She’s clearly a type A personality. But she’s also carrying enormous anxiety and control issues.
I know she’s supposed to be charming and her optimism is supposed to carry the viewer along. However, she’s really in need of some sort of therapy or a big bag of weed of something.
So far:
She sleeps little. At one point she speaks of getting 3 hours per night average.
She’s insecure. She has to challenge people when the question her or even express a mild dislike of her.
She displays obsessive behavior with the making of lists, charts, binders and so forth.
She’s deeply controlling. She builds fantasies for herself and those around her and tries to force them to live those out in terms of romance, employment, achievement and whatever.
Really, the control thing can also be a horrible sign for her interest in local government. We need local government, sure. I agree. But a desire to do good through such a need for control is a disaster waiting to happen.
So what’s the story? Has anyone ever actually diagnosed her? 'Cause that girl just ain’t right.
In a simpler time the term we used for people like Leslie was “hyper.” Not in an ADHD way, but in a “bigger, faster, better” way.
She clearly had issues with her mother. She was always hoping her mother would be proud of her. I can’t remember anything at all about her father.
And because she was so relentless, she turned off a lot of people. Which meant she felt like she had to work harder to get people to like her. And she had to work harder at her job and never make a mistake so she could become as accomplished as her mother, who might then show her some genuine affection.
IANAPsychologist, As far as the DSM goes, I’d put her inCluster C.
I think this pretty much nails it. I would add that she’s singularly lacking in self-awareness.
I thought that her having triplets was a hilariously appropriate touch. As Ron found out when he had to fill in for her for the day, Leslie takes multiple simultaneous meetings. She’d never waste time having one baby at a time.
I watched every episode of Parks and Recreation and I don’t recall her going to Dover Street Market, Des Moines International airport or using DiskStationManager. Maybe I forgot those episodes.
Central to the show was that Leslie Knope was a fervent believer that government, even the Parks and Recreation department of a small town, could do good things for people, while Ron Swanson was a fervent libertarian. At one point, he said something about how there was no conflict, because she was so gung-ho that she did the work of four other people, allowing him to spend less of the people’s money.
She’s also a hoarder with a very messy house, which I thought was an impressively astute portrayal of how a character like that would live at home. People tend to assume that type A perfectionists have extremely neat and orderly homes, but it can very easily go the other way. Perfectionism often leads to avoidance and ignoring bigger problems to focus on the small things that can be controlled more easily.
Anyway, I don’t find anything “wrong” with Leslie Knope. She’s an effective adult who is living a full life while improving society. If we could all be so flawed!
Yeah, that’s perfectly true. But it’s what’s driving that caring that’s really the point of interest here.
I grew up in DC around the political scene. I know ambition. I’ve seen it in its nearly pure and usually terminal form. Leslie’s ambitious, yes, but that level of monomania and obsession is indicative of something greater driving her. I think she’s pretty unhappy for some reason.
And in terms of hoping to succeed at her mom’s level? It’s almost pitiful how she idolizes people who, in large, haven’t accomplished much at all. A successful government career in a smallish town in a flyover state? It seem such a small thing to be focused and impressed with.
You, too, can turn a pit into a park if you live on a diet of waffles, whipped cream, candy necklaces, NutriYum bars, Sweetums candy, Paunch Burger sodas (“Most people call it a gallon, but they call it ‘the regular’”, and occasionally just straight sugar.
Wanting to be a successful politician or bureaucrat in a smallish town is not, in and of itself, an undesirable attainment nor an indication of a lack of ambition. At the local level, an honest, hardworking politician might have far more influence and be able to do more good than someone working at the state or federal level where the corruption of money and influence may make it very difficult and unsatisfying to try to function with integrity; that alone might indicate that Knope was just self-aware about her ambitions and goals.
What makes her pathological are the issues listed by the o.p., and in particular insecurity and a need for control over others, as well as the approval seeking, lack of intimate relationships, and quickly glomming onto people in false intimacy (e.g. her forced-upon friendship with Ann, and overly presumptuous expectations of that and other relationships). The show did make an effort to soften the character and make her more aware in later series but there is no question that she has some issues, which is made plain both by the display of hoarding behavior mentioned by Sterling Archer as well as the relationship with her mother, which was largely one-sided in seeking the approval of a hypercritical and seemingly indifferent parent. kunilou casual diagnosis “Cluster C” personality disorder is about as good as anything. Leslie Knope doesn’t fit neatly into any particular category but then most people do not, which is why there are alternative diagnostic models in DSM-5.
We can speculate as to the cause of her issues but it seems apparent that one proximate causative agent is some form of attachment disorder given the absent father and disapproving, overly critical mother who she idolizes and seeks approval from which is rarely forthcoming. This doesn’t make Leslie a bad person; in fact, she is loyal to a fault to those whom she considers friends, is optimistic even in the face of challenge and indifference, and in many ways an ideal municipal functionary who is eager to take on necessary-but-tedious tasks that other people avoid. She certainly isn’t narcissistic, dismissive, sociopathic, or otherwise harmful, although her obsessiveness is sometimes irritating to her coworkers and friends, and inhibits her from success in aspects of her life outside of work though she does learn to moderate these behaviors. It isn’t clear whether she would or could actually benefit from psychotherapy, except perhaps to mediate an expectation of winning the approval of her mother or others. To a large extent, her best “treatment” is actually to be around people who appreciate her enthusiasm and encourage her to be more authentic. She is certainly far less toxic than many politicians; I couldn’t see her lecturing a class of children concerned about climate change that because they don’t vote their opinions don’t count, or whipping a crowd into a frenzy over farcical immigration fears.
My question is what the hell is up with Ron Swanson? He is a steaming hot mess of highly avoidant and dissociative behavior, anxiety, paranoid delusions, and compulsive behaviors. From his own description he’s been subjected to physical, emotional, and probably sexual abuse, been in multiple marriages with women who display borderline personality traits, and generally displays oppositional defiance to doing his job or relating to people. He’s basically a poster boy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and the guy needs some serious help to be a functional human being much less be able to run a municipal parks department.
Yeah, I don’t necessarily disagree, Stranger. And it’s what I wanted to explore here. I don’t know if Leslie Knope was initially conceived to be guided by demons but she clearly is - at least in the first few seasons (I’m in the middle of Season 4 and her campaign) - and it’s a detriment to her life. Dealing with her requires an enormous investment by the people around her.
We don’t see it but I could easily envision a parks department with an enormous turnover rate. It’s pretty clear that the city government of Pawnee is pretty dysfunctional in general but Leslie is the sort of boss that drives good employees away. That she hasn’t is the biggest fantasy of the entire show. I also wouldn’t be surprised if she has trouble making and maintaining friendships. Ann Perkins is a saint to have tolerated her crazed behavior over any length of time.
To be fair, I think the show de-emphasized some aspects of her personality over time. For example, I think her mother didn’t appear much after the first year or two. And, I think, the rest of the parks department is shown to be slackers, and comfortable in their jobs.