By Rachel Rippetoe |
“We need to remember what’s important in life: friends, waffles, and work, or waffles, friends, and work, but work is third.”
I was gifted these words by a dear fictional friend of mine, one I had to say goodbye to on Tuesday: Leslie Knope.
For those unfortunate souls that are ignorant to the masterpiece that is “Parks and Recreation,” Leslie Knope is an extremely exuberant government employee in Pawnee, Indiana, played by Amy Poehler.
Knope isn’t just a quirky character on a TV show. She’s not just a Carrie Bradshaw or a Monica Geller. In a time where cynicism and apathy is becoming the norm, Leslie Knope is a beacon of light.
Today we often perceive a cultural divide pertaining to government. There are those who have little hope for the U.S. government because of its deep-rooted flaws. And then there are those who are blind to those flaws, determined to keep things the way they are.
As a show about optimism, friendship and determination comes to a close, it’s only fair to pay tribute to the biggest exception to this rift. She’s short, she’s blonde, she puts sugar on pasta, and she finds turtles very condescending: Leslie Knope.
We are all at a stage now where adulthood is rearing its ugly head and the expectation for our generation to clean up the mess of previous generations is getting heavier and heavier.
As we look to the future, Leslie Knope, despite her fictionality, despite her avid Harry Potter obsession, even despite her unhealthy love of Joe Biden, is the person to look to.
Knope has lots of weird quirks but it’s her unconditional love of Pawnee that makes her who she is. It is this unconditional love, which on the surface seems irrational, unrealistic, and strange, that makes Knope the hero our generation needs right now.
Pawnee isn’t just a town, it’s an accumulation of everything wrong with this country. This tiny armpit town of Indiana has it all: obesity, ignorance, sexism, racism, and racoon infestations.
Knope would have to be a nutjob or maybe a Fox News anchor to love a place like Pawnee, but she’s not. She believes strongly in female empowerment, in improving the health and wellbeing of citizens and in saving the environment. It makes you wonder why she doesn’t just move to Portland.
Yet, Knope doesn’t love Pawnee because it agrees with her all the time. In fact, people inside and outside City Hall fight her every step of the way. Just like a parent, she gets tired and frustrated when the town is giving her hell, but she takes a deep breath and keeps fighting.
Over the course of the show, I’ve watched Knope come to terms with the fact that not everyone is going to agree with her, not everyone is going to like her, and there is nothing she can do about it.
Don’t get me wrong, she’s not impenetrable. She’s stubborn and she wants people to like her just like we all do. The difference is that even when they don’t, even when they recall her out of office, protest her policies, spread vicious lies about her and humiliate her, she doesn’t give up.
We can all take a color-coded binder full of pointers from Knope. Being a young and starry-eyed American isn’t easy. Absolutism is growing and people in government especially are getting harder to relate to and even harder to listen to.
Yet Knope has love and hope for Pawnee because it’s her home. She shows us that we can have that too.
So thank you, Leslie Knope. Thank you for showing me how important it is to have supportive female friendships.
Thank you giving me someone - with a waffle affinity equal to mine- to look up to. Thank you for showing me that I can be informed and aware, yet still face challenges in life with optimism.
Most importantly, thank you for teaching me to never give up on people or places I call home.
As you once said to Ann Perkins, Leslie, “You are a beautiful, talented, brilliant, and powerful musk ox.” We love you and we like you. Goodbye.
Rachel Rippetoe is a reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at rippetoe18@up.edu
