Parks and Rec - Didn't Leslie & Ben's relationship turn really "inappropriate"?

Cafe Society
1

I’ve actually never watched Parks and Recreation before the past week. But I’ve heard a lot of good things and since I have some time off, I started binge watching it (up to Season 4 at this point).

But one thing that kind of annoyed me is that the relationship between Leslie Knope (Amy Poehler) and Ben Wyatt (Adam Scott) seemed to get really “inappropriate”. Like to the point where I’m thinking this is the exact reason why Chris Traeger (Rob Lowe) instituted the “no dating coworkers” policy. What I mean is that for awhile it’s all cute and romantic “will they or won’t they” / “we need to keep our love a secret” typical sitcom fare. But when Ben gets to a point where he wants Leslie to back off because his feelings / doesn’t want to jeopardize their jobs, Leslie keeps pushing. And she keeps pushing to the point where it disrupts at least two of their projects (the model UN thing with the kids and the small park), not to mention Ben’s personal life.

Like that seems like textbook “harassment”, does it not? I mean even regardless of Chris’s rules on dating. If the roles were reversed, it would definitely not seem as cute or funny.

Fortunately it all gets resolved when they realize their love for each other can’t be denied.

2

Let’s be honest, Leslie is a walking harassment claim to everyone. Ann may have gotten it worse than Ben.

3

I think it’s a little bit of typical sitcom plotting, but the way this show is better than the average sitcom is that she realizes her behavior was wrong (when she finally listens). And later, realizes that it wasn’t just “Chris’s rule,” too. And Ben, who was the “superior” in terms of employment takes the responsibility and both suffer real consequences.