Antagonist

Character Role Analysis

Ted

The biggest obstacle to Ted's evolution is Ted himself—although American society circa 1979 is a close runner-up since it informs so many of Ted's most troubling opinions about parenting. In order for Ted to grow, he has to cast the cultural norm of what it means to be a man, a parent, and, specifically, a father aside.

In other words, Original Recipe Ted is defeated when Ted 2.0 realizes that men make French toast, take their kids to school, and read them bedtime stories. As he tells the court, Ted 2.0 understands that there's nothing that says that a kid's mother has to be their primary parent just because she's a woman.