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Parks and Rec or The Office?
Are you a Michael or a Leslie?
In the series finale of NBC’s Parks and Recreation, Tom Haverford, played by Aziz Ansari, ends his story arc in exactly the way he would have wanted: reflecting on his success (after his failure, after his success, after his numerous failures) in front of a rapt audience demanding to know the secret to his cool. You see, Tom is presenting the second of his self-help books Failure: An American Success Story, in which he asks the reader what kind of person they are. Are they determined? Empathetic? Brilliant and Trend-Setting? Each of the book’s archetypes was, in some way, modeled on the best personality traits of the show’s main characters.
Contrast that to the cold open for The Office season seven premiere, “Nepotism” in which the cast lip-dubs the song “Nobody but Me.” Just watch:
What do both of these moments have in common? In the case of Tom Haverford’s book, you can imagine yourself asking “Are you a Leslie?” or “Are you a Ron?” because each character profile was so distinctly drawn by the time the series wound down. In the case of The Office…
