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In het begin komt Ted soms nog wat zwaarmoedig over, vult hij veel voor anderen in en mag hij best meer vertrouwen hebben in de steun van zijn dierbaren, maar uiteindelijk wordt zijn groei goed neergezet, gaat hij stralen, bevrijdt hij zich van de verwachtingen van anderen en volgt hij zijn hart.
My enemy with Matt Cain was the writing and the choices made to make this story stand out in a positive light, rather than the unsavory results that it garnered for me. You may have noticed that in the last paragraph I said “we were told these characters were in” rather than saying shown. Hilary Ainsworth books him into a dance-exercise class; during their regular Friday night RuPaul Drag Race viewings, Denise helps him look for silver linings, and suggests this is an opportunity to emerge from Giles’s shadow and to blossom. The prologue opens up this joyous story perfectly, setting the scene for what is to follow with the hint of a success. The newest cultural reference I can think of was Roar by Katy Perry, a song that came out 10 years ago.
At the very least would he not feel guilty and want to assuage his own conscience by being nice to poor Ted? Which said, there's plenty of people who don't read in that way, and those people will roll around in a lovely story of middle-aged queer joy and self-acceptance with immense pleasure. To find pleasure in the simple act that brought him a little happiness - the courage to be something else on stage and win over hearts with his appeal. The story kicks off with Ted being dumped by his husband, a man he's been with for 20 years, and this event is the catalyst for Ted to make changes in his life; losing weight, finding love and becoming a drag queen.
When his husband confesses he’s been having an affair and wants to split up, Ted cannot see anything good coming his way… but how wrong he was.This is revealed slowly throughout the book in a series of anonymous notes, but it doesn't actually add anything to the story. Fans of the musical “Kinky Boots” and Byron Lane’s Big Gay Wedding will have their hearts stolen by Becoming Ted ! To say it was overkill is putting it lightly, and yet it makes me wonder if it was intentionally done this way to show in a satirical manner at how similar humans are to animals. I mean, on one hand, it’s very inspirational and I do think it is a good thing to show (and it’s relatable, because yes, to be honest, I have done the same thing), but for the level of pain, repression, depression, and fear we were told these characters were in, the sudden change did not make much sense. It wasn't funny to me and in some cases felt a bit mean-spirited which diminished my enjoyment as well.
This is the story of Ted, a 43 year old gay man and his journey of fulfilling his dream of becoming a drag queen, following the breakdown of his marriage.And it's not that I didn't mind the different ways it was not used, it's just that some alternative choices were so poorly applied, it completely took me out of the actual scene! Ted Ainsworth is the intended heir to his parents’ ice-cream parlour, but, poor man, he has never plucked up the courage to admit to them that he doesn’t actually like ice-cream. It’s not a completely bad thing, but it is distracting enough that it stood out to me and really took me out of the scene I was reading. Here are some of the words that replace “says” in this book: tweets, chimes, wheedles, observes, attempts, chips in, warbles, stammers, bleats, mewls, squeals, gushed, splutters, mutters, seethes, squeaks, croaks, snaps, booms, thunders, pipes. They each have their own personal demons that they have to shed and it was interesting to see how their conflicts arose with Ted and how they were resolved in a realistic way.
Matt Cain tackles shame, compassion and self-acceptance beautifully in Becoming Ted, which will come as no surprise to people who've read The Secret Life of Albert Entwistle. The fact it’s definitely not an easy ride, with ups and downs, movements forwards and back and how no matter how much you might love someone and want what’s best for them, they need to come to terms with themselves first and truly appreciate they are who they are.Or maybe it's just because the writing is so approachable, but I just found it so relatable, wholesome and an overall treat. But with the main character being in his 40s, it's extremely refreshing that we're not just hearing from 18 year olds on the subject. Matt Cain creates the most wonderful, credible characters, they always feel so real and totally relatable. Becoming Ted opens on Ted Ainsworth's husband leaving him, and causing confusion to seep into his life. Even if he doesn’t care, presumably he wouldn’t want all his friends and family members thinking he was a c***?
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