Tuesday was the first beautiful sunny day over 60 degrees F in what feels like forever! And one of my best girlfriends called me right as work was getting out to ask if I wanted to go take a walk. So, of course I grabbed my tennis shoes and met her at the large park that’s literally between our two houses. And I mean literally. My neighborhood is bordered on the east side by this 4,000 acre park, and her neighborhood is bordered by the park on the west.
Something that isn’t well known about me in my Jane Austen community is that I’m a big proponent of community development and parks nonprofits. For the last 9 years I’ve served on the board of directors for the nonprofit foundation that raises money for this same park my girlfriend and I visited. I also just completed a three-year term as that Foundation’s President. (BTW – the aforementioned girlfriend’s husband is the Foundation’s new President.)
I’ve spent a lot of my time over the last nine years dealing with community outreach, development of new park amenities, some seriously disgruntled people, and working with the bureaucracy of a large municipality. There have been lots of tears, frustrations, insane requests, and also so many beautiful sunny days.
And the best compliment I think I have ever received is being compared to Leslie Knope.
So, today, you and I are going on a little journey about one of my very favorite TV show characters and why I believe that Leslie Knope is a version of Elizabeth Bennet, surrounded by the whole assembled cast of characters, that we didn’t know we needed.
For those who are not familiar, Parks and Recreation is a political satire sitcom, co-written by Michael Schur (of The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Office fame) and Greg Daniels (think Seinfield, King of the Hill, and The Simpsons) that aired from 2009 to 2015. Set in the fictional town of Pawnee, Indiana, the show follows the dedicated and overly enthusiastic deputy parks director, Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler), as she navigates local government, bureaucracy, and the often-ridiculous demands of Pawnee’s citizens. The humor of Parks and Recreation is rooted in its sharp writing, absurd yet endearing characters, and brilliant use of satire.
One of Parks and Recreation’s defining comedic elements is its satire of government and bureaucracy. The show masterfully highlights the contradictions of local politics while keeping the humor lighthearted and engaging. The Pawnee town hall meetings, for example, are some of the most absurd yet accurate portrayals of public discourse, featuring citizens who demand the most ridiculous things, such as banning all public parks or requesting more crows in the town. If you want to laugh until you cry, just watch the episode about the Time Capsule. There are also realistic portrayals of religious extremism, corrupt politicians, and hyper-local community concerns.
Leslie Knope serves as the perfect counterpoint to this dysfunction. Her unrelenting enthusiasm for her community and local government work stands in stark contrast to the apathy and incompetence of many of her colleagues and constituents. This dynamic creates a recurring source of humor, as Leslie’s idealism is constantly tested by the absurdity of Pawnee politics. Her battles against budget cuts, corrupt officials, and irrational citizens provide both comedic and satirical commentary on the struggles of public service.
Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), Leslie’s libertarian boss, is a staunch advocate for minimal government. His disdain for bureaucracy and love of personal freedom create hilarious contradictions with his job and his interpersonal relationship with Leslie. Despite being the head of the Parks Department, he actively works to dismantle it, often providing blunt and comical remarks about the inefficiency of government. His dynamic with Leslie—where she seeks to expand government services while he seeks to limit them—results in some of the show’s most iconic comedic moments. (Are we starting to see where I’m going?)
The heart of Parks and Recreation’s humor lies in its characters, each of whom brings a distinct comedic voice to the show. The ensemble cast is filled with exaggerated but lovable personalities.
Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) is a nerdy, socially awkward, rules driven state auditor from the big city who comes into Pawnee to help the bankrupted town get back to financial stability. He and Leslie immediately have a heated relationship where she treats him badly based off his first impression. He tries to win her respect and eventual affection by proving that he is not such a grumpy stick-in-the-mud.
Ann Perkins (Rashida Jones) is Leslie’s best friend, a kind intelligent nurse who often plays the straight man throughout the chaos that surrounds Leslie and has trouble initially finding stable romantic relationships. Leslie has all kinds of funny compliments for Ann throughout the series, such as:
“Ann, you beautiful tropical fish.”
“The most beautiful glowing sun goddess, ever.”
“Oh, Ann, you’re so sweet and innocent and pretty.” (sound like anyone else we know?)
Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) is a fitness-obsessed, incredibly perky, social butterfly who mostly follows Ben around even though he is technically the boss. Chris often bows down to Ben’s superior reasoning skills and diverts decisions to Ben. The duo admit that they are paired up as an audit team because Ben has no people skills but knows what he’s doing while Chris is the person who everyone loves and is capable of actually breaking bad news to the towns where they are sent to manage financial distress. After several fits and starts, Chris and Ann end up together by the end of the series. He doesn’t come with a set of insufferable sisters, but, you know, not everything can be perfect.
April Ludgate (Aubrey Plaza) is a sarcastic, deadpan intern who uses dark humor and realism to create low level chaos. She is the viewer’s insight to the absurdity happening, and the grounding force to let the viewer know that, yes this is what is really happening right now. While a raging pessimist, she also makes pragmatic choices for her own happiness and the happiness of those around her. Side-note: she gives birth to her first child on Halloween in a full face of zombie makeup and when the OB comes in and says they’ll get someone to help her wash her face, she screams at him that she did the makeup specifically for the occasion when she started feeling contractions. I absolutely ADORE April Ludgate!
Andy Dwyer (Chris Pratt) is a loveable, goofy, fully ridiculous and chronically unself-aware doofus who cannot take care of himself. He initially is dating Ann, but she breaks up with him because he is too much of a child, then ends up falling in love with April, who takes him in and helps make his life less of a total mess. They are definitely still a mess, but they are a better mess together.
There are other characters that also match, like Jerry/Larry/Terry/Garry Gergich (Jim O’Heir) who is an overweight, bumbling Parks employee who is often ridiculed by his colleagues or outright dismissed by those around him even when he is trying his hardest. Donna Meagle (Retta) is confident, glamorous, and the queen of sass, though not an agent of chaos who runs off with an inappropriate love interest. And Tom Haverford (Aziz Ansari) is a money and status obsessed wannabe businessman who has incredibly poor financial management skills and a womanizing attitude.
Now, I have no actual evidence that Michael Schur and Greg Daniels actually based the characters of Parks and Recreation off of Pride and Prejudice. I’ve combed through MANY MANY interviews and Screen Rant articles looking for even a whiff of suggestion that the tropes Jane Austen baked into her most popular work provided even the slightest inspiration for my favorite TV show. So far, I’ve got nada. However, I don’t think that outright inspiration is necessarily the point.
Well-crafted stories have a cadence, those elements that make them interesting and fun to watch, but also relatable to the audience. Writing a book or making a TV show that people come back to over and over is extremely difficult. For me, Michael Schur has hit so many home runs. I will often turn on Parks and Recreation, The Good Place or Brooklyn Nine-Nine to just any episode to semi-watch while making dinner or when I’m feeling like a pick-me-up. It’s just all-around, good feeling TV. Similarly, when I’ve had a bad day, or I need something fun and familiar, I’ll pick up one of my favorite JAFF book, probably by LL Diamond, Summer Hanford or Regina Jeffers. If I’m really in for the long haul, I’ll drag out my favorite hardback copy of Pride and Prejudice with all the dog-eared corners and cracked spine.
But why? Why do we all do this? Why are there so many of us here, in the Jane Austen community who share this compulsion, this passion?
My answer is as simple as it is undefinable. Simply put, Jane Austen wrote novels with universal themes and relatable characters. Her sharp social commentary and romantic relationships based on respect draw out our desires for ourselves. The family and social pressures that so many of us regularly feel are softened with wit and humor. Her ability to capture the complexity of human relationships transcend time and created a roadmap for how to talk about these experiences.
Whether or not the writers of Parks and Recreation intentionally used the Bennets, Darcys, and Bingleys as models for their characters, every one of them represents a fundamental type of person who provides a unique perspective on the social situations represented. It’s nearly impossible to throw a stone at a piece of contemporary media that doesn’t have some kind of strong female lead resisting the advances of a slightly socially awkward and rigid masculine character with a ditzy best friend and pragmatic, quirky voice of reason character. The pattern is on repeat in our collective consciousness.
And Jane Austen, quite literally, wrote the book on how to craft humorous, poignant stories about people and communities.
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