Fictional characters: Leslie Knope

The character

Leslie Knope, the main character in "Parks and Recreation" is absolutely adorable. At the beginning, she is goofy and over-the-top, and her work at Pawnee's City Hall (a small town in Indiana) doesn't seem to go anywhere. The show keeps improving through season two and, by the third season, she and the other characters have developed into people you would like to count as your friends (well, some more than others). Well before that you are already laughing out loud and have started regarding each and everyone at Parks and Rec -but especially civil servant extraordinaire  Leslie - with a lot of affection.
I like her honesty, her staunch sense of friendship, and her dedication to public service. I like that she works hard, that she knows what the important things in life are and, most of all, that she tries to do right. Let me tell you that I am more than a little tired of TV shows and characters that are constantly doing illegal things ("Scandal" comes to mind). Is it old-fashioned to enjoy a character that actually obeys the law and when she doesn't like it, tries to change it through democratic channels? I hope not.  If you enjoyed "The West Wing" you will enjoy the politics at "Parks and Recreation", although this is politics at the micro level. Nothing big is achieved (instead of declaring a National Park, the intrigue here is about lot 48... will it ever become a park?), but the wellbeing of the citizens of Pawnee is always uppermost in Ms. Knope's mind.
Apart from all of the above, the show is SO funny. No matter how low you may have been feeling, it will make you laugh hard!

Ms. Knope Goes to Washington by Caroline Grant.

Leslie Knope Goes to the Festival by Caroline Grant.

Good Luck, Leslie Knope! by Caroline Grant.

The lines

Strong candy principles
"I'm never against anyone getting a candy bar".
"We are a Red Vines family".

Positive thinking
Brandanowicz: "Honestly, Leslie, it's going to be a long uphill battle. You are going to be super-annoyed with all the people who want you to fail. There is a sea of red tape, endless road blocks. So, yeah, I don't know. I don't know".
Leslie: "Screw it. I'm gonna try to do it anyway".

Politically ambitious
"I take the West Wing, you take the East. You can be the First Gentleman".
"I am a lifelong government bureaucrat who's well versed in the issues. And those are the kind of sexy qualifications that win elections".

Democracy
"I am gonna build that park myself. And it is gonna be awesome. And it's not gonna have a fountain shaped like Hugo Chavez's head spitting water all over everyone. Unless that's what the people want".

Ecology
"In a town as old as Pawnee there's a lot of history in every acre. [...] Nathanial Bixby Mark [...] was a pioneer who was killed by a tribe of Wamapoke Indians [...] They cut his face off and made it into a dreamcatcher. And they made his legs into rainsticks. That's the great thing about Indians, back then, is they used every part of the pioneer".