4. Leslie Knope And April Ludgate-Dwyer Parks And Recreation
Surprise! The Leslie and Anne friendship on Parks and Recreation has been constantly trotted out as being a paradigm of female friendship on network TV. I, however, always found their relationship ultimately smothering. Leslie was a little too obsessed with Anne and Anne didn't seem to have enough of a backbone. That's why I feel that Leslie and April have a much healthier and more noteworthy friendship. Again, this is a friendship of opposites: Leslie is perpetually sunny, confident, and determined. April is cantankerous, biting, and often tries to get out of work. Yet it's their differences that make them so interesting. Leslie believes in April. No one else, except for April's husband, does. And time and again, April goes above and beyond Leslie's hopes. While they started out with a mentor-mentee relationship, Leslie and April's friendship has become a steady heartbeat of the show. Although she is completely different in almost every way, Leslie just gets April.
Leslie: April, I got a present for you. April: I don't like lotion. I like my hands to be cracked and calloused like a railway worker. Leslie: I know. I filled the bottles with fake blood, vinegar, and mud. April: Really? Thanks.
April, correspondingly, respects Leslie and is willing to do basically anything for her, even if she often grumbles sarcastic remarks while doing it.
Kerry is a writer, feminist, and obsessive horror, scifi, video games, comics, literature, and history geek. She spends way too much time online and drinks too much tea. Her personal fandom and feminist blog can be found here: http://fangirlingdaily.blogspot.com/.
