1 SOCIAL PENETRATION IN NBC’S PARKS AND RECREATION

Social Penetration in NBC’s Parks and Recreation

Danielle Hein

COM 3400

November 10, 2014

2 SOCIAL PENETRATION IN NBC’S PARKS AND RECREATION

Think of the person you call your best friend. Why are they your best friend? At what point in your relationship did they ascend from ‘casual friend’ to ‘best friend’ and why? You probably met through a friend, or at work or some other social gathering. You probably started to talk on a fairly regular basis, and then started to disclose personal information to each other. What was first an acquaintance is now a friend. Continuing on, they start to learn more about you than anyone else, and soon they are the first one you call when something happens, good or bad. They are the one you turn to for advice and a shoulder to lean on. They also reciprocate this action fro you. You are the one they call for advice, or just to share about their day. This ascension through the ranks of friendship can best be described by Social Penetration Theory and easily illustrated by the friendship of

Leslie Knope and Ann Perkins on the NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation.

Parks and Recreation premiered in 2009, and has since won numerous awards, including a Peabody Award for excellence in television programming and an AFI honor as one of the Top 10 Television Shows of the Year. It also received Emmy nominations for

Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series, and three consecutive

Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations for Amy Poehler's individual performance as the main character, Leslie Knope (About the Show). Leslie Knope is the deputy director of the

Parks and Recreation department of Pawnee, Indiana. She meets her best friend, Ann

Perkins, in the first episode, when Ann attends a town hall meeting, bringing up the issue of a giant pit behind her house left after a condominium developer went bankrupt. The two join forces to fill in the pit and the friendship blossoms from there. Along the way, we see them engaging in different activities that strengthen their friendship, and others that put a strain in their friendship (NBC, 2014). 3 SOCIAL PENETRATION IN NBC’S PARKS AND RECREATION

Social Penetration Theory (SPT) was developed by Irwin Altman and Dalmas Taylor and attempts to explain how relationships progress from nonintimate to intimate. It operates under four major assumptions: relationships progress from nonintimate to intimate, relational development is generally systemic and predictable, relational development includes depenetration and dissolution and self-disclosure is at the core of relationship development (West & Turner, 2014). The first, second and fourth assumptions of this theory are easy to observe and do not require quite as much explanation. The first assumption is straightforward: as a relationship develops, it changes in intimacy. The more the relationship is allowed to progress, the more intimate it becomes. The second assumption is equally straightforward: there are generally patterns that develop in relationship development that can be recorded and predicted. The last assumption states that disclosing personal information about oneself is the driving force for relationship progression. The other person must then reciprocate, and disclose a little about themselves as well. Another way of describing these assumptions, using the language of Altman and

Taylor, is that a relationship progresses on some kind of predictable trajectory, and what moves it along this trajectory is the penetration of various layers of each person. To penetrate the layers, each party must disclose some personal information about themselves

(West & Turner, 2014).

This seems very simple, but in practice we see that not all relationships progress smoothly along a specified trajectory. This is where the third assumption of the theory shines: describing the patterns of depenetration and “deviations” from the perfect trajectory. Depenetration is Altman’s and Taylor’s term to describe a deterioration of a relationship (West & Turner, 2014). This does not always mean complete dissolution; however, it may be only a small transgression. A visual way to describe this is thinking of 4 SOCIAL PENETRATION IN NBC’S PARKS AND RECREATION the members of a relationship as an onion. As each member discloses a little about themselves, they peel back a layer of themselves, just as you would peel apart layers of an onion. The more layers peeled back, the more intimate the relationship. If a member commits a small transgression, the other retracts a layer, and the relationship becomes slightly less intimate. This layer can be peeled off again, as depenetration is reversible.

Throughout Leslie and Ann’s friendship on Parks and Recreation, many examples of these assumptions can be highlighted. In the first episode, entitled “Pilot,” we meet all of the characters for the first time. This episode is also when Leslie meets Ann for the first time. Leslie hosts a public forum to solicit the ideas of the public on what can be improved in their town of Pawnee, Indiana. Ann is one of the residents of Pawnee that shows up to this forum, and presents the issue of a giant pit behind her house, which her boyfriend fell into and broke both of his legs. Leslie promises to fill in the pit and build a new park on the lot. Throughout the rest of the episode, Leslie tries to find a way to make this promise happen. In the next couple of episodes, Leslie and Ann team up in various activities such as going door to door in the town and gain support for the idea (season 1, episode 2

“Canvassing”), talking to a reporter to write a story about the dangers of the pit (season 1, episode 3 “Reporter”), and soliciting other government employees to be a part of their committee (NBC, 2014).

