Shows like Parks and Recreation used to put the idea into our heads that the government could work together to help the American people. While my hero, Leslie Knope, was an extremely left-leaning, liberal minded person, she was willing to work with the conservative side of the aisle.
One of my favorite things to do is rewatch Parks and Recreation once a year. I know, shocking that the girl who owns Benjamin Wyatt the Cat loves rewatching the series. But in doing so in 2025, I came to the sobering realization that the show is now a time capsule of what our government used to be. Think of it this way: Do you think someone like Marco Rubio would guest star on a show where people were extremely left-leaning? No. He wouldn’t.
But Parks and Recreation had guest stars like Cory Booker and Orrin Hatch had an entire bit on the show where they were playing in a Polynesian Folk Music band called “Across the Isle.” It was a pun on the idea of Republicans and Democrats working together to do what is best for the country and the idea of Republicans doing anything to help Democrats in 2025 made me sad.
The concept of “across the aisle” is all but dead in our modern government, thanks to Donald Trump and his MAGA party, and it truly hurts to watch the hope that Parks and Recreation had for our country and know what America has turned into since the show has been off the air.
The government working together used to mean something
One of the many reasons I love Parks and Recreation so much comes from Leslie Knope’s (Amy Poehler) ability to care. She cares about people she’s never met, she cares about her town, and she cares about leaving this country better off than where it was. What the show did with real life politicians was show that they, too, are willing to work to make the country better.
Sure, some of the policies of the Republicans on the show were rightfully hated and pushed back on way back when Parks was airing. But in comparison to what is going on in our government now, it feels wild to be nostalgic for that time. Senator John McCain was on the show and while he has always been a man of conflicting views (like supporting equal pay and then denying the bill to help us get there,) he was a man who loved this country.
What we have now is a lot of people who hate the values of America and want to issue a level of control over its citizens instead of respecting the Land of the Free. To me, that is incredibly sad and upsetting and I do fear every day what new horrors we’ll see. And my comfort show is reminding me of what we used to be as a country.
I hope that one day we get back to Parks and Recreation levels of working together. Actually, I hope it is better than that. But given the state of America today, I truly did cry thinking about Booker and Hatch’s “Across the Isle” band and that’s….so sad to me.
(featured image: NBC)
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