Parks and Rec returns
tonight and I could not be more elated. I am absolutely thrilled that Parks and Rec returns from a relatively
long winter hiatus because I absolutely and completely love Leslie Knope. I know
am not the first person to say this and I certainly won’t be the last. That’s because
Leslie Knope is awesome.
Leslie is exactly the kind of heroine we need more of on our
screens. She is determined, she is funny, she is fearless, and she is flawed. Leslie
represents a female protagonist who is neither broken beyond repair nor too
perfect to be attainable. She is strong in her convictions and still a little
silly. Her unbelievable dedication is matched by a propensity to overreact. It
is exactly this balance that makes her real and believable. Even in her
eccentricities there is something intrinsically relatable about her. Between
that and the general hilarity of the show it is nearly impossible not to tune
in each week to see what our favorite Pawneean is up to.
Leslie is one of the best examples of a feminist TV has to
offer right now. She is proud of her feminist roots and unafraid to call people
out on their sexist behavior. She talks the talk and walks the walk. From starting the Pawnee Goddesses, a scout
like organization, when girls were shut out from the Pawnee Rangers to becoming
a trash collector for a day to prove that women are just as capable as men,
Leslie is a warrior for equality (which she has stated would be her stripper
name if she were a stripper). Furthermore, Leslie’s belief in equality does not
just crop up once a season like it might in other shows; rather, it represents
a major theme of the show. Parks and Rec
has not just blessed us with a female protagonist but has gifted us with one who
proudly proclaims and lives her feminist beliefs and is not demonized for it.
Leslie is without a doubt my favorite TV character, but she
is not the only strong point Parks and Rec
has to offer. In addition to Leslie, the show offers us one of the most
diverse casts on television in race, ethnicity, and body type and, for the most
part, does not make cheap jokes about these aspects of identity. Instead it
often uses comedy as a vehicle to call people out on everyday mishandlings of
identity. A great example is when Leslie repeatedly asks Tom, her
Indian-American coworker, when his answer of South Carolina doesn’t satisfy her
curiosity. Tom’s eventual answer of “my mother’s uterus” serves to highlight
the absurd behavior of bombarding non-white people with the question “Where are
you really from?” The show also demonstrates
a strength in its portrayal of female friendships. Instead of focusing mostly
on relationships between men and women the emphasis on Parks is usually given to the relationships among the women,
particularly the relationships between Ann and Leslie and Ann and April which
makes it even more of shame that Rashida Jones, the actress who plays Leslie’s
best friend Ann, is leaving this season. Needless to say, a great majority of
the episodes of this show pass the Bechdel test.
Overall, Parks and Rec
is the best that comedy has to offer. While it tends to be rather ridiculous,
it still manages to be meaningful. For as many moments as I have laughed over the
course of the show, I have also been pleased to see various societal flaws,
particularly regarding women in power, called out. I’m excited to visit Pawnee
again starting tonight and if you’re looking for a hilarious half hour with a
killer female protagonist, then I hope you’ll join me.
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