Title: Ted 2
Writers: Seth MacFarlane, Alec Sulkin
Director: Seth MacFarlane
Year: 2015
Actors: Mark Wahlberg (John Bennett), Seth MacFarlane (voice of Ted), Amanda Seyfried (Samantha), Jessica Barth (Tami-Lynn), Giovanni Ribisi (Donny)
Story: Ted 2 is a movie about a man in his 30’s (John Bennett) who’s teddy bear (Ted) and best friend (Thunder buddies) came to life upon a wish when he was a child. Now Ted is a newly-wed with his wife (Tami-Lynn) and have decided to have a baby together. Ted is classified as a “thing” and is therefore required to prove that he is a person in court. Along the way we once again see Ted’s arch nemesis (Donny) from the first film, who wants nothing more that to have Ted as his own
Plot: This film begins with Ted and Tami-Lynn at the altar and enjoying their wedding day. We then quickly see the end of the honeymoon as the two begin constantly fighting with each other over typically understood marital issues. The two then fall into a rut in their relationship. Ted then decides that the best way to fix his marital issues is to tell Tami-Lynn that he wants to have a baby with her.
Ted, being a teddy bear, obviously does not have reproductive organs and therefore must find a donor to help he and Tami-Lynn have their baby. Hilarity ensues when Ted and John Bennett go on the hunt to steal sperm from Tom Brady. They break into his house and are quickly thwarted bringing them back to square one. Ted asks John if he will be his donor to which John agrees. While at the sperm-bank, Ted learns that he will not be able to continue the process because he is seen not as a person, but as a toy or simply put, a thing.
Once again, we see the craftiness employed by Ted and John as they attempt a court dispute for Ted’s civil rights using a fresh faced new lawyer (Samantha). When the two are notified that Ted would never win because he has done nothing with his life to be considered a productive member of society, the two must then make their best attempt to show Ted in a greater light.
Ted’s arch nemesis (Donny) reappears as he attempts to sway Ted to live out his life with him. After Ted’s constant refusal, Donny once again decides that if Donny can’t have Ted, then nobody can. He makes an attempt on the life of Ted by cutting a prop loose in an attempt to crush Ted. Ted is saved by his best friend John, but at what appears to be at a grave cost.
Because of the emotional response that Ted shows upon potentially losing his best friend, the big time lawyer that denied Ted his service, changes his mind and represents Ted in his civil rights dispute. In a heated court battle, Ted is finally declared a citizen and now allowed to be officially married to Tami-Lynn and authorized to be that father of a child.
Chronology: This film is told in chronological order. Throughout the film you you are able to watch the relationship between Ted, John, and Samantha grow. Everyone loves happy endings, and in this regard, you get to witness a love blossom throughout. As well, seeing all the tribulations that Ted is put through, makes the end result of his civil protection that much sweeter.
How aesthetic choice contributed to the general effect on the audience: Throughout this film you can see lighting change from bright to dark when Donny appears on screen. This is clearly representative of the evil that he portrays throughout the story. As well, the director did a great job of representing a horror/comedic element while using creepy campfire angles and lighting.
How elements like character development or foreshadowing impacted the choice of storytelling methods: The development of the Ted, John, and Samantha made telling the story chronologically crucial to understanding the film. Clearly the begging is identifiable with the news of being called a “thing”, to the middle, where they attempt to prove Ted is a good member of society, to the end, where Ted is made a citizen who has civil rights.
If the film had followed a different presentation style, how would the general effect on the audience have been effected? Any other presentation style would have made the film difficult to follow. Though their were a couple cutaways, showing the shenanigans that Ted and John have gotten into, too much more of that to tell the story would not have allowed the viewer to follow the actual progression of the charters development.
Resources:
Movieclips Trailors. (2015). Ted 2 Official Trailor #1 [Video file]
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDgUgY8lKlk
Media Rights Capital (Producer), Seth MacFarlane (Director). (2015). [Motion picture].
Universal Pictures, Bluegrass Films, Fuzzy Door Productions.
dchutcheng125 