# What exactly is wrong with Leslie Knope? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2019, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-wrong-with-leslie-knope/832256 "2019-04-09T02:45:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-wrong-with-leslie-knope/832256/21 "2019-04-10T16:41:44Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > 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. First of all, Leslie isn’t the boss of the Parks & Rec Department; Ron Swanson is, and he is basically the most lackadaisical manager ever given that he actively encourages his employees to screw around and do as little as possible as a matter of principle, so it is easy to see how a bunch of unmotivated people will tolerate Leslie’s actions. And I’ll emphasize that Leslie is not a destructive person or acts out against people; her excessive enthusiasm and obsessive/compulsive behaviors are annoying to be sure but she genuinely cares about people especially after the first series when the character became less of a self-involved bimbo. And it isn’t as if her other coworkers, even Ann who was clearly conceived as kind of the detached observer getting an inside look at the insanity of this government office, are without their own significant behavioral issues. Like most situation comedies the essential premise is about neurotic people in a dysfunctional environment, and of course the show can’t delve too deeply into that without veering away from situational comedy and into dark humor or drama. There are definitely some inconsistencies in characterization as the show goes on, but Leslie is far from being the worst behaved or most dysfunctional leading character in sitcom history. All things considered, she is a pretty benevolent shade of crazy. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-wrong-with-leslie-knope/832256/22 "2019-04-10T17:12:13Z")
Somewhere in the storyline it was noted that Leslie’s father died when she was about 10, so let’s throw some abandonment issues in there, as well. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2019, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-wrong-with-leslie-knope/832256/23 "2019-04-11T05:33:21Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > 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. After 7 seasons, it’s clear that just about everything about Leslie is completely genuine. I mean, if you want to point to some scenes that explicitly imply there are demons in her backstory that made her the way she is, I’d love to see them because I doubt they exist. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-exactly-is-wrong-with-leslie-knope/832256.md?page=1)