As the show goes on, and the work on the pit continues, Leslie comes to learn more and more about Ann, and Ann learns about Leslie, as they work together. What was once acquaintanceship is now a friendship. Leslie goes to see Ann’s boyfriend’s band play a gig

(season 1, episode 6 “Rock Show”), she and Ann infiltrate an informal government “boy’s club” (season 1, episode 4 “Boy’s Club”) and Ann goes as Leslie’s date to a banquet in honor of Leslie’s mother (season 1, episode 5 “The Banquet”). They routinely have coffee together 5 SOCIAL PENETRATION IN NBC’S PARKS AND RECREATION in the courtyard at Pawnee City Hall and talk about everything from current events, to more personal subjects like who they’ve been dating, or want to date (NBC, 2014). Through these interactions, their relationship becomes more intimate and they become even better friends until they have interacted enough times and disclosed enough about themselves to become best friends.

Up until the third season of the show, Ann and Leslie never had a huge fight about anything. They always had gotten along and been able to work out their differences without any major conflict. Then, in episode 13 of season 3, titled “The Fight,” Ann and

Leslie have their first big argument. Leslie finds out about an opening in the health department, and knowing that Ann is a nurse, Leslie recommends her for the job. She then goes to the hospital to tell Ann about the job, and brings binder full of city health information and historical undertakings for Ann to study for her interview. Ann is happy that Leslie submitted her name, but thinks that learning all of the information Leslie has brought to her is an impossible undertaking. That night, one of the other Parks Department employees was hosting a launch party for a new alcohol he invented. Leslie goes to the party to show her support and is surprised to see Ann at the party as well, and not at home studying the material she left her for her interview the next day. Leslie thinks that Ann is not taking the interview seriously and does not appreciate that she got Ann the interview.

Both Leslie and Ann start bringing up things about the other person that they do not like, but usually just overlook because their friendship is at an intimacy level where they are able to look past minor transgressions. They end up arguing, with Ann saying that maybe working together would not be a good idea, and leaving the party angry with each other.

The next day, both feel awful about what had happened and apologize. Ann does end up going in for the interview and getting the job (NBC, 2014). 6 SOCIAL PENETRATION IN NBC’S PARKS AND RECREATION

What happened in that episode is a classic example of depenetration. Ann and Leslie both failed to communicate properly to each other and behaved in a way that was unsatisfactory toward the other. Both committed a large enough transgression against the other, and they lost some intimacy in their relationship, as they both went home angry.

They were not able to work through their differences or overlook the minor transgressions as they had in previous episodes, which is why this time it resulted in a transgression and depenetration. Luckily for them, they were able to apologize and forgive each other the next day after thinking about what happened, and this depenetration episode did not result in complete dissolution of the relationship. Ann and Leslie took this experience and learned from it, being more careful with their communication in future episodes, and making sure they were open with each other and their feelings.

Ann and Leslie’s friendship on NBC’s Parks and Recreation is a mainstream illustration of Social Penetration Theory. Their interactions are immaculate representations of how self-disclosure builds intimacy in relationships and how transgressions can cause depenetration and loss of intimacy. Using the example of Ann and Leslie can bring some clarity into real world relationships and to the theory itself. Revisit the thought of your best friend and how your relationship came to be. Chances are, it was very similar to Ann and

Leslie; a predictable pattern of self-disclosure and penetration into each other’s lives. It probably had some transgressions and episodes of depenetration, but all was worked out and maybe it even strengthened the relationship in the end. Knowledge and awareness of how relationships develop and progress, as well as positive portrayals of relationships and being able to recognize and analyze examples of successful relationships in our mainstream media is an important stride towards a better understanding of each other and our world around us. 7 SOCIAL PENETRATION IN NBC’S PARKS AND RECREATION

References

About the Show. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.nbc.com/parks-and-recreation/about.

Daniels, G., & Schur, M. (Producers). (2009). Parks and Recreation [Television Series]. New

York, NY: NBCUniversal.

West, R., & Turner, L. H. (2014). Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and

Application, Fifth Edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.