Leslie Knope
| Leslie Knope | |
|---|---|
| Parks and Recreation character | |
 |
|
| First appearance | "Pilot" |
| Portrayed by | Amy Poehler |
| Information | |
| Occupation | Deputy Director of the Pawnee City Department of Parks and Recreation |
| Family | Marlene Knope (mother) Robert Knope (father)(deceased) |
| Significant other(s) | Ben Wyatt (boyfriend) Justin Anderson (ex-boyfriend) Dave Sanderson (ex-boyfriend) Mark Brendanawicz (fling) |
Leslie Barbara Knope (
/ˈnoʊp/ NOHP; born January 18, 1975) is a fictional character in the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. She is portrayed by Amy Poehler. Poehler garnered two Emmy Award nominations for Best Lead Actress in Comedy Series for her role.
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[edit] Background
Leslie Knope was born in Eagleton, Indiana and has lived in Pawnee, Indiana since infancy. She was inspired to pursue a life of public service by the community programs she enjoyed as a child. While attending Pawnee North High School she served as Co-Vice President of the student body and participated in several student organizations including the Model United Nations, Debate Club, Mock Trial, Young Republicans, Young Democrats and Young Independents, which she founded. She graduated in the top five percent of her class and went to college at Indiana University Bloomington.[1]
Currently Leslie is the Deputy Parks Director of Pawnee's parks and recreation department, a mid-level bureaucrat position.[2] In her role as Deputy Director she serves on several committees, including the Equal Opportunity Committee, the Fun in the Sun Committee, the Clean Restroom Task Force, the Handicapped Restroom Task Force and the Task Force to Reduce the Number of Public Restrooms.[1] She hopes to improve her town and to advance her career (possibly aiming to become the City Manager). She has also stated her ultimate goal of becoming the first female President of the United States.[2] Knope proudly displays in her office images of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Madeleine Albright, Condoleezza Rice, Janet Reno, Nancy Pelosi, and Larry Bird. Leslie also has a love for sweets, especially whipped cream, as she usually adds excessively large amounts to coffee, waffles and other food.
In the episode "Campaign Ad," Leslie laid out an extensive (if overlong) list of her political positions, both local and international. Following the show's characterization, it skewed liberal, including numerous public works projects and pro-government stances. It also included Pawnee-specific issues and her personal views on things (like candy):
- More dog parks
- Senior citizens rights
- Safe streets
- Safe sidewalks
- Better schools
- Lower taxes
- Better parks
- Better business climate
- Better Better Business Bureau
- Cleaner streets
- Improve greenways
- More snow plows
- Protecting Pawneeans
- Improving tourism
- More trash cans
- Energy-efficient street lights
- Westside Detoxification and Revitalization Project
- Repaving Grand Avenue
- More teachers
- Fewer libraries
- Improve intergovernmental agency communication
- Clean-up Barefoot Lake
- Passing Pawnee Jobs Bill P-129.4
- Playgrounds in every park
- Playgrounds in every schoolyard
- Playgrounds in ever residential block
- Clean energy
- One police officer for every 5 citizens
- One park ranger for every 10,000 racoons
- Resodding Hilltop Cemetery
- Start talking to Cuba again
- Emergency Evacuation Drills
- Plow For Charity
- Forming an Ad Hoc Sub-Committee Oversight Committee
- Challenging the norm
- Pawnee Corn Subsidies
- Finally Passing PR-61, formally recognizing South Korea
- Official peace treaty with the Wamapoke Tribe
- Four-way stops at every intersection
- Unionizing ice cream trucks
- Get Europe out of debt
- Free trade with Illinois
- Enact RRP – Raccoon Relocation Project
- Pawnee Community College tuition in exchange for 4 years of public service
- Doubling Pawnee Hospital’s emergency room nurse staff
- Legalize Korean
- Lower the obesity level
- Stop global terrorism
- Re-open the toucan exhibit at Pawnee Zoo
- Find Gabe the Toucan
- More community gardens
- Ordinance 11F: To Re-pave City Sidewalks
- Budget Reform
- Updated Technologies For Local Schools
- Better retirement benefits for city employees
- Edward Phillips Senior Center Remodeling
- Speed bumps in front of elementary schools
- Unemployment benefits
- Re-instating the Main St. Farmers Market
- No turtles as pets
- New uniforms for youth sports programs
- Free Public Wi-Fi
- Updated childcare facilities
- Shutting down the Child Left Behind program
- Handicap parking placards for the obese
- FREE PARKING EVERYWHERE
- Cleaner drinking water
- Regulate heights of trampolines
- Memorial for those lost in the trampoline “incident”
- Control the floods
- Funding for public art commission
- Fencing in correctional facilities
- New police patrol cars
- Funding overtime hours for police
- Rebuilding the PTA
- Prosecuting former PTA president Linda Tritle
- Profitable government organizations
- Shutting down underground shooting ranges
- Making sure city contracts employ local workers
- Providing more economic development grants and micro-loans to small businesses
- Foster partnerships with sister cities
- More buses to speed up morning commutes
- More streets to accommodate additional busses
- Require all city employees check and respond to email
- Working sewers
- More parades
- Grants for scientists to discover new forms of energy
- Leave a lasting impression on all visitors
- Challenge the norm
- Finish the statue of Burt Bacharach
- No more conflict diamonds
- Bulletproof glass everywhere
- Free cookies at every street corner
- One school for every student
- Require flattering mirrors in public restrooms
- Develop a municipal composting operation
- Enforce existing speeding and noise ordinances
- Upgrade existing parks
- Create an ant-graffiti, youth outreach program
- Free cake when it’s your birthday
- Reevaluate NAFTA
- Rickshaw Wednesdays
- Making it illegal to refuse a hug
- Make downtown more people-friendly
- Sell candy in government buildings to pay down the debt
- Get Pawnee a licensed pharmacy
- Better screening processes at local adoption agencies
- Finding homes for the adopted children of Day Labor Corp.
- Prop 6A: To Recognize All Five Food Groups
- Replacing all glass with plastic at Pawnee Psychiatric Clinic
- Curfew for minors at The Pawnee Mall
- Stop paying Sweetums the so-called “thank you for being here” tax
- Mini-golf renovations
- Subsidizing educational and eco-friendly businesses
- Removing Zorp from all written laws
- Reducing Federal Government Experiments in town to 10 per year
- Ordinance 8R: A Ghost Cannot Own/Inherit A Farm
[edit] Personality
Leslie Knope is extremely cheerful, ambitious, hard-working and optimistic. She is firmly committed to the belief that government should provide a service for its people, and regularly goes above and beyond for the benefits of Pawnee's residents - a belief that regularly clashes with her superior Ron Swanson, a staunch libertarian who feels all government should be privatized.[3][4] Although somewhat naive at times,[5] she is intelligent, well-read, and has good intentions,[6] but is not always successful in executing her goals.[4] She repeatedly tries to put a positive spin on failure, even to the point that she will occasionally distort the truth in her own view.[3] For example, she does not get discouraged by angry residents who complain or yell during her public forums, but instead prefers to think of them as "people caring loudly at me".[3] Many of her co-workers do not share her enthusiasm, but Leslie seems to command their respect or at least obedience.[3] Her ambition occasionally annoys her colleagues and leads to ribbing against her, especially from her subordinate Tom Haverford, though Leslie is now safe from the office scapegoat position thanks to the presence of all-around punching bag Jerry.[5] Leslie views herself as a budding political star in the style of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, and Condoleezza Rice. She has an outsized love for the waffles at a local diner and an untempered hatred for public libraries and the wealthy neighboring town of Eagleton--where Leslie found out, to her sheer horror, that she was actually born instead of Pawnee. [3][5]
[edit] Storyline
[edit] Season one
Initially she is shown to carry romantic feelings for her co-worker Mark, likely stemming from a romantic liaison with him several years before. She is also desperate to impress her mother Marlene who is a well-known politician in the Pawnee government. At a public forum she meets Ann Perkins, who informs her about a gaping hole near her house that her boyfriend, Andy Dwyer fell into. Leslie takes on the project and quickly becomes friends with Ann. She is sometimes pushed around by her mom, a tough and tactless woman who has had a long and successful career in local government and who doesn't think much of her daughter's professional or personal choices.
[edit] Season two
Knope seems to move on from her romantic interest in Mark and begins dating police officer Dave Sanderson (Louis C.K.). She also begins taking charge and gains a lot of confidence. Also more of her relationships with her coworkers are shown. Towards the end of the season Dave, who was enlisted in the US Army Reserve, was called into active duty in San Diego, where he will be doing custodial work. Dave asked Leslie to move with him to San Diego, and although she was considering it, she ultimately declined because she loved her work and Pawnee too much to leave, and they parted ways amicably. She then dated an old lawyer friend of Ann's named Justin. Although Justin seemed to be a perfect guy and had many interesting stories, Leslie soon realized that stories were all Justin cared about. After he reunited Leslie's mother with an old flame despite Leslie's constant protests, she broke up with him, as Justin cared more about the reunion story that he could potentially tell than Leslie.
[edit] Season three
In this season Leslie works on the Harvest Festival in hopes of bringing money to Pawnee. She and Ben are no longer at odds and develop a friendly working relationship. After hearing a flu-ridden Leslie give an amazing speech, Ben begins to develop a crush on Leslie and as the season progresses, they grow to genuinely enjoy each other's company. However, their budding relationship is threatened by Chris's interoffice dating rules, and they attempt to keep their romance under wraps, despite telling Ann, Ron, Leslie's mother, and a maintenance worker at the Lil' Sebastian memorial service. In the season finale, Leslie is approached by a group of people who look for talent in government with the potential for political careers. They tell Leslie that they believe she has the potential to become a member of city council, or even the mayor. They ask Leslie if there is any potential for scandal in her background to which Leslie replies (having decided to continue her secret romance with Ben while not at work) "Nope."
[edit] Season four
Leslie comes to realize that while she is running for city council, her relationship with Ben cannot continue, and they regretfully break up. Leslie then announces her city council candidacy. Leslie writes a book called Pawnee: The Greatest town in America. She also finds out that she was actually born in Eagleton because her mother said the Pawnee hospital had been overrun by raccoons. Leslie and Ben struggle with being broken up; Leslie wants to remain friends with Ben, but he tells her it's just too hard for him. Leslie finally decides she wants to be with Ben, no matter the consequences, and they get back together. Ben resigns from his position in order to save Leslie from getting fired. Her campaign managers inform her that they can no longer run her campaign because her approval ratings are dismally low after the news of her relationship with Ben was revealed. The rest of the Parks employees (and Ann), on a mission to return the love Leslie's shown in giving the perfect gifts she has gotten them all year after year, tell Leslie that they will run her campaign for her, allowing her to continue going after her dream.
[edit] Development
The concept for Parks and Recreation did not start to form until series creators Greg Daniels and Michael Schur learned Poehler would be available to play the lead character. Once that casting was determined, the general concept for both the series and the Leslie Knope character were established.[7] After the first season, changes were made to Leslie's character to make her appear more intelligent. Schur said this was in response to critical feedback that Leslie came across as "ditzy" during the show's first run of episodes, which Schur said was never their intention.[8] Schur said that the show considered a backstory element for Leslie where she had been elected mayor while a teenager; this story was later used for the Ben Wyatt character.
Amy Poehler said by the third season, after the parks department has been shut down for three months due to a budget crisis, Leslie has started to face reality more clearly and realize the department is a low priority.[9]
[edit] Critical reception
[edit] Season one
Despite poor reviews of the show one fairly consistent source of praise went to Amy Poehler for her performance as Leslie Knope. Tom Shales of the Washington Post writes that "Poehler's show unfortunately isn't worthy of her".[10] Daniel Carlson of the Hollywood Reporter also had praise for Poehler claiming that she "has the comic intelligence to carry a series like this one" and delivers a performance that is "awkward but not alienating" and "eager without being repelling".[1] However, several commentators said the naive and well-meaning Leslie Knope character too closely resembled The Office protagonist Michael Scott, a well-intentioned but dimwitted protagonist manager of a paper company sales office.[4][11][12][13][14][15]
[edit] Season two
James Poniewozik of Time magazine praised the development of the characters. He thought that the show has a "handle now" on the main character Leslie Knope, and does an "excellent job of finding things for its supporting characters". He also opined that the series is "living up to its potential now".[16] Commentators said the supporting cast was now working with better material and that Amy Poehler's character had improved and become less over-the-top and more human than in the first season.[4][8][17][18][19][20]
[edit] Season Three
By season three, Paste magazine writer Garrett Martin called Leslie "one of the most relatable and admirable women on television".[21]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "City of Pawnee: Parks and Recreation: Staff". NBC (official). 2010. http://www.pawneeindiana.com/parks-and-recreation/staff.shtml. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
- ^ a b Owen, Rob (January 15, 2009). "Press Tour Journal: Poehler series' premise". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://community.post-gazette.com/blogs/tunedin/archive/2009/01/15/press-tour-journal-poehler-series-premise.aspx. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
- ^ a b c d e Stanley, Alessandra (April 8, 2009). "Misguided, She Yearns to Guide". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/09/arts/television/09park.html. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
- ^ a b c d Martin, Denise (November 18, 2009). "Making bureaucracy work: How NBC's "Parks and Recreation" overcame bad buzz". Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California). http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2009/11/parks-and-recreation.html. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ a b c Shales, Tom (April 9, 2009). "'Parks and Rec': Poehler Express to Nowhere". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/08/AR2009040804167.html. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
- ^ Bierly, Mandi (May 19, 2011). "Who's your favorite TV couple now? (Don't hurt us, Leslie and Ben!)". Entertainment Weekly. http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/05/19/parks-recreation-leslie-ben/. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
- ^ Itzkoff, Dave (March 26, 2009). "It’s Not ‘The Office.’ The Boss Is a Woman.". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/arts/television/29dave.html?scp=1&sq=Lately,%20Amy%20Poehler%20says,%20she%27s%20been%20having%20trouble%20distinguishing%20her%20real%20life%20from%20a%20feverish%20dream.&st=cse. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
- ^ a b Sepinwall, Alan (September 17, 2009). "Parks and Recreation: Interviewing co-creator Mike Schur". The Star-Ledger. http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/09/parks_and_recreation_interview.html. Retrieved March 28, 2010.
- ^ Egner, Jeremy (January 20, 2011). "Amy Poehler on the Return (Finally) of 'Parks and Recreation'". The New York Times. http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/amy-poehler-on-the-return-finally-of-parks-and-recreation/. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
- ^ Tom Shales - TV Preview: 'Parks and Rec': Poehler Express to Nowhere - washingtonpost.com. Retrieved December 14, 2009.
- ^ Sepinwall, Alan (April 9, 2009). ""Parks and Recreation" review - Sepinwall on TV". The Star-Ledger. http://www.nj.com/entertainment/tv/index.ssf/2009/04/parks_and_recreation_review_se.html#more. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Stasi, Linda (April 9, 2009). "Amy Poehler quit "SNL" for "Parks and Recreation"". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/04092009/tv/raiders_of_the_lost_park_163556.htm. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Tobias, Scott (April 25, 2009). "Parks and Recreation: Season 1: Episode 3: "The Reporter"". The A.V. Club. http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-reporter,27100/. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Gay, Verne (April 7, 2009). ""Parks and Recreation", starring Amy Poehler". Newsday. http://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/ny-ettel0912629680apr07,0,422013.story. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Bianco, Robert (April 8, 2009). ""Parks" is like a bad day at "The Office," even with likable Poehler". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/reviews/2009-04-08-parks-and-recreation_N.htm?csp=34. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ "Now the Deluge: Office, Parks & Rec and Fringe Return". Time. September 21, 2009. http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/09/17/now-the-deluge-office-parks-rec-and-fringe-return/#more-6251. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
- ^ Weiner, Jonah (December 2, 2009). "You really should be watching NBC's Parks and Recreation". Slate. http://www.slate.com/id/2237077/. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Ausiello, Michael (October 25, 2009). "Fall's best and worst: "Modern Family," "Parks and Recreation," "90210," "SNL," and more!". Entertainment Weekly. http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/10/25/ausiello-fall-2009-best-worst/. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Havrilesky, Heather (November 4, 2009). "When did "Parks and Recreation" get so funny?". Salon.com. http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/iltw/2009/11/04/parks_and_recreation/index.html. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Poniewozik, James (November 5, 2009). "So What's the Best Comedy on TV Right Now?". Time. http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2009/11/05/so-whats-the-best-comedy-on-tv-right-now/. Retrieved January 1, 2010.
- ^ Martin, Garrett (May 20, 2011). "Parks and Recreation Review: "The Bubble/Li'l Sebastian" (Episode 3.15)". Paste. http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2011/05/parks-and-recreation-review-the-bubblelil-sebastia.html. Retrieved May 29, 2011.
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