Parks and Recreation Quotes
Shmoop will make you a better lover...of quotes
ALL QUOTES POPULAR BROWSE BY AUTHOR BROWSE BY SOURCE BROWSE BY TOPIC BROWSE BY SUBJECT
Source: Parks and Recreation
Speaker: Leslie Knope
"Anything. Can be a slam. Poem. If you say it like this."
The Pawnee Video Dome is the only place in town where people gather to do something intellectual. That, and the slam poetry nights at Beanie's Coffee. I do not count those because those poems don't rhyme. Anything. Can be a slam. Poem. If you say it like this. It's pointless.
Context
This line is spoken by Leslie Knope, played by Amy Poehler, in the TV show Parks and Recreation (2009-2015).
Leslie Knope has yet another problem as a mid-level bureaucrat in the small, yet quirky town of Pawnee, Indiana. This time, the local video store (remember those?) is closing. Leslie doesn't want the Pawnee Video Dome to close, but there's no government money to bail them out. But like fellow Midwesterner Captain James Tiberius Kirk, Leslie thrives in no-win situations and isn't fazed in the slightest.
In this scene, Leslie is trying to get the Pawnee city council to get the Pawnee Video Dome recognized as a cultural and historical landmark because of the high-caliber, intellectual conversations that take place there. This is all thanks to video store owner Dennis Lerpiss (played by Wes Anderson favorite Jason Schwartzman) stocking non-mainstream titles. Basically, in Pawnee, you can discuss Godard and Truffaut at the Video Dome or settle for high school English level slam poetry at the local coffee shop.
Spoiler alert, even though this episode aired in 2013: in a hilarious twist, Dennis decides to turn the former haut couture Pawnee Video Dome into an Adult DVD emporium. Leslie's optimism and naiveté bites her in the butt again, and this is one of the many poor decisions that gets her booted from the city council by the end of Season 5.
Where you've heard it
You've probably heard this quote when your friend is making fun of the guest speaker in your Creative Writing class. Or when the cafe you're studying at decides to randomly have open mike night.
Additional Notable References:
- Parks and Rec's Nick Offerman performs his own slam poem about the greatest subject of all: bacon.
- Here are five helpful tips on how to write a slam poem. Hopefully, it'll be better than Leslie Knope's.
Pretentious Factor
If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.
Like anti-matter to matter is this quote to pretentiousness. That was a terrible simile and wouldn't have been out of place at slam poetry night at Beanie's.