Leslie Knope is Based on My Future

I have what you might call an obsessive personality. I don’t know how to like things; I either love them to the point of ridiculousness or ignore them all together. When I enjoy something it’s only a matter of time until I know everything about it. I’ll know the middle names of every character, I’ll know what season and what episode an obscure plot point happened in.

Which is why, when I say that I’m in love with a fictional character, you need to understand that this is no ordinary character that I sort of kind of feel a connection to. This is a character I am straight up obsessed with.

Leslie Barbra Knope, the main character of NBC’s show ‘Parks and Recreation’ is the fictional character that basically encompasses everything I love and everything I want to be.

It might be a little narcissistic to continue talking about how much I love Leslie Knope, since I am fairly sure that she is the future version of me. Her flaws are my flaws and her loves are my loves, but she has way better hair.

One of my favorite facets of Leslie as a character is the fact that no one (aside from the dark days of season 1) questions her competence. She is really good at her job, and she’s proud of that fact. She works hard and works well and is recognized by others as being really great at what she does.

This is awesome, of course, but it wouldn’t be such a big deal if that were a normal thing. I was talking to a friend tonight, and she was complaining about how, now that 30 Rock is off the air, there is a lack of funny lady tv shows, and I’m inclined to agree. The Netflix category “witty sitcoms with a strong female lead” is pretty much my very favorite thing.

But part of what makes Leslie so great is that she isn’t always right, and that’s ok. Even if she messes up or gets something wrong she can still be strong and still be fun, and she has a team of wonderful weirdoes who are there to help her clean up the mess.

Leslie is funny and dorky and unashamed of her weird obsessions and loves things wholeheartedly in a way that I admire. The way Leslie feels about her hometown is the way I feel about… basically everything. She loves it and cherishes it, even when the people there aren’t behaving in ways that seem rational. That’s basically how I feel about Parks and Rec.

Honestly I have never related to a fictional character as strongly as a I relate to Leslie Knope from Parks and Rec. She's strong willed and stubborn and values the people around her to the hindrance of basically anything else. She's dedicated to a fault and can often get so caught up in attempting to right a wrong that she gets obsessed with problems that might not even be relevant. She's smart and compassionate and works hard, and I love her completely. I could literally write pages and pages on my Leslie Knope feelings.

Or, you know, I could just continue to endlessly tweet about how much I love her. Either works.