Flu Season

I watched Flu Season of Parks and Recreation. As the article “The New Man in Parks and Rec” points out, there are many different portrayals of how men act that are perfectly acceptable to be still considered masculine in the show. One of the first men we see is Ron Swanson; he gives the sick woman what he considers “woman stuff”, namely magazines and lipstick. He seems more like a traditionally masculine character, seemingly stoic and abrupt in his speech patterns and behavior.  Ron does not appear to care about much outwardly, as displayed when Andy continues to mess up at his job.

The next man we see is Garry; he seems genuinely afraid of Leslie, who has some kind of illness. He panics when Leslie is about to enter the conference room where he was at that moment; then, he panics when Leslie licks all of the items on his desk. He shows real fear at this point, something Ron does not. We also see fear about catching the flu to fitness enthusiast Chris who is wearing a mask to keep himself as healthy as possible, as he barely has an immune system. This is more of a subtle fear, but fear of the flu nonetheless.

Andy appears to be loud and childish. He goes along with what Ron says about filling in for April with the one exception that he does not have to tuck in his shirt. He also seems to be concerned about April’s wellbeing before he does her job. He also seems to be unintelligent as to not know how to use WebMD.

Tom appears to be decisive, but to have a taste in pleasure, as he enjoys the spa. He also early on, seemed to be afraid of Leslie’s illness. He likes to hang out with his “old, white dudes” who are his friends. This fits with the article in that there are many equally acceptable forms of masculinity that tend to not be as ridiculed as in the The Office.