If there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that I really, really love Parks & Recreation. It’s funny and earnest, with complex characters that actually evolve over time. But most importantly, its main character is a competent, intelligent, fiercely loveable woman in government. I’m talking about Leslie Knope.
This January, our country is inaugurating a president that makes me, and many others, feel hopeless. We are about to face an administration which is downright hostile towards the people who need kindness the most. We are going to need to help each other. We are going to need to fight. This is why we need to think of Leslie Knope.
I know that Leslie and her department of oddballs are only fictional characters, but the we see on TV and in movies and books gives us models of the people that we could be. The employees and friends of the Pawnee Parks Department are the best models we could ask for. Ann, April, and Donna showcase some of the best examples of female friendship on television, both with each other and with Leslie. They celebrate each other, not only on Galentine’s Day, but all the time. They are diverse, passionate, compassionate, hilarious, weird, capable, and smart: they are truly Strong Female Characters. Ron, Ben, Chris, Tom, Andy, and Jerry are pretty great, too (yes, even Jerry); they show us that there are many different ways to be men, that it’s better to express yourself as yourself than to fall prey to toxic views of masculinity. Most of all, the Parks Department is there for each other.
But, of course, none of them are Leslie Knope.
In order to best express what I mean by this, I want to dive into what I think is the best episode of many excellent episodes: “Flu Season,” which aired in the beginning of the third season.
In this episode, Leslie is supposed to give a speech to the business owners of Pawnee in order to get them to sign on for the Harvest Festival, an event that she is trying to organize to generate revenue for the town government, which is in severe financial straits. However, as the episode title suggests, she comes down with a nasty case of the flu. She tries to work through it, but is eventually dragged to the hospital by her colleagues; Ben, an agent sent from the state of Indiana to fix Pawnee’s budget, gets ready to give Leslie’s speech in her stead. But mere illness cannot stop the juggernaut that is Leslie Knope. She sneaks out of the hospital and goes to the meeting anyway, where, despite being only semi-lucid, she delivers her speech perfectly and gets 110 businesses to sign on, surpassing her goal by 30.
Ben puts it best: “That was amazing. That was a flu-ridden Michael Jordan at the '97 NBA Finals. That was Kirk Gibson hobbling up to the plate and hitting a homer off of Dennis Eckersley. That was... that was Leslie Knope.”
This is the type of moment that defines Leslie as a character. These moments repeat themselves again and again throughout the whole series, whether she’s battling the sexist town council, the group of nonsensical right-wing townspeople who have her recalled, or any of her other myriad opponents. Leslie cares very deeply for the people she serves, even if they don’t care for her. More important than this, she is willing to stand up and fight for them. She is willing, even excited, to do the mountains of tedious paperwork and attend endless meetings, even when sick, in order to make her world a better place, even if that world is just a tiny town in the middle of Indiana.
Leslie’s eagerness to work through her illness also makes an important statement about gender inequality in the workplace. She takes it to an extreme, but her need to follow through on her project despite being sick is something that women experience all the time – they have to work twice as hard as men to receive the same level of acknowledgement. A real-life example of this that comes to mind: Hillary Clinton attempting to campaign through a case of pneumonia. People criticized her for leaving a 9/11 event early due to her health, but failed to recognize how hard she had been trying to work through it. Neither Leslie nor Clinton could afford to let their health stand in the way of what needed to get done, and so they didn’t, until they couldn’t possibly ignore it any longer. This shouldn’t have to be the norm, but it is, and “Flu Season” perfectly portrays what women with career ambitions have to do in order to be successful.
This is also the episode that marks the real beginning of Ben and Leslie’s romance. “Flu Season” shows Leslie at her worst, but also at her very best, and you as a viewer notice Ben noticing that and reacting with appropriate awe. The best part, though, the absolute best part of this whole thing is that it makes it abundantly clear that Ben does not fall in love with Leslie because she’s your average TV sex object. He falls in love with her because she’s the exact opposite. She’s a driven, highly-qualified woman in government who will break out of a hospital to make sure she does the best possible job that she can, and his love for her is drawn from a deep well of respect for that. Throughout their relationship, he never tries to stop her. In fact, he supports her even when doing so is in direct conflict with achieving his own goals, because he knows that she is good, and good for the people. As he says, in wonderment, “That was... that was Leslie Knope.”
Even more telling is that this beginning frames their relationship in terms of the greater work they are doing for the town. Romance is a part of Parks & Rec, but it is not the biggest part. The biggest part is the story of a group of friends and colleagues who push each other to be the best they can be and work together to make Pawnee a better place. Ben, who at this point is still an outsider in Pawnee, recognizes the extent of that dedication in Leslie during this episode, and that truly lights the spark between them.
Now more than ever it is important to see characters like Leslie Knope and her friends and colleagues. It is important that our children see her, and know that women can be strong, good leaders and that great friendships and relationships take work, support, and respect. It is important that we ourselves see her, and know that she is fighting for what we are fighting for, and it’s worth it. Nobody cares about anything as much as Leslie Knope cares about everything, but I, at least, will do my damn best.
When this new administration takes charge, we need to look for the Leslie Knopes amongst us. I know they’re out there. They might even be you. Be someone who works for people. Be someone who will be there. Be someone who will care. Fight for Leslie Knope.
