sitcom? i hardly knowcom!

Like there’s a version of a show like this where Leslie ends up alone (in the typical “strong independent women doesn’t need a man” fashion) bc she can’t find a partner that won’t slow her down or inhibit her individualism. There’s also a version where she ends up with a Dave type guy: someone kind and sweet but rather simple compared to her, who loves her and supports her dreams but never fully understand them, who can cheer her on from the sidelines but couldn’t ever really stand beside her, who admires her big ambitions but has none of his own

But parks didn’t do that. They knew they didn’t need to make Leslie permanently single in order for her to retain her power and individualism and they didn’t have her end up with some kind of simpleton in order to give her a husband who wasn’t intimidated by her ambition or success. They did something that shouldn’t be as rare or feel as revolutionary as it kind of is: in Ben they gave her a true partner, an equal

Ben is as strong willed and ambitious as she is. He loves Leslie as fiercely as she loves him, but they also *understand* each other just as well. He supports her and her goals as her bf/husband, but he’s also there beside her as her partner as she works for them and she does the same for him

In these two, parks gave us a couple who love each other fiercely, who come together to become even stronger, more sure versions of themselves, grounded by the partnership they build together. Neither one of them gives up their strength or individual ambitions or their complexity as a character when they’re together. In fact, they’re more powerful and ambitious as a team than they were apart, constantly encouraging each other and pushing the other towards the things they want

Like we get to see Leslie’s side of it play out in season 2 with mark literally choosing Ann after never really showing an interest in Leslie after all her years of pining

And then when Ben’s introduced its clear that he’s *very* used to people in the towns they visit preferring to deal with the charmingly upbeat Chris over ‘mean Ben’ the hardass

But then Leslie meets Ben and, instead of pushing him aside and deferring to Chris on these issues, she’s hounding *him* for meetings and seeking *him* out to work with her on the harvest fest. I like to think that she saw something in him (as the one in her department who’s used to doing all of the hard work) and decided that he was the one she wanted to work with

And Ben meets Leslie and suddenly he’s so enamored by her that he doesn’t even register Ann’s presence when he’s around the two of them. It was always Leslie who he was drawn to in Pawnee, who made him want to stay, and who made it a home for him even before they got together

like. they have similar interests and values, they're highly compatible, and Garry is clearly an intelligent, kind, fun person

the whole joke, really, relies on the assumption that conventionally attractive people must be with other conventionally attractive people for it to "make sense"

And instead of doing what most shows would do and making the central conflict a whole thing about Ben being mad about having to miss his party and Leslie having to make it up to him etc - he literally never even thinks to question her on it and is in complete agreement with her that protecting voting rights is more important than a bday party and has to be their top priority no matter how inconvenient it is for them (plus he also spends most of the filibuster drooling over how hot and generally awesome his wife is filibustering in her roller skates)

HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!

Ben Wyatt Human Disaster

GREGORY EDDIE & BEN WYATT