Wednesday, March 12, 2014

So why does Ron Swanson work for the government anyway?

In last week's Parks and Recreation, Ron Swanson spent a day renovating some office space that needed to be renovated (sending away the contractors whose actual job it was), and said it was the best day of working for the government he'd ever had.

This has me wondering: why does he work for the government in the first place?

Ron is skilled at and enjoys building things and fixing things.  He also believes this is an honourable thing to do with one's time and energy.  By contrast, he does not enjoy government work, thinks it's not honourable, and thinks it's a waste of time and energy.

As the character develops over the seasons, it becomes apparent that being honourable and living authentically is important to him, and that he respects people who stand up for and work for what they believe in.

So why would he betray his core beliefs for a job when he could easily earn money doing something that he believes in, enjoys, and is good at?  (On top of the fact that it's been established that he's independently wealthy?)

I know that the character of Ron Swanson originated because the series creators heard of a a real life libertarian government official who doesn't believe in government.  But if they're going to develop the character to be authentic and honourable (which I do think was a good character decision - I think the show started getting good when Ron started being honourable and Leslie started being competent) they'd have to explain why he's doing this job he doesn't believe in.

It would be a lot more plausible if he simply needed work, like everyone does.  Sometimes  people have to do things that don't align perfectly with their beliefs in order to put food on the table.  That would be interesting, and realistic, and perhaps even a sympathetic character point depending on how it's written.  But as it is, they've written themselves into a plot hole.

3 comments:

laura k said...

This has me wondering: why does he work for the government in the first place?

I asked that just about every day I watched the show. (Now on hiaturs waiting for the next season to post on Netflix.)

I assumed it was just meant as a big ironic joke. On King of the Hill, also created by Greg Daniels, there's a character with a similarly obvious irony. I think it's part of his brand of humour, and not to be analyzed rationally.

Querulous 1 said...

I'll opt for my best friend's copout explanation, and respond with: it's a TV show.

impudent strumpet said...

Originally, I assumed that either he needed the work or that he was working to sabotage the government from inside. But they've given the character so much backstory that both those options are now impossible. They've fleshed the character out so much he's no longer plausible.