundreds once you get into the actual footnotes. And that's just Wikipedia.

I dislike Ayn Rand because the theories she popularized are moronic and have lead us to our current cursed society.

They are CLEARLY foreshadowing that Ted Lasso has something dark underneath his sunny persona by choosing that book.

God, did anyone pay attention in high school English?

From IMBD re the show Ted Lasso: "Follows an American football coach Ted Lasso who heads to the U.K. to manage a struggling London football team in the top flight of English football." Zzzzzzz....

[Close tab. Move latest over-hyped show off the attention radar. Get on with my life]

I'll tell you why Rand is garbage: She and every one of her loudmouthed followers are the antithesis of her bullshit beliefs. Just like "Family Values" Republicans who are fucking everything that moves and then gets abortions for those mistresses.

By contrast, Steve Bruce has got to be a James Joyce man.

No objective reality, steely self-interest, or rational though leading to action at this club, my son—just vibes.

Ted Lasso was great last year, not as good this year though. It was better when naive nice guy was battling against mean bastards.

R37, Frasier was neither a breakout character on Cheers, nor the one who carried the spinoff. If it hadn't been for an amazing supporting cast that show would have been dead in the water despite the great writing. Rhoda was certainly a breakout character, but her spinoff, while reasonably popular, wasn't even vaguely comparable with the MTM Show for popularity or brilliance.

Mourinho likes Nietzsche, I’ll bet.

I liked the fact they had Thierry Henry and Gary Linekar both bitching about Coach Beard. They're legends.

R54 Henry is cool. Lineker is a bit of a chuffer, though.

[quote] Why would anyone want to watch a program that extols the glories of a selfish, cruel philosophy? I don't get it.

45% of the world's population is at times cruel.

95% of the world's population is selfish.

I'll put my money into that.

[quote] I'll tell you why Rand is garbage

Because I've actually read 700 pages of Rand so I'm qualified to have an opinion.

I'm right and you're wrong!

Ann rand was young when the communists took over her country, atlas shrugged is her book, it will blow your mind with what is going on in the world today, especially with new york mayor doing what she did.scary

Brian Kinney loved Ayn Rand too.

In my early 20s I was really into her. Now I just love what I call the Ayn Rand Aesthetic. Cigarettes, typewriters, glass ashtrays, leftover Art Deco furniture and bullet trains.

I have bad taste in women.

Ayn Rand wound up living on Social Security and Medicare.

[quote]Ann rand was young when the communists took over her country, atlas shrugged is her book, it will blow your mind with what is going on in the world today, especially with new york mayor doing what she did.scary

LOL, you semi-literate moron. STFU. Your stupidity on full display.

Yeah, you're such an admirer, you spelled it "Ann." Imbecile.

I kept waiting for Ted to somehow justify the Rand choice, or make it seem as though he didn't know what he was talking about but... nope.

Ted loves Ayn.

I hate Ted.

My favorite fact about Ayn Rand is indeed that she was on social security when she was old despite having said it's 'immoral'.

Nice summary here of Rand's philosophy and how in her old age “Reality had intruded upon her ideological pipedreams.” With a bonus discussion of that odious asshole Repug Allen Greenspan (Andrea Mitchell's spouse) who gave us Reaganomics.

R33 is correct. Ayn Rand has nothing to do with Republicans. OP is an idiot.

Ayn Rand believed anyone could be well of if they really wanted to be and worked at it. She was oblivious to the fact that wealthy conservatives and libertarians move heaven and earth to make sure that poor people do not get ahead.

[quote]“Reality had intruded upon her ideological pipedreams.”

Welcome to every fucking, low-income Republican.

Joe the Plumber is the poster child for this. That idiot questioning how Obama's economic policies would hurt successful, business owner Joe who DIDN'T exist, but voted based on that delusion. Meanwhile, reality Joe (whose name was Samuel whatever) didn't even have a plumbing license, was in debt and clearly a failure.

POOR FAT JASON WAS CUCKOLDED BY HOT YOUNG HARRY STYLES.

[quote]POOR FAT JASON WAS CUCKOLDED BY HOT YOUNG HARRY STYLES.

LOL - there is a high degree of overlap between a certain segment of the population who love Rand and whose worst fear in life is to be "cucked" by their woman.

For this group, calling a man a "cuck" as the worst insult imaginable and not shaving one's neck go hand-in-hand.

He said "The Fountainhead" was his favorite book when talking to Dr. Sharon partially because he was joking and also because he was being an asshole. Remember he didn't like Sharon from the start because of what she represents.

The main character in The Fountainhead doesn't follow convention but more important than that he feels that he [bold]doesn't need help from anyone.[/bold]

Dr. Sharon, at the end of the episode, says her favorite book is, "The Prince of Tides" which is about [bold]a psychiatrist who helps a football coach overcome trauma.[/bold]

They're setting up their initial relationship: Ted doesn't want her help, she is there to give it anyway and as we know from watching the season, he did have a traumatic childhood and pushed on keeping those painful memories to himself and Dr. Sharon (like in the Prince of Tides) helps him through it.

What R70 wrote is the most thoughtful response on this thread. But is the show as smart as R70?

I still worry that since Ted is considered a hero by millions, so his endorsement of Ayn Rand has made a lot of impressionable young millennials think Rand is the bomb.

R70 said what I was about to come here to say.

Ted Lasso has a lot of these little "Easter egg" lines. Some are more obvious than others.

I've tried to read The Fountainhead 4 or 5 times. Always give up after a few chapters in. Just doesn't hold my interest. I suppose when it came out it was captivating because it was about a guy sticking it to the man and going his own way! Something much harder to do in those days.

that's because ayn rand is a terrible writer

not to mention a terrible human

not to mention a terrible influence on American culture and politics.

R70 is exactly right. Ted’s mentioning it was meant as a joke and a jab at Dr. Sharon. Anyone who watches the show knows he’s the antithesis of Ayn Rand.

This show erroneously makes out that people working in and involved with football are generally far smarter than they would typically be in reality. Of course there is a small contingent of intelligent cultured people in the business, but they are few and far between.

This⬇️is the level we’re actually dealing with.

I'm wondering how the shrink solved all problems—including Ted's personal ones—in what, a few weeks? Months? I want that kind of therapy!

R79 right? That’s what annoys me about it.

And like I get that it’s fiction designed to tell a neat story within a time limit for people with short attention spans, but to water down the rich messy dark often-comically weird and complicated world of English football down in such a way is just sad.

To tell the tale of the EPL as it needs to be would almost call for a Pynchonian style.

R79 Likely because he never really had very serious problems in the first place. I know hypochondriacs who run to the doctor at the tiniest thing; things I would just sit out. It's not hard to see it happening for psychological issues too.

This whole “Six Degrees of Condemnation” where people boycott or protest something referenced in a show or book and treat it like a tacit endorsement of said person, their misdeeds, failures, etc is so ridiculous. And it’s a character in a program who was trying to deflect from addressing his emotions by throwing out random contradictions, and there is no indication if it was true or not. This is just low hanging cancel culture bullshit from someone really reaching to find someone or something to condemn. You are acting like he said his favorite book was Mein Kampf.

It’s like once when I quoted Socrates on a post on FB and someone actually implied that I was supporting pedos by doing so.. WTF? A philosophical quote from someone who lived in 300 B.C.? It’s so ridiculous.

I bet R82 is a lot of fun at parties.

I am, actually. Mostly because I’m not busy trying to cancel fictional characters online