Film has been integral to our identities for decades upon decades, from feeling inspired by on-screen victories to grieving alongside our favorite characters.
For local film critic and author Alise Chaffins, 2020 sports drama Ted Lasso was bursting with lessons to teach viewers about their own relationships, culminating into the Friday release of Chaffins’ novel exploring these themes, “The Ted Lasso Relationship Guide.”
With 86 awards, including Golden Globes and Primetime Emmy Awards and a longstanding foothold in Apple TV’s top shows, it’s clear Chaffins’ opinion of the series is not an unpopular one. Ted Lasso tells the story of an optimistic American football coach taking leadership of a British soccer team, and the challenges encountered by himself and his team — and more importantly, the admirable ways characters navigate their romantic, platonic, familial and professional relations with one another.
Chaffins’ work may be recognizable from her weekly movie review column in The Dominion Post, where she has watched and analyzed countless movies of various genres. Prior to her column, Chaffins has shared her writing online for years, from personal anecdotes to narrative nonfiction to film reviews. Her favorite shows include gritty dramas like Breaking Bad or Succession, but Ted Lasso was a breath of fresh air with its unique and spirited approach to everyday struggles.
Two years ago, Chaffins watched the show’s first season over the course of a couple days, and immediately fell in love with the relatable and hopeful charm of the story. Through her digital newsletter, “MacGuffin or Meaning?”, Chaffins began analyzing the relationships of the series in what would eventually become the foundation for her novel, “The Ted Lasso Relationship Guide.” She quickly realized there was potential for far more than what could be accomplished in blog posts, and last summer brought the first steps toward last week’s milestone.
“While I love film criticism, I am not a critic when it comes to Ted Lasso. I love it unabashedly,” said Chaffins. “As I watched the show, I saw these themes coming out and I loved how it dealt with mental health and friendships and relationships.”
In “The Ted Lasso Relationship Guide,” Chaffins braids together scenes from the series, personal anecdotes from her own life and the adept words of renowned experts like Brené Brown, Lundy Bancroft and John M. Gottman. The guide not only encourages readers to take a closer look at their relationships but provides expert advice on how to better them. Although the book may be best appreciated by fans of Ted Lasso, Chaffins says this multi-source narrative approach will be understood by fans and non-fans alike.
“I think we’re just such larger beings than just our romantic life or just our friendships or just our work life,” said Chaffins. “So, to me, there’s this holistic look at it that any one relationship is going to impact other aspects of our life, and taking a look at all of them.”
Chaffins’ novel released the day before the one-year anniversary of Ted Lasso’s series finale, and quickly ascended to the top sellers in Amazon categories for subjects like friendship and divorce. It is currently available for order on Amazon, and future updates on the novel’s success and availability will be posted on Chaffins’ social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, where she can be found as Alise Chaffins.
Beyond the novel’s focus on relationships, Chaffins hopes it can highlight the ways in which the media we consume, whether that be film, theater, music or the written word, impacts every facet of our lives, and, as illustrated in Ted Lasso, how we can let it guide us toward a brighter future for ourselves and for others.
“I just hope people come out of [‘The Ted Lasso Relationship Guide’] and think, ‘How can I be the kind of person who makes the situation better at the end of the day? What can I do to add more joy and more beauty to the world?’ I know that’s what I want to see from people and that has to start with myself. If I want to see beauty and kindness in the world, then I have to put that into the world as well.”
Find Chaffins’ newsletter at AliseChaffins.Substack.com.
