We’ve been watching through Ted Lasso Season 1 in preparation for Season 2 to come out, and I can’t stop thinking about Rebecca and the cookies/biscuits.
Because, like — this is a woman who has spent the last couple decades thinking and worrying about her appearance nonstop. Eating a biscuit is not a neutral act for her. We’re told repeatedly that Rupert was very controlling about her appearance, telling her what to wear, etc. and there’s just no way that didn’t spill over into him policing what she ate. There’s no way Rupert wasn’t constantly like “Are you going to eat that?” “Have you put on weight?” Especially as she got older, especially as he sought out new, younger, thinner women to have sex with; that kind of man would definitely be implying that if Rebecca were thinner, fitter, hotter, younger-looking, he wouldn’t cheat — that it’s her fault. There’s no way Rebecca hasn’t overanalyzed every bite of food that’s gone into her mouth for the entirety of her marriage. Even after their split, so many of Rupert’s remarks are about her appearance — his dig about her dress for the fundraiser being “youthful” (i.e. she is not youthful, and therefore not pulling it off) is a good example. I would bet Rebecca hasn’t had a biscuit since she was 20 years old.
And now here’s this man who’s bringing them to her every day, just because he thought she’d like them. Even before she knows he’s making them himself. Ted doesn’t give them to her with any comments about how she should “be bad” or say they’re a “guilty pleasure” or anything like that. He brings them for her, because she likes them. Because they taste good. Because they make her happy. When was the last time she got to treat her body so gently, so kindly, got to experience a simple pleasure without hating herself for it?
The repeated “Biscuits with the Boss” bit wouldn’t have worked if he was bringing her coffee, or flowers, or even a “healthy” snack like fruit; it is, in part, about her learning that she can have something she’s told herself she’s not allowed to have. There’s a scene early on in the show where she talks about something reminding you of something you used to love, and she glances at the box of biscuits. I think it’s not that the biscuits remind her of some biscuits she’d had and enjoyed in the past; I think it’s that the biscuits remind her of who she used to be. Because — she’s free. And a lot of her arc in Season 1 is realizing that. She can wear the dress, she can eat the biscuits, she can flirt with the waiter, she can be loud and cry and sing karaoke, and she doesn’t have to cram herself into the little box that she let Rupert cram her into for so long.
turnnoffyourmind
snowghoul
kianamaiart
pixelskylines
germansingergirl
yousharknotpass
jacobvanloon
izzy806
gummygunk